Saugus sore spot suggested as site for new fire station

SAUGUS – Town Meeting member Ray Lawrence thought he had the perfect solution for the abandoned Main Street gas station but Fire Chief James Blanchard thinks not.Lawrence is suggesting the boarded up station would be the perfect location for a third fire station, which the town has been discussing for nearly a decade.The Exxon station was abandoned sometime last spring and has become a sore spot with neighbors and selectmen who would like to see the area as something other than a shuttered, weed ridden lot.Centrally located at the intersection of the Lynn Fells Parkway and Main Street and with underground tanks, Lawrence said he thought a fire station was a perfect solution. It is the central location, however, that is in part the problemA Westside fire station has been on the Fire Department’s radar since the 1960’s but Blanchard said the Exxon Station would not be an ideal spot location.”It’s sort of a tough spot,” he said. “I don’t know how we could get out . . . but I’d try anything if the price is right.”But the price isn’t right he added. Blanchard said he actually e-mailed the property owner just out of curiosity and learned the price for the corner lot hovers in the $3.4 million range.”I think it’s two lots, it’s the whole corner,” he said.Lawrence suggested the town take the property by eminent domain but Blanchard said that could be more trouble than it’s worth.”It’s really the worst thing you can do because it’s long and drawn out,” he said. “They don’t want to give up the property so they don’t cooperate in any way.”Blanchard said the ideal location, in his mind, remains at the corner of the Lynn Fells Parkway and Forest Street. He has long had his eye on that property, which is owned by a trust. He said he is not only still spending time pursuing the property he is still hopeful the town might actually get it.When it comes to funding a third station Blanchard does have the money. The town passed an override to build and outfit a new station in 2003. He doesn’t have the money to man it though and possible budget cuts are looming large on the horizon.With state officials indicating a 10 percent state aid cut is coming Blanchard said building enthusiasm for a third station is tricky at best.”It’s a hard sell when a 10 percent cut would probably result in layoffs,” he said. “But it’s too early to say what will happen.”And he is adamant that a third station will have to built at some point, somewhere, though not likely at the defunct Exxon Station.”Every year the traffic gets worse and it’s not just at Christmas time-it’s all year long,” he said. “It’s still a goal to get it built, but every time things start looking good I think, ‘my God that gorilla is still on my back. It’s tough to move forward.”