SAUGUS — The long-gestating quest to build a third fire station in town continues to inch forward.
A committee comprising various town officials, including Town Manager Scott Crabtree, Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli, Fire Chief Michael Newbury, Procurement Director Michele Wendell, Building Inspector Dan Kelly, and at least one member of the Planning Board, is reviewing the trio of responses submitted to the request for qualifications the town issued in September. That request sought firms to conduct a feasibility study, and while it remains unclear how long it will take for town officials to select a firm, there is now tangible progress on the station for the first time in decades.
The committee will evaluate the proposals based on four criteria: the overall quality of the proposal, a history of success with similar projects, team qualifications, and workload/capacity. Firms will be rated as highly advantageous, advantageous, non-advantageous, or unacceptable in each of the four areas.
A copy of the RFQ provided by Crabtree’s office leaves vague much of the timeline for the project’s next steps. According to a tentative schedule laid out in the document, the committee will shortlist the responses, interview the shortlisted respondents, negotiate with the selected respondent, and then execute a contract with the firm to conduct the study.
Town Meeting in May approved $400,000 for the feasibility study, which will examine, in part, where a third station would be most beneficial to improve response times to specific areas in town, particularly west of Route 1 and north of Walnut Street. A 2021 study, completed by Municipal Resources Inc. of Meredith, N.H., found response times to almost 40% of the town from either of Saugus’ two fire stations exceeded the industry standard of six minutes.
Beyond conducting the study, the firm will be tasked with providing design services for the site location, design, and construction administration of the new station, throughout “program review and confirmation, conceptual planning, schematic design, design development, construction, bidding, and final closeout of the project,” according to the RFQ.
The services provided by the firm will be funded in stages, with the first phase comprising the site-selection process, the second phase comprising schematic designs and cost estimates, and the final phase, coming after Town Meeting and voter approval, to comprise “completion of the design from schematic thorough construction documents, bidding, construction administration, and closeout.”
Crabtree emphasized that constructing a third fire station and supplying it with the necessary equipment and manpower would be an enormous expense for the town and almost certainly require a Proposition 2 ½ general override to staff the station and a debt exclusion for land and construction. He said that a location for the new station will only be chosen after a “thorough analysis of distance, travel time, and site suitability” and an open and public process, including at least one public hearing.
“We have identified the needs of a third station,” Crabtree said in a statement announcing the issuance of the RFQ. “This feasibility study is an important step forward and will identify the best locations for both emergency operational efficiency and cost.”
