Peterborough needs a new fire and ambulance facility, but we cannot see that the town is headed toward getting one.
Last year’s design process yielded a cost estimate of about $23 million, which would have required the town to take on more debt than state law would allow.
The process did not adequately involve town committees. This cost estimate was not reviewed by the Capital Improvement Projects Committee. Warrant Article 14, which originally called for a $23 million bond, was not submitted to the Select Board and the Budget Committee until their last scheduled joint meeting. No recommendation on that warrant article was made, pending better information on how the cost was estimated.
At the subsequent joint meeting, the warrant article was reduced to $2 million to address only design and engineering costs. We believe that this amount is excessive for the design and engineering of a facility Peterborough can afford.
More importantly, we believe that to achieve success — to ensure the safety and well-being of personnel, to continue to provide vital services and to impose a tax burden residents are willing and able to pay — the town’s planning process needs to change. Peterborough boasts a considerable pool of talent. The library project is an example of a successful effort that harnessed local talent. We should take advantage of such assets here, too.
The recent statement from Selectman Bill Taylor regarding Warrant Article 14, printed in this newspaper on behalf of the Select Board, town administration, and Peterborough Fire and Rescue, correctly emphasizes the importance of a new fire station, but it remains silent on the design work carried out thus far. Do project proponents still consider everything in the $23 million proposal to be necessary? Does the only hope for meeting those needs rest on the prospect of capturing a state or federal grant from some program not yet identified?
To date we have seen no assurance that “going back to the drawing board” includes making difficult decisions and scaling back. Moreover, the justification offered for the current Article 14 says little about the process going forward, outlining almost exactly what was done last year.
Peterborough voters, please come to the Town Meeting on May 11 to seek commitment from the Select Board to improve the planning and design process, such as by using existing town committees throughout the design process, inviting commentary in the early stages of design from our citizens with expertise in public safety, construction, architecture, accounting, etc. and reviewing fire station construction in similar towns.
Before we authorize $2 million more dollars for design and engineering, we would like to hear some detail on how the town authorities will fulfill their commitment that this process will be open and transparent.