By Bonnie Adams, Government Editor
Westborough – Fire Department Captain Phil Kittredge acknowledges that to look at the outside of the town's Fire Station one might not see the immediate need for a replacement station to be built as soon as possible. But once inside, with its cramped quarters, water damage and numerous code violations, it is readily apparent, he said, that the station, built in 1886, has outlived its usefulness.
The town's voters must decide that question for themselves on Tuesday, May 15 when they go to the polls to vote on a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion that would allocate $11 million for a new Fire Station that would be built on land right next to the existing one on Milk Street. The station held an Open House on May 5 (with another scheduled for May 12) as a way to garner support for the new project.
The building, which started out as a Fire Barn in the late 1880's, is not amendable to modern day equipment, Kittredge said. In fact, when one aging truck needed to be replaced several years ago, the department could not purchase the exact one they wanted because it would not have fit height-wise into the building. When all the trucks are in the station, space is so tight that the truck doors cannot be fully opened.
Two additions that were added on in later years were connected to the original building. The problem, Kittredge said, is that although the construction might have been appropriate for the time, it has not held up well through the years.
Where many towns still use a fire whistle to notify residents of major fires or natural disasters such as a hurricane or tornado, Westborough cannot. The fire tower is in such poor condition that the vibrations of the whistle itself would shake the tower too much, resulting in more damage, Kittredge said.
After a fire, hoses must be dried in a special “closet” of sorts that requires a laborious process of hanging them down from a second floor. It typically takes several days for them to dry – a hose drying cabinet (which is part of the design for a new station) would take about an hour, Kittredge said.
At the May 5 open house, Board of Selectmen Chair Leigh Emery said she has heard the comments from residents who are opposed to a new station being built and wonder why if the building is in such dire condition, it has not already been condemned.
“If it was, we would have nowhere to go,” she said. “But if the issue were really pressed, it probably could be condemned now.”
“What people don's understand is that the building is so close to being structurally unsound that it's so vulnerable to things like a class 2 hurricane or tornado taking it down,” she said.
“And not only does it not make sense to try to repair it, there are so many problems that no contractor would ever take this on,” she added.
Two residents, Richard Lambert and Vinnie Borkowski, did not attend the Open House on May 5; rather they spent the morning standing at the Westborough rotary wearing signs urging others to not vote for the new station.
“I support the construction of a new Fire Station, but not funded as debt exclusion,” Borkowski said. “I support it within the [Proposition] 2 ½ levy limit.”
“I see what I pay for property taxes and see what my mother, who lives in Dennis, pays,” Lambert said. “She pays less than $1,800 – she has four times the house and four times the land. I's up to close to $4000.”
“My concern is also for the people I know on fixed incomes – we'se still in a depression,” he added.
Kittredge noted that when he joined the Fire Department 42 years ago, there were plans at that time to build a new Fire Station on East Main Street.
“I was so excited – I thought, “wow, I's coming in the same time as a new station”,” he laughed. “Well, obviously that didn's happen. But that's ok – I have enjoyed every minute of my 42 years here.”
(Photos/Bonnie Adams)