WELLS — Selectmen will soon complete an informational brochure that will serve as a go-to guide on the town’s proposed public safety facilities.
“The committee felt pretty good about its design and the story it tells,” said Town Manager Jonathan Carter. “There are some pieces that are still missing – a couple of photos and the analysis of the cost.”
The town is hoping voters will approve a plan to build a new public safety facility in the downtown that would house both the police and fire departments. The approximately 50,500-square-foot facility that is being proposed would include space not only for those two departments but also community space for public use.
“The brochures are being sent out in hopes to gain community support,” said Carter. A vote to approve the approximately $18.9 million needed for the project is planned for the November election, he said.
The informational brochure will include information on how much room is realistically needed, estimated cost factors and design proposals.
Residents have given an initial green light to the project.
In 2014, voters approved spending $600,000 to purchase three parcels for the first phase of building the proposed complex.
The town looked “at over 20 different possible locations, and we did a fairly exhausting study,” said Carter. “In 2014, we had the funds to hire a consultant architect, who worked with others to create a feasibility study.”
The project is meant to sustain the needs of the town’s public safety offices for 50 years.
In addition to the downtown facility, the town would like to build a new fire department substation on Route 109 that would consolidate two existing fire sub-stations. In 2012, voters approved $125,000 to purchase land at Meetinghouse Road and Route 109 for that project that would replace stations in western Wells, the High Point and the Branch fire stations.
According to information in the current draft of the brochure, if voters give the goahead, building the new facilities would be a three-phase process.
In Phase I, a fire substation on Route 109 would be built and the fire department would be moved to that location, where it would operate from for about one year.
In Phase II, which would begin after the completion of the first phase, the existing fire station would be demolished and a new combined police and fire station would be constructed.
Demolition of the existing police station and completion of a new fire department vehicle apron would conclude the project.
In addition to the brochure, the town is using other avenues to inform the public.
“We’re providing our community with more than just the informational brochures,” said Police Chief Jo-Ann Putnam during a Board of Selectmen’s meeting in December. “We will be hosting tours and trying to create promotional videos. What we’re doing here is a work in progress in hopes to inform the community as well as possible about what is going on.”
The tri-fold brochure highlighting the changes is in its final stages of completion, which marks a big accomplishment in the entirety of the project, Carter said.
“We hope to get the brochure out in the next month or so,” said Carter. “The information in that small pamphlet is representative of a lot of work accomplished. We’re hoping that these brochures will clear up a lot of questions community members may have as well.”
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