RIDGEFIELD, CT — The Public Safety Facilities Committee gave preliminary support Aug. 20 to a roughly $50 million combined police and fire facility, while agreeing to spend up to $10,000 for additional professional analysis of rebuilding the police station at its current East Ridge Road location.
The committee's votes were preliminary as it works toward recommendations for an Aug. 31 special meeting involving the Board of Selectpersons and Board of Police Commissioners. Members also debated whether more expensive alternatives should remain under consideration, how much room a proposed facility would provide for future expansion and whether the town's public safety chiefs had reviewed the latest plans.
Vice Chair Adam Safir led the meeting in place of Chair Wally Martinez, who participated remotely.
The decision to further study the existing police station property followed a request from North Street resident Chuck Hancock, who spoke on behalf of a group of residents.
Hancock asked the committee to obtain a "thorough professional analysis" from its consultants of whether a new station meeting revised space requirements could be constructed at the existing site. He argued that the town already owns the property and that utilities and other infrastructure are in place.
"We are not trying to tell you what your recommended solution to the charge you've given should be," Hancock said. "We are saying that you should thoroughly professionally have this property analyzed as a possibility in the solution."
Safir said consultants had already examined the site in several ways but acknowledged that additional analysis could be done and more clearly presented to the public.
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Committee member Pamela Dunaway questioned whether the site could accommodate the Ridgefield Police Department's current operational needs and future growth. She said her review indicated those needs, including parking, would require about 2.25 acres.
"There's just not enough space there," Dunaway said. "There's not enough space for current operations."
Hancock disputed that conclusion and said the question should be put directly to a professional firm using the Police Department's current space requirements.
Committee member Steve Scalzo then moved to conduct the study. Secretary Ed Tyrell proposed authorizing up to $10,000 for it, saying the committee had funds available from the Board of Selectpersons. The motion passed.
Later, the committee conducted straw votes on several proposals developed by its "Tiger Teams."
Martinez backed what the committee referred to as Option D, a combined police and fire facility on a site that members said could not yet be publicly identified because of property considerations.
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Scalzo said the plan calls for a roughly 46,000-square-foot building with shared spaces, about seven fire bays and approximately 23,000 to 25,000 square feet for police, including a secure sallyport. He estimated the cost at about $49 million to $50 million, based on figures provided to the committee.
A disagreement emerged over whether the site provides sufficient room for future expansion.
Martinez said a test fit received that afternoon showed him there would be expansion space. Dunaway disagreed.
"I saw that same test fit and spoke to the same people," Dunaway said. "No, it doesn't."
Dunaway then asked whether both public safety chiefs had reviewed the new test fit. Committee members said they had not.
In the straw poll, Martinez, Scalzo and Tyrell supported Option D. Dunaway opposed it.
Tyrell said affordability was central to his support.
"The voters will pass $50 million and the voters won't pass $60 million," Tyrell said. "That's the fact the chiefs have to live with."
Members also considered Option B, which would place the Police and Fire departments at separate locations.
Scalzo said the plan would total approximately 49,500 square feet and cost about $59.7 million, including potential property acquisition but before offsets such as property sales or grants. Dunaway supported keeping the proposal alive, saying both locations would provide room for future expansion.
Tyrell opposed the proposal because of its price, saying he believed a $59 million plan would be substantially more likely to fail with voters. Martinez also voted no, while Dunaway voted yes.
Safir described himself as a "conditional yes," saying he wanted to see the additional analysis of the existing police station before reaching a final conclusion.
Dunaway also put forward a roughly $61 million combined police and fire facility at the town-owned Quarry Ridge property.
She said the approximately 46,500-square-foot concept was developed with the chiefs, architects and absent committee member David Brickley and would meet current operational requirements while leaving room for either department to expand later.
Dunaway said she understood the committee's mission as conducting due diligence and presenting the Board of Selectpersons with multiple viable choices rather than selecting an option solely to meet a predetermined dollar amount.
Martinez responded by reading from the committee's charge, which calls for recommending a "cost effective, fiscally responsible and community supported path forward" addressing the long-term needs of Ridgefield's public safety departments.
Dunaway emphasized the words "long term facility needs."
Tyrell opposed the $61 million option because he believed voters would reject it. Safir also opposed it, citing cost and his concerns about the property's suitability for fire response and other potential uses.
The committee also interviewed Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Timothy Pambianchi about the department and its facility needs.
Pambianchi said the department has 52 active members — 35 interior firefighters, five support firefighters and 12 fire police officers. It responded to 412 calls in 2025 and had answered 344 calls so far this year, putting it on pace for close to 500.
He identified parking, apparatus configuration and firefighter gear storage as major problems at the current station.
Pambianchi said apparatus can be parked three vehicles deep, requiring one truck to be moved before another can respond. Firefighters also put on protective gear only a few feet from moving apparatus.
"Our biggest challenges are obviously parking, the way that the apparatus is lined up," Pambianchi said.
For a future facility, he said the department needs adequate operational space, proper turnout-gear storage, decontamination facilities and sufficient showers.
The current station has one male and one female shower, Pambianchi said. A structure fire can involve 40 to 50 career and volunteer firefighters, and he said firefighters should be able to shower before leaving rather than risk carrying contaminants home.
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Pambianchi said volunteers currently respond from the Catoonah Street station and would report to whatever station houses their apparatus under a future configuration. Although keeping the volunteer operation together in one station would be ideal, he said the department could adapt if facilities were divided between locations.
"Operationally, I think it could work," Pambianchi said of operating from another station. "We've never been through this before."
With the Aug. 31 meeting approaching, members agreed that their work should be presented with supporting information allowing the Board of Selectpersons to compare alternatives.
Dunaway called for common evaluation criteria for whatever proposals are ultimately presented, including unresolved considerations such as traffic, site work and other property-specific issues.
Martinez proposed preparing a majority report while allowing dissenting members to submit a minority report. He said the majority report would be circulated among committee members for suggested revisions.
The committee also agreed that Brickley should have an opportunity to comment before final votes are taken. Tyrell said members could hear from Brickley and change their positions before the final vote.
Martinez said he planned to begin drafting the majority report over the weekend and circulate it to committee members.
The discussion over the report led to another disagreement when Dunaway asked whether it would be prepared without artificial intelligence.
"I have seen errors in everything this committee has produced with AI," Dunaway said, arguing that committee members should prepare the report themselves to reduce the need to identify errors in subsequent drafts.
Martinez objected to the criticism, saying he uses AI as a research tool but that his work begins with his own thinking and research. He challenged Dunaway to identify factual errors in material he had produced.
Dunaway said her concern was that AI-generated work needed to be checked.
"You have to prove your work when you use AI," she said. "That's the critical piece."
Safir then ended the exchange and returned the committee to its agenda.
The committee approved its Aug. 13 minutes before voting to enter executive session for an update concerning the acquisition of privately owned real property.
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