Selectboard Votes for Option B - All New Public Safety Building

The Selectboard voted at its meeting on April 6^th to put one article on the warrant for Annual Town Meeting relating to the New Public Safety Building. The building team told the Board that they had held three public information sessions where three building design options and costs were presented. Rick McCowan stated that the building team was unanimously in support of Option B, a completely new building on the site of the former Princeton Center School. Though Option C would preserve the front portion of the existing building and was attractive, it was significantly more expensive and much less functional for Police and Fire. Based on the building team’s recommendation, the Selectboard voted unanimously to put one article on the warrant which provides $850,000 in funds for final design and construction documents for Option B.

 

The Financial Team, Advisory Committee, and Selectboard have decided to fund the $850,000 by transferring $218,000 from the General Stabilization Fund and $152,000 from Free Cash into the Public Safety Building Account which currently has a balance of approximately $480,000. Note that voters approved transferring $500,000 into the Public Safety Building Account in 2018. Approximately $20,000 has been spent since then on a survey, a hazardous materials assessment, and test borings to determine ledge locations.

 

The building team encouraged the Selectboard to seek funding for only the documents and not the building construction at this time. Caolo & Bieniek, the architects selected by the building team for their vast experience with small public safety buildings, have high confidence in the project cost estimates but have included a 10% design contingency. The final design process will remove many of the uncertainties that remain at this time. One unknown that concerned residents at the information sessions is exactly what the building will look like. At this early stage of design, the architects have given us a sense of the massing of the building (a tall square for the apparatus bays and a long, shorter rectangle for the rest) and have provided one rendering of what it might look like. There will be more iterations and involvement by the Historical Commission and others as the final design is worked out.

 

One advantage of having final design and construction documents is that the project will be shovel-ready. The Selectboard has heard from our legislators that shovel-ready projects are much more likely to receive grants. It demonstrates that the community supports the project and has some skin in the game. In addition, there is a large infrastructure spending bill making its way through Congress right now. If it is anything like the American Recovery Plan signed into law in March, there should be money flowing into the States for spending on infrastructure. The Selectboard would like Princeton to be ready and able to take advantage of this.

 

It is by no means guaranteed that Princeton will receive significant grant funding for our new building. The Selectboard recently asked residents to write Representative Jim McGovern in support of an earmark for our project. Though we laid out many reasons why Princeton deserves assistance, Princeton is still a relatively well off town and we have not taxed our residents to the full amount allowed by Proposition 2 ½ . We have prioritized open space over commercial and industrial development. We sincerely hope that our troubles with PFAS and the important role we play in protecting the drinking water of many large cities will play in our favor. If you haven’t written Representative McGovern, it isn’t too late. We need your help.