LIVERMORE FALLS — It’s back to the drawing board for Livermore Falls officials.
At Tuesday’s special town meeting, residents turned down a warrant article that would have provided up to $1.5 million in financing for a new fire station. The article was defeated, 44-47.
At a selectmen meeting following the special town meeting, the board and members of the Fire Department were clearly disheartened by the vote as they pondered what to do next.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any answer as to what happens next,” Fire Chief Edward Hastings IV said.
“The board supports you and your efforts,” board Chairwoman Louise Chabot said.
Hastings said he wanted to see some consensus from selectmen on what they wanted to do with the fire station.
Chabot said she wasn’t against doing the minimum repairs to get the fire equipment back in the station as quickly as possible, but worried what the long-term impacts would be.
Fire Department volunteer Jim Purington noted that if the fire station is fixed, it should also be expanded to accommodate larger apparatus in the future.
Selectman Ron Chadwick said the board had received varying amounts in the past year on how much it would cost to fix the fire station, and the amount kept increasing. The amounts ranged from $340,000 for a minimal fix to $1.5 million to build a station.
“We’re going to lose some money on engineering costs, no doubt about it,” he said of work already done. “But with a rebuild of that building, we could be in there 10 to 14 weeks instead of a year.”
However, he pointed out that a major issue was winter weather delaying construction.
The Fire Department has three fire engines, a ladder truck, a utility truck and an antique firetruck. Livermore Falls is getting a truck from the federal government to replace one of the current trucks.
Hastings said he wasn’t opposed to putting one of the engines in a garage in the East Livermore section of town so there would be more space at the fire station and to provide better fire coverage for residents there. All agreed they were sick of spending money on architectural drawings.
Selectmen agreed to form a fire committee to look at the options repairing the building and to seek help from local general contractors.
“I think the people want an end,” said Chadwick, summarizing the feelings of everyone left in the room.
“And they want a lower price,” Chabot said.
bmatulaitis@sunmediagroup.net
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any answer as to what happens next.”
— Edward Hastings IV, Livermore Falls fire chief
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