7 Sites Being Looked At For Stoughton Public Safety Building

STOUGHTON, MA — Seven locations are under consideration for the site of the new public safety building.

Interim Town Manager Marc Tisdelle presented an update on the Public Safety Building Site Selection Committee at June 5's Board of Selectmen meeting.

Tisdelle said the seven potential locations include both town property and privately owned parcels. He said the committee performed site visits at most of the seven locations, but is still in the process of looking some of them over.

Over the last two weeks, the committee has also re-met with architects from Donham and Sweeney, the architecture firm who commissioned the study at the beginning at the beginning of the public safety building process.

Tisdelle reiterated the importance of getting this project done right. He said, "We're supposed to be designing a building for 30 to 50 years out...We want to make sure we're moving in the right direction."

The committee will still consider other sites if a good site comes along, but are working with the seven they have explored thus far. Tisdelle said a ranking criteria was established for the seven properties under consideration.

Factors that are part of the criteria include response time, water, sewage, and the amount of wetlands on the property. Tisdelle said emergency response times for potential locations can be measures using GIS technology.

Any new sites will be evaluated under the established ranking criteria system. The committee will continue working towards its end goal of either selecting town property or seeing if private property owners are willing to negotiate with the town.

The Site Committee consists of Tisdelle, Police Chief Donna McNamara, Fire Chief, Michael Laracy, Facilities Director Paul Giffone, GIS Coordinator Laurence Langlois, and the acting town engineer.