Special Board of Aldermen 03-23-2021 Page 9
are some mechanical systems that are working but probably need some work on them. And the important
part here is the building design and construction may not match the building’s purposes. So that happens
especially in New England, you’ve got a lot of buildings that were built many, many years ago. The role of
the Fire Department has changed in the last 100 years. What we do has changed and in many cases
where the people in our community live has changed. So we may have buildings that were built many
years ago that may not be necessarily in the best locations now. So | say that because when we look at
these buildings and they are getting older, they are going to have additional needs for maintenance and the
question now becomes do we repair them or do we look at relocating them?
So a “fair” building is one of those that you can start looking at; when we got the “poor” area, we’ve already
passed the time that we should have taken some action and these are areas we need to address pretty
quickly. (No audio).
Alderman Clemons
| think you are on mute.
Ms. Harper
How about now?
Alderman Clemons
Now you’re good.
Ms. Harper
OK. When we look at some of these buildings, for instance, the Amherst Street Station, Station 1, you
know, turn out times, things where we are looking at how quickly a firefighter can get into a fire truck and
respond, these buildings were built in a different time and they weren’t necessarily built with that in mind.
So newer facilities are specifically designed with ease of access to get the firefighters out to the trucks and
out the door as quickly to respond. There are ways we can improve their turnout times by creating
environments that are specifically set up for that. So as we are looking at making changes, those are the
kinds of things we want to keep in mind. So Station 1 should definitely be on the radar, it is a “fair” building,
it is not in “poor” condition yet but “fair’ means you’ve got to start planning because you are going to be ina
poor situation very quickly if you don’t plan to address it sooner than later.
When we look at your station 2 it was built in 1998 it is in good condition, it is good for now, but again things
change and life happens and buildings get older as we move forward and you are going to need a plan, not
necessarily imminently but a little bit further out just to maintain that building and keep it in good working
order. The next one that was a concern was Station 3 on Spit Brook Road which is also in fair condition.
The building was built in 1977, it has got some antiquated facilities and there are absolutely areas that need
to be addressed sooner than later in that building. Station 4 built in 2005 is also in good condition, but
again, it is already more than 15 years old so keeping in mind while it is good today, you are going to need
to do work in the near future to keep it in good condition. Looking out at Station 5, that’s another one that is
in fair condition, it was built in 1961, it is an older building. It definitely has got some facility systems that
need to be updated and/or renovated and the same goes for Station 6 on Conant Road, it’s now in fair
condition. Fire Alarm Headquarters is good and your training facility is brand new, it is in absolute excellent
condition.
So what | want to summarize is the facilities and the message I’d like to leave you with is that the
infrastructure is going to require significant financial investment in the coming years. So we tell you that
now so you can plan and start coming up with a plan that your community can afford and the build into the
overall plan for your City. Four of your six fire stations are more than 40 years old, they are in fair
condition, they are going to need work. Many of these stations have outlived their useful life, some are no
