Sweden
Fire Station Building Committee Meeting
DRAFT
MINUTES of the Sweden Fire Station Building Committee (SFSBC) regular meeting on Tuesday, August 28, at the Sweden Town Meeting House.
Present:
Members: Chairman Wolfgang Duve, Julie McQueen, Wayne Miller, John P. Smith, Patrick
Wood, Bill Morrisseau
Public& Guests: None
Absent: Rob Slattery
These notes are not necessarily in the order in which things were discussed. They are loosely organized by topic.
Assignments from the August 14, 2007 meeting:
· John Smith will bring a tape measure and some painter’s tape to the next meeting which will be held at the Town Meeting House. The committee will be working on laying out portions of the proposed building to see if the spaces that they have established are reasonable and practical for their intended uses.
*The committee met at the meeting house and laid out one possible option for the proposed building.
Assignments from the July 24, 2007 meeting:
• The Committee will get together at the Bridgton Fire Station at a date to be determined (not a regular meeting) to drive some fire trucks similar to what the Fire Dept. anticipates owning in the future. The purpose of using the Bridgton fire trucks is to avoid an impossible situation in the future for getting the trucks into the station. They cannot be backed into the station from the road and will require adequate space for reversing direction. A simple analysis of how much turning area we will be necessary will be done. This will be important to be sure that the trucks can get into the station without hitting the Town Office in the tight area available.
- This has not been arranged as of the August 28th, 2007 meeting.
• Wayne & Bill will complete the inventory (with the items from the meeting house storage area) and determine approximate types and quantities of storage required.
* The committee reviewed approximately what kind of additional storage would be necessary for the things stored at the meeting house while they were there.
Assignments from the July 10, 2007 meeting:
· Ted Harris to make an inquiry with Maine DOT regarding the acquisition/storage of excess fill.
- We have not received an update on this item as of the August 28th meeting.
Assignments from the June 12, 2007 meeting:
• Ron will get some information regarding the foam insulation for the committee files.
- Ron is still pursuing the information.
Notes:
· Wolfgang Duve called the meeting to order at 9AM.
· There was some discussion regarding the possible purchase of the remaining piece of property from Ellen Valley’s family. Wolfgang spoke to Scott Valley (who now owns the remaining property) on Monday who is not interested in selling the property at this time.
· Wolfgang then presented a summary of the details of the purchase of the land that the Town currently owns.
- The former committee decided that the Town Office building site was the best and really only option on which to build the new station.
- The former Selectmen met with the seller to negotiate a price.
-The appraisal and the subject of the forgiveness of back taxes was used to negotiate a price.
- There was a change in administration so the new Selectmen negotiated the final deal.
- The agreement was signed 2 days before Ellen Valley passed away.
- Per Wolfgang, the cost of building a long driveway to the back of the property is part of the cost of maintaining the “rural character” as designated in the Comprehensive Plan. In his opinion, a Fire Station on the road does not add to the “rural character” of the Town.
- There has been a lot of discussion regarding money and attempting to keep the cost of the proposed Fire Station at a minimum. Part of the problem is that the committee does not have a mandate. The options range from a simple 3 car garage to a more elaborate station. Some people simply want to keep the costs low. The committee has looked at the Denmark station which is basically what we are targeting. Their station lacks enough storage for Sweden’s uses because they have additional off site storage. Presently, the Sweden Fire Dept is leasing storage in the Town of Bridgton and is also storing a few items at the Town Meeting House. Some of the committee would like to propose a station without a meeting room. The current Fire Station has a meeting room which is not useable due to structural problems. Further discussion will take place but it is probably the right time to engage in discussions with the Board of Selectmen to further define the committee’s goals.
* Wolfgang attended the Selectman’s meeting on Tuesday Sept. 4th, 2007 in order to arrange a meeting between the Selectmen and the committee.
· The committee laid out approximate room sizes to be certain that they are useful for intended purposes. Storage must be a consideration after touring other stations where it has not been adequately addressed.
Meeting adjourned @ 10:15 AM
The next Meeting will be held on Tuesday September 11, 2007
from 9:00 – 10:30 AM at the Town
Office.