Questions surround funding of new Swampscott police station

SWAMPSCOTT – There is some question as to whether prior money appropriated by Town Meeting for the police station will ever actually be used to replace or upgrade the station.In May 2003, Town Meeting authorized borrowing up to $2 million to renovate the existing police station. But two years later Town Meeting members voted in favor of purchasing the 3.5-acre Temple Israel property and money previously authorized for the police station was put toward the purchase of that property instead. At the time, Town Meeting authorized the town to buy the former Temple Israel property and there was overwhelming support among town officials and Town Meeting members alike for retrofitting a portion of the site for use as a police station.Now, the town is asking Town Meeting to approve selling the former Temple Israel property as surplus, but no decision has been made what would be done with proceeds from the sale.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said the use of proceeds from the sale of town assets is governed by statute. He said proceeds could be used to make capital improvements to other school or town owned buildings, purchase other assets of a similar useful life or make payments on debt incurred by previous capital services of a similar type. Maylor said the proceeds could not be used to balance the budget or be placed in the general operation fund.”In my opinion there is clearly some logic that some money from the sale of the temple should be returned to the police station,” he said. “Whether it is in the form of a new building or updates to the existing facility. But ultimately it is up to the Board of Selectmen, Capital Improvements Committee and Town Meeting to decide on how the money from the sale of the surplus properties would be spent.”Police Chief Ronald Madigan said the existing police station is a public safety issue.”The community needs a police station,” he said. “I need to be patient but by the same token the problems that exist are getting worse and it represents a hazardous working environment.”Madigan pointed out the station was built in 1938 and other than a small addition to the rear of the building there have been no changes or upgrades. Madigan said the holding cells, which are used to house up to 450 prisoners a year, are obsolete and when prisoners are brought into the station they have to be taken through public areas then escorted down two flights of narrow stairs to the cells. Madigan pointed out the station is not handicapped accessible, which is problematic for residents conducting business in the station and for handicapped prisoners. He said another issue with the 5,500-foot aging facility is lack of facilities for female officers, noting that the women’s bathroom is a closet converted into a restroom. The shooting range located in the basement has been sealed off due to lead contamination and it frequently floods during heavy rains.”There are a lot of repairs that have been deferred,” he said. “It would take $1.5 million to make repairs and improvements to this facility. We don’t want to throw good money after bad so things have been put off while we wait for the town to decide whether to invest in this facility or to build a new police station.”Maylor said he is aware of the condition of the police station.”There is no question the police station is the building in town that needs the most amount of work,” he said. “I think people are cognizant of that.”Maylor said there has been some discussion that the old pumping station site is a feasible site for a new police station. A former town committee recommended building a new police station on the pumping station site 11 years ago, but the plan was never followed through to fruition.