Westford OKs station study, school windows

WESTFORD -- Town Meeting approved $4.1 million for window replacement in two local schools and a center fire station feasibility study during its annual session on Saturday.

Windows at the Norman E. Day and Col. John Robinson elementary schools need to be replaced, officials said. Permanent Town Building Committee Chairman Tom Mahanna said the $4,101,750 cost estimate is a worst-case projection. The town is eligible for a 46 percent reimbursement rate through the state School Building Authority.

Resident Rob Creegan questioned why the project will cost more than what was projected at fall Town Meeting, $2 million to $3 million. School officials said hazardous materials were found at the schools, driving up the cost.

School Committee Chairman David Keele urged voters to think of this as an "oil change" which would add 20 to 30 years to the buildings.

Creegan also asked why the town should spend the money if they're considering closing schools due to lower enrollment figures recently. Superintendent of Schools Everett "Bill" Olsen closing schools is a question of "when, not if" at this time.

"There's always uncertainty in terms of what our future enrollment will look like," Olsen said.

Voters also approved spending $50,000 to review the center fire station, after rejecting a $350,000 study in the fall.

Resident Daniel Sulka made an amendment approved by voters to allow the study to look at all alternatives, instead of just "recommended concepts." The study will include a formal consideration of centralizing dispatch communications at the new station.

Fire Chief Joe Targ added though the town was considering going from a three-station to four-station model last October, with building a new station on Boston Road, that idea has been tabled.

Selectmen Chairman Andrea Peraner-Sweet described the Main Street station as "decrepit." Targ said reconstructing or renovating the building from the 1970s would make operations "safer."

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Westford OKs station study, school windows