New Fire Station Design Gets Approval At Falmouth Town Meeting

FALMOUTH, MA — Town meeting voters on Tuesday approved spending $800,000 to design a new fire station on Sandwich Road.

Members voted 138-54 in favor of the fire station, which will be built next to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth and the George Gaspa Sports Complex. Fire Chief Timothy Smith said the proposed station would serve the northeast section of town, from Sandwich Road to the Mashpee border, Joint Base Cape Cod and toward the north.

The $800,000 pays for a design and construction cost estimate. Approval of the final project will go to town meeting voters in April 2022 and will require a debt exclusion vote in May 2022.

Despite overwhelming support for the proposal, the fire station discussion sparked a debate over whether the West Falmouth fire station will be closed permanently. Town meeting members also questioned if the town's plans adequately give firefighter coverage to all areas of town.

Smith said there has yet to be a decision on whether the West Falmouth station will close, so it's not clear if the town plans to have five or six stations.

This answer didn't satisfy some town meeting members, including John Netto Jr., of Precinct 6. Netto said town meeting members approved additional overtime pay for the fire department, and residents approved a $971,507 override last May to hire 8 new firefighters. He said despite these measures, there doesn't seem to be a long-term plan for the department.

"If the fire department has too many balls in the air and no definite plan for how many stations and how much more staffing and equipment is needed, it all seems piecemealed at this point," Netto said.

Select Board Chair Megan English Braga defended the fire department's plans. She said the select board went through great lengths over the years to study fire department safety and staffing issues.

"We're trying to fix something that has been long broken and understaffed," English Braga said.

Every other article voted on at town meeting passed, except for a request to pay for renovations at the police station. A full list of articles that passed can be found on the town website.