That big mess? It’s a future fire station

As published in the Record Journal, Wednesday June 20, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235

Photo courtesy of the Record Journal

WALLINGFORD - Drivers on North Farms Road near Route 68 could be excused for thinking a small tornado had swept through several acres on the road’s east side. Wood, metal and other building debris litters the expanse. But the mess is intentional, and is one of the first steps in a long process to build a new station for the North Farms Volunteer Fire Department, Fire Chief Peter Struble said Tuesday. 

Connecticut Dismantling, of Bridgeport, has spent the last three weeks leveling structures on the 11.2-acre former horse farm at 866 North Farms Road, including a large horse barn with a show ring set back on the property and two smaller barns near the street. Thetwo street-facing barns were the last to be razed, on June 14. Struble said the near carpet of debris on the site is set to be cleared by the end of the month, leaving a vacant lot.

“I’m glad we’re to a point where we can start cleaning up the property. The barns needed to come down. They were not in good shape, we needed to make the property look presentable again,” Struble said. The October 2011 snowstorm had caused part of the roof of the riding stable to collapse, one of the two barns near the street appeared to be leaning dangerously and a garage on the site had already fallen on its own, said Struble.

The razing will make way for the department to construct a new  North Farms volunteer station, which has been in the works for several years. The current station at 720 Barnes Road does not have the room to house an ambulance, nor land for expansion, fire officials have said. The North Farms location is one of four volunteer stations in the town, including Yalesville, on Hope Hill Road, East Wallingford, on Kondracki Lane, and Cook Hill, on Hall Avenue.

“This is an area that we knew we had to improve response time. The other site was not a good investment for the town in the long term,” Struble said.

The Town Council voted to purchase the North Farms Road land from Gregory and Mary Cichowski for $850,000 in December of 2010 and thenvoted on another $154,000 to clean the site. The Chichowskis ran a horse barn there, called Stepping Stone Farm. That funding is paying for the razing and possibly will cover some architectural work, Struble said. The cleaning fund has also included exterminator fees, often an issue with former farm sites. “There’s no signs of any rodents,” Struble said.

Once the site is clear, the department will approach the council for more funding, according to the chief. Previous estimates have put a new station at $6.6 million. Funding for the new station was set aside from money received by the town from the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority. Some residents still oppose the new location. John PaulBenham, who lives across the street from the farm, said his family, along with neighbors, had attended Town Council meetings in fear of the noise a fire station will bring to their primarily residential area.

Struble said he’s not sure when the new station would be built or would be operational.

“All things equal, if there’s funding, I’d like to see something happen in the next 2 years,” he said.

Once the new station is built, the current station will revert back to the ownership of the estate of Howard and Mable Wilkinson, who offered the land to the town only for use as a fire station, he said.

The current North Farms Volunteer Fire Department station on Barnes Road does not have room for an ambulance, nor land for expansion, fire officials havesaid.

FROM WALLINGFORD - Cost higher but choice is right

As published in the Record Journal on Sunday October 10, 2010

Jason Zandri

Wallingford hired an architectural firm that specializes in public safety designs to do a feasibility study regarding the volunteer fire station on North Farms Road which is at its maximum functional capacity.

Should Wallingford utilize the property that it already has to address the current capacity issues but not necessarily address additional future growth? The town could do this and it would save some tax dollars currently in a tough economy but is it the best plan overall? Does it make sense to address additional expansion needs someday down the road when property and construction costs will be more expensive?

Should the town purchase the 11.2-acre Cichowski property at 866 North Farms Road and put the volunteer fire station there? This would be more costly but it does address current AND future expansion needs. The Town Council approved purchasing that property last September for $850,000, with an additional $154,000 budgeted for site cleanup. Building on North Farms Road would cost $6.6 million compared to about $5.2 million for building a new station on the current Barnes Road site.

Wallingford should purchase the Cichowski property and use it for this effort. There is plenty of housing stock in town right now for people that desire to buy an established home. I do not think we necessarily need more residential property developed for the type of housing that would go in that area. It would not be affordable housing; it would most likely be larger type homes.

I am not opposed to building more homes or trying to discourage further construction. On the contrary, I think that land owners should be allowed to do what they want with their land within the zoning regulations. I simply feel that as of right now there is adequate supply to meet the current demand.

Specific concerns of the residents in the area regarding this project should be taken into consideration as they will be directly affected. Any decisions then should be made after weighing that input and what is the best thing for the town in total.

Going the North Farms route will cost more. Wallingford is in a very good financial situation with a healthy budget balance and an excellent credit rating to bond out for this if that should be desired. Some people will point out that it makes sense to use the 1.78-acre Barnes Road site or another area in the industrial zone. That requires moving the Fire Department while new building is under construction and it doesn’t allow for future growth. That’s additional cost now and when expansion is again needed it will cost much more as costs will rise and we will not have planned properly for future growth.

Industrial land should be leveraged by private entities rather than the town. We talk about the concerns of taking residential property off the tax rolls for municipal use. Commercial and industrial properties bring in more tax revenue to the town than what residential properties do. They tend not to add additional burden to the tax base in the same ways. As an example, new residential construction tends to add net new families that can add to the costs of the education budget which is two thirds the total town budget.

A new firehouse is needed — the case for this has already been made and has been agreed upon; this will happen.

Decisions and actions on it call for smart planning and should allow for future Fire Department growth.

The Town Council and the administration needs to decide what’s the best total strategy and what is going to be the best return on investment for Wallingford taxpayers in the long run.

We should not be looking to save a dime today to only spend a dollar down the road. We need to make careful decisions that will minimize that future cost as much as possible while balancing the cost burden for today.