Two Appointed To Fire Station Building Committee

ORLEANS – The select board last week voted to fill two of the three at-large seats on the town’s new fire rescue station building committee.

Board members unanimously voted June 25 to appoint Peter Coneen and David Lyttle to the committee, which is being tasked with providing “administrative oversight for the design and construction of a new fire rescue station” in town, according to language in the committee’s charge.

Coneen and Lyttle were among the six at-large candidates who interviewed in person for a seat on the committee last week. Others who interviewed included David Jacobson, Lynn Bruneau, Scott Zenke and Cheryl Codair.

Two other candidates, Emily Miller and Rick Cianfaglione, were not present at the June 25 meeting. The board opted to leave one at-large seat open until July 9 to give Miller and Cianfaglione the opportunity to interview for the committee.

In May, voters at the annual town meeting approved a $4.5 million debt exclusion to fund the design of a new station. Early conceptual renderings show a new station that could be sited near the bottom of a stretch of land fronting Eldredge Park Way near Orleans Elementary School.

Coneen was a member of the former fire rescue station feasibility study committee that worked to identify possible locations for siting a new station in town. He also had an active hand in planning for the new public works building on Giddiah Hill Road. 

In his interview, Coneen advocated for scaling back the size of the proposed fire station to bring down the project cost, while leaving room for the new facility to expand and be added on to in the future if needed. He raised concerns that at the proposed price of $45 million to $50 million, the project may not pass at town meeting in the fall.

“I think we have to be very careful with this moneywise [and with] the budget and scope of work,” he told the board.

Lyttle, the town’s former moderator, recently retired after a long career as an engineer with Ryder and Wilcox. While he admitted he lacked the expertise in the particulars of designing a fire station, he said he could help in keeping the committee and other stakeholders focused on the campus concept that the town is working to implement near the existing fire station and Orleans Elementary School.

As for the projected cost of the new station, Lyttle said he’s confident the project can win approval with the help of town staff.

“I’m not so concerned about selling it at town meeting whether it’s $45 or $50 million,” he said. “I think we have the people who can do that now, and we’ve learned from our past mistakes.”

Michael Herman of the select board pointed out that there is nothing in the committee’s charge that calls for advocating or “selling” the project to voters.

“This is to design a building,” he said.

Select Board Chair Kevin Galligan voiced support for someone who served on the feasibility study committee being on the building committee. Both Coneen and Zenke were on the feasibility committee, and Herman made a motion in favor of Coneen’s appointment.

Andrea Reed of the select board made a motion for Lyttle, noting his demonstrated ability to collaborate and mediate between involved parties as needed.

“It’s not just his knowledge, which is practical and shared by many committee members,” she said. “They share the technical background. But his capacity to bring peace to not necessarily a peaceful situation through his technical knowledge is, I’d say, fairly unique in this community, and I’ve seen it in action.”

While not appointed last week, Bruneau also won the support of Runyon, citing her extensive experience in dealing with complicated projects in town.

Gail Briere of the Orleans Elementary School committee voiced her support for a member of the school’s parent teacher council taking the remaining open at-large seat on the board. Miller is a PTC member, and has voiced concerns with building a new station too close to the elementary school.

“We acted tonight to protect that process,” Reed said of the board’s decision to put off appointing a third at-large member until July 9.

In addition to the three at-large members, the building committee also includes Fire Chief Geof Deering, Public Works Director Rich Waldo and representatives from the select board, town manager’s office and the Orleans Elementary School committee.