MATTAPOISETT — Fire Department Chief Andrew Murray took the podium at a League of Women Voters event on April 28 to explain a project to build a new Mattapoisett fire station and to answer questions on the project.

Voters will be asked to approve the $9.275 million fire station plan, which was trimmed by $1.1 million during the design process, at Town Meeting.

The new station would be constructed next to the police station and have four larger bays facing Route 6 to better fit modern fire engines.

The station would also have an administrative wing, better living conditions for firefighters, and places to remove harmful chemicals from fires or diesel exhaust.

The town is currently waiting on the results from a regional planning study on Route 6 to see what the study recommends, but may also consider a traffic light on the main road for easier exit.

“We want to attract good quality candidates, and it’s becoming hard to do that,” Murray said, to explain another reason for the new station.

There’s a sense of catching up for lost time, as fire station plans were first brought up in the 1980s, and need to consider at least 30 years into the future.

Compared to other fire stations by the developer, Context Architecture, the resulting design was relatively inexpensive. However, Murray said that the station’s building committee cut whatever they could from the station without hurting firefighters.

The project will be funded in part from the sale of the current fire station, which is projected to bring in $250,000. It will also be funded by the debt stabilization fund, free cash and a Proposition 2-1/2 debt exclusion.

If authorized, the debt exclusion would allow the town to go over the limit set by Proposition 2-1/2 to pay for the fire station project specifically.

The project would be financed with a 20 year loan. The debt would cost the average Mattapoisett homeowner an average of $13.38 every year. 

Meeting attendee Bob Bergman asked whether the changes would change the town’s fire insurance rate.

Murray answered that it would not directly, but if the town had four bays it could get a reserve fire engine, which would lower insurance rates.

Mattapoisett residents also asked about how the staffing system works with a chief and two full time firefighters and the other firefighters as on-call department members.

Murray answered that the full time staff members work 8 to 10 hour shifts while most of the on-call firefighters have day jobs, and then they take over after the workday.

One resident asked how the fire station would handle buildings taller than 32 feet in the new industrial park.

Murray responded that those buildings would have to go through a special permitting process, and, if constructed, the department will call for mutual aid from Marion or Rochester, who have engines with ladders. 

Another attendee asked why the fire station would not be built of brick, like the police station.

Murray responded that brick was not a cost-effective building material, and that committee wanted it to resemble a coastal community house on a larger scale. The fire station will be shingled instead.