Swampscott board updates selectmen on police station status

SWAMPSCOTT – Police Chief Ronald Madigan remains upbeat that the Board of Selectmen continue to discuss construction of a new police station and seek fresh updates from the committee appointed to oversee the project.Selectmen met Tuesday to hear from the Police Station Building Committee that is working on finding a location for the headquarters and a contractor who can build it at a cost palatable to Swampscott taxpayers.The town in 2006 purchased a former temple and land for $3.25 million with the presumption it would be used as a police station.However, a debt override vote that sought to pay to build a new station on that site did not pass.When the plan unraveled, the town abandoned the idea of building the police station at the temple site and instead focused on vacant town-owned land near the Humphrey Street athletic fields.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said the committee has been meeting and working on the final plans. Robin Mazow, vice chairman of the Board of Selectmen, has been spearheading the effort, Maylor said.”Rob got them up to speed. Clearly the committee is tweaking the project to make it more presentable to the voters,” Maylor said. “They are moving forward with intention of coming before the selectmen in January to say definitively what the project will look like.”Maylor said the town can sell the temple and land, recoup some of the $3.25 million investment and attempt to attract a private project that would put the property back on the tax rolls and generate revenue.The town turned down a developer’s offer of $1.2 million last October.”The primary proposal for the temple site might be an elder care facility, an adult day care center, an Alzheimer’s facility, or housing. There are a number of allowed uses,” he said.Madigan, the police chief, said the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting was encouraging.”There seemed to be agreement across the board that we need to move ahead with the police station,” he said. “There was reluctance to discuss the details until they get a committee status report, but it’s encouraging to me that there is interest in proceeding.”The police chief said building a police station at the temple site had widespread town approval but the debt exclusion vote fell short by about 200 votes.”The present police station was built in 1938. It is a constricted site so there is no room for expansion,” Madigan said.