$12.5 Million Branford Fire HQ Plan Advances

The $12.5 million plan for the new Branford fire headquarters cleared a big hurdle this week after the Board of Finance (BOF) voted unanimously to approve the request. The proposal now heads to the full Representative Town Meeting (RTM) in its effort to cross the approval finish line.

The BOF approval of the $12.5 million new facility, which will require bonding, came on the heels of the Board of Fire Commissioners’ approval of the plan a week earlier. The RTM has cancelled its August meeting, but Branford Fire Chief Jack Ahern said he’s confident the item will be on the RTM’s agenda at its September meeting. He noted that the RTM committees that need to review the plan and make recommendations to the full RTM are expected to meet in August.

With the approval of the BOF, the RTM has a significant green light to follow. Right now, all signs seem to be pointing to a new firehouse standing in Branford by the spring of 2012.

“We’re very encouraged by the action the Board of Finance took,” said Ahern of the bi-partisan approval.

Branford’s current fire headquarters was built in 1963 and has been worn out by “24/7 use” for nearly 50 years, Ahern noted. There’s also no question the department has outgrown its home, he said—and a very obvious example of that is parked right outside, he added.

“We have a $150,000 ambulance that has to be parked outside all the time” due to lack of garage space, Ahern said.

Storing and stocking the ambulance outside, especially in winter, is problematic. Meanwhile, patchwork fixes to the building through the years and three architectural building studies (1989, 1999, and 2009), have cost the town tens of thousands of dollars. Even so, underlying problems, from non-existent insulation to poor ventilation and roof leaks to shoe-horn garage space, remain.

“Every time those studies were done, major repairs were put off,” said Ahern.

The latest study, in 2009, cost $30,000.

“A lot of money has been spent and it now appears as though we’re moving forward,” said Ahern.
The new, 34,000 square-foot building, designed by Silver/Petrucelli and Associates, Architects and Engineers of Hamden will bring upgrades including “green” energy technology (geothermal and solar) as well as adding community meeting space, increased vehicle parking space, and on-site training space.

Located at 39-49 North Main Street, the two-phase building plan incorporates the present fire headquarters site and stretches to its neighboring lot, currently home to Branford Public Works. Public Works would be relocated to a temporary building to allow Phase One construction of the new fire headquarters to begin.

As part of its decision on July 26, the BOF approved funding a three-year lease at the former Echlin building, paid from the town’s operating budget, to supply a temporary home to Public Works until a permanent site can be determined.

The fire department would continue to operate out of its existing building until Phase One of the new headquarters is completed. Then, the department would move into the Phase One section, the old headquarters would be demolished, and the second phase of construction would begin on that site, explained Ahern.

If the RTM approves the $12.5 million plan this September, the new fire headquarters should be entirely completed by the spring of 2012, said Ahern.

“It is a pretty aggressive time line that is essentially depending on the RTM acting on it at their September meeting,” said Ahern. “It really is important for us as there is a defined time schedule including money savings.”

The money savings range from what can be saved by avoiding undertaking certain elements of construction in winter to lower costs created by the current slow economic period for new construction.

“It was proven to the Board [of Finance]; it really is the time to construct,” said Ahern.