Town Garage Goes to Vote Tonight

Town Meeting will be asked tonight to support a plan for a new town garage. If voters agree, they will then be asked to approve a debt exclusion in a special election on Tuesday.

The cost of the project, which was proposed two years ago and denied by voters, is expected to cost approximately $10.5 million. When the bids were opened last week, they came in about $500,000 lower than projected.

Members of the Permanent Building Committee say the average increased tax impact would be 37 cents per 1,000 at its peak but will average approximately 25 cents per $1,000 valuation over the course of the 20 year debt.

Approval of the project would require passage at town meeting tonight (April 29) as well as in the voting booth at a special town election on Tuesday (April 30).

In a series of public information sessions, the PBC explained that the Department of Public Works oversees the town's water and sewer, highway, transfer station, and Vine Lake Cemetery. 

The last of these information sessions (which was held in the current town garage) was briefly interrupted when a ceiling leak caused water to fall near the presentation's computer. The attendees of that session were also joined by the birds that live in the insulation in the ceiling.

The current facility was built in 1973 when Medfield had a population of 8,800 in 2,494 living units, 56 miles of roadway, 5 miles of sewer, 40 miles of water mains, and 9 employees.

Today, 40 years later, Medfield has a population of 12,273 (39% increase), 4,148 living units (66% increase), 74.72 miles of roadway (33% increase), 56 miles of sewer (1020% increase), 85 miles of water mains (113% increase), and 19 employees (110% increase).

PBC members say the current building structure has deteriorated, and has insufficient space, obsolete systems, and code violations. 

They say the poor condition of the current facility has had a negative impact on DPW operations seen in increased operating costs, increased liability, and could potentially impact service if the building fails. 

The new town garage would be a masonry building and would include eight drive-thru bays, a repair shop with wash bay and storage, and office space for the Highway, Water and Sewer, Cemetery and MEMA departments.

Construction costs are estimated at $247 a square foot but having the town's Department of Public Works doing a lot of the site work will save the town about $50 a square foot.

Plans also call for an additional salt shed, and landscaping on the site. 

"The purpose here is not to get us to the cheapest building, the purpose is to get the wisest investment and the best value for the dollars that the town is spending," said PBC member Mike Quinlan.Added Quinlan, "This building is not going to get cheaper over time."

The committee did note that this year's proposal meets the town's current needs and does not include room for future growth, however, there is room to add an additional two bays in the future, if needed. 

The PBC said the cost of the latest proposed project is about the same as it would have been two years ago, because construction costs have increased, but is a smaller project. 

Changes made by the committee to the latest proposal include:   

• reduced building size in total by 20%
• eliminated two garage bays
• reduced office space by 2,000 square feet
• changed masonry to split face block
• reduced hearing system in facility (would heat equipment not the air)
• reduced generator size

For more information, visit www.medfieldpbc.org. 

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