OBIFD proposes, then withdraws, alternative to central emergency services facility

The Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department recently proposed an alternative to the town’s proposed central emergency services facility, then withdrew the plan in the face of stiff opposition.

The town appears likely to ask voters if they want to build a $6 million-plus central station in March 2025, at Harpswell’s annual Town Meeting.

OBIFD’s alternative would at least triple the number of firefighters in the town’s employ and involve the replacement of the Cundy’s Harbor station. It would place the additional firefighters at outlying stations and direct more town funds to those facilities and the independent departments that own them.

But the town’s Fire and Rescue Planning Committee gave a cool reception to the proposal, as well as the group’s follow-up suggestion that the town hire a consultant to review plans for a central station.

Ted Merriman, president of the Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department Board of Directors, said the department wants to make sure the town is making the best choice. “We’re not saying the central station is the wrong thing to do, but has there been enough due diligence about other options?” he said.

Supporters of a central station believe there has been. “We’ve looked at other options. That’s why we landed on a central station,” Nelson Barter, assistant fire chief at Harpswell Neck Fire and Rescue, said at the committee’s Oct. 28 meeting.

The proposed central station is meant to reinforce the town’s three independent fire and rescue departments. Like volunteer departments across the country, each has struggled to recruit and retain enough members to remain effective.

The town currently supplements the volunteer force with a small team of municipal firefighters. Two municipal firefighters are on duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Those firefighters split time between the Orr’s Island and Harpswell Neck stations.

The municipal firefighters likely would move to a central station if one is built. They would respond to fires from the central station, while volunteers would continue to respond from their own stations. The concept parallels the town’s paramedic service, which is widely viewed as helpful to the independent departments.

Ideas for a central station date back many years, according to longtime firefighters, with the current plan beginning to take shape after a 2017 vote to raise $100,000 for planning.

In the most recent plan, the central station would be located near the town office on Mountain Road. The estimated $6.1 million price is down from an initial figure of nearly $7.2 million after the design was pared back somewhat. Federal grants could chip in as much as $1.5 million, according to the architect who is designing the facility.

The withdrawn alternative vision calls for keeping firefighters and equipment at the individual stations, arguing that would keep them closer to population centers and could be less expensive. It would place two firefighters at each station from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, including weekends.

The Orr’s Island station has facilities to house firefighters. Harpswell Neck would need to add sleeping quarters. The Cundy’s Harbor station lacks space for such renovations, so the alternative suggests that a new station be built — an option the department has explored in recent years.

The alternative vision also proposes a new administrative structure for the departments and town that it says would be more efficient. And it suggests more aggressive efforts to recruit and retain volunteers, building on the successful Fire and Rescue Accession Program.

The OBIFD Strategic Planning Committee developed the alternative plan, then the department’s board approved it. Merriman said the Strategic Planning Committee had been discussing whether a central station is best for Harpswell since the beginning of the year. He said the department waited until September to present an alternative because the town’s Fire and Rescue Planning Committee was focused on the central station plans.

But Merriman’s colleagues on the town’s Fire and Rescue Planning Committee questioned whether the alternative would really save money.

The plan suggests the town would pay $500,000 annually to add a half-dozen firefighters and an administrative assistant. It estimates that the town would need to raise the property tax rate by 20 cents to fund these and other changes.

David Mercier, fire chief at Harpswell Neck Fire and Rescue, wondered whether the alternative’s proposed renovations to the Harpswell Neck and Cundy’s Harbor stations could be done for less than the cost of a new central station.

The alternative estimates the cost to build a new station for Cundy’s Harbor at $2 million, but the figure uses a lower construction cost per square foot than the estimate for the central station. It doesn’t include the cost of land, and the Cundy’s Harbor department has said it would likely build at a different location.

But Sean Hall, assistant fire chief with OBIFD, who has spoken against a central station, said the town could explore creative options. Several companies make modular or temporary fire stations, for instance, that could be affordable alternatives to renovating or replacing one of the existing stations.

Fire and Rescue Planning Committee members brought a number of objections to the Oct. 16 meeting and were prepared to challenge other parts of the vision on Oct. 28, which is one reason OBIFD decided to withdraw it.

Merriman said he and his colleagues at OBIFD were taken aback by the reaction. “We thought they’d be open to dialogue,” he said.

Merriman acknowledged that he does not have the firefighting experience of his committee colleagues. But he said his professional experience in risk management leads him to want to explore all possible points of view before coming to a conclusion.

For the rest of the committee, however, that phase has ended. “It’s time to take it to the voters,” Mercier said.

Sam Lemonick is a freelance reporter. He lives in Cundy’s Harbor.

Copy the Story Link