Ridgefield Public Safety Panel Delays Straw Poll As Facility Options Narrow

The committee approved the postponement without opposition after Safir seconded the motion.

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The delay means the committee will spend the coming week trying to narrow its choices before taking a nonbinding vote. Members said they could still ultimately send more than one option to the Board of Selectpersons.

Dunaway said presenting several alternatives would not necessarily be a problem, but suggested they should be structured using comparable assumptions and measurements.

Martinez agreed, saying Brickley's revised cost analysis had helped "normalize" the various proposals so the committee could compare them on an "apples to apples" basis. He said the committee could rank surviving options before sending them to the selectpersons.

Combined facility concept shrinks

Dunaway reported that her team had continued reducing the size of a combined police and fire facility by focusing on current needs rather than projected future growth.

She said discussions with fire officials and architect Kaestle Boos Associates resulted in a fire department estimate of about 23,000 square feet, while police officials had indicated they could work with roughly 24,500 to 25,000 square feet.

The combined facility would eliminate some duplicated spaces, including portions of training, wellness and mechanical areas, Dunaway said. Her working estimate put a combined concept at slightly more than 46,000 square feet before additional adjustments.

Brickley said adding a sixth fire apparatus bay would increase the stand-alone fire component to roughly 25,000 square feet. Combining the two departments could then reduce the total by about 3,000 square feet through shared areas such as a lobby, mechanical systems and gym space.

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Dunaway said the smaller plans had been reviewed with the chiefs to make sure reduced square footage could still support operations.

"The number of humans that work in it isn't going to change," she said, explaining that parking and much of the building footprint remain driven by staffing and operational needs rather than total square footage.

Martinez said the committee's work appeared to be converging with another proposal previously identified as Option D.

"Maybe we can come together on one solution and we just call it something new," Martinez said.

He cautioned, however, that detailed floor plans would still be needed before any concept could be considered final.

Safir proposes Route 7 substation

Safir continued developing a different approach that would retain and renovate the current fire headquarters while adding a new fire substation on the Route 7 side of town.

He described three main elements: an east-side substation primarily serving fire operations but with possible police and community uses; modernization of the existing fire headquarters; and the additional staffing expense required to operate a third station.

Safir estimated the new substation at roughly $10.2 million to $10.9 million. A more extensive renovation of the existing fire headquarters could cost about $5.4 million to $7 million, depending on the scope of work.

He identified a roughly 6.8-acre parcel of state-owned land near Cains Hill Road as one possible substation location, though he said additional work is needed to determine how the town could obtain state property and whether the site is suitable.

Safir said a Route 7 facility could address areas that are farther from existing stations and provide a base closer to calls along the corridor, including traffic crashes, multifamily housing and a senior facility.

He said he did not yet have data on the volume of serious Route 7 crashes and agreed to look into it.

Safir said operating a third station could approach $1 million annually because staffing two firefighters across four shifts would require eight employees, plus costs for overtime, training and recruiting.

He also said he plans to develop another variation involving a new, smaller fire headquarters paired with the Route 7 substation rather than renovating the existing headquarters.

Safir said shifting some apparatus and functions to the third station could reduce the size required at headquarters. Martinez said that concept would require further consultation with fire officials.

New cost model shows wide differences by site

Brickley presented a revised cost model intended to put all proposals on comparable footing.

He began with the estimate used for the prior public safety referendum, which was about $77.4 million. He said building the same project today would be closer to $81 million after another year of construction-cost escalation.

Brickley said the prior estimate included not only the buildings themselves but site preparation, utilities, parking, architectural fees, construction management, furnishings and contingencies.

One of the largest variables remains site work.

The earlier Quarry Ridge proposal included an estimated $5.6 million for rock blasting, along with costs for excavation, fill and material removal. Brickley said those construction figures increase substantially once contractor markups and other project expenses are added.

His revised model indicated that a roughly 46,500-square-foot combined facility at Quarry Ridge could cost about $61 million.

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Brickley stressed that the figure remains preliminary. In particular, the committee still has to determine whether a combined building, parking and other requirements can fit on the property under consideration.

Other configurations could cost less if placed on flatter land with less rock.

Brickley estimated that two separate buildings on a common private site could fall in roughly the low-$50 million range after equalizing assumptions, while another configuration placing a fire station on a private site and a police station at Quarry Ridge was estimated at about $55 million before additional adjustments.

A variation incorporating volunteers into a new fire facility instead of retaining their current space could reach roughly $57 million, according to the working model.

Brickley repeatedly cautioned that the estimates are intended for comparison, not as final referendum amounts.

"What I really would like to do is once we hone down and we have a sighting plan, we kind of have a footprint ... I'd really want to look at the land and the site and the site development," he said.

Those costs, particularly parking and site work, could move an estimate by $1 million or $2 million in either direction, he said.

Committee may authorize soil borings

Members also discussed conducting soil borings on a privately owned site under consideration to better understand possible rock conditions.

Dunaway asked about the cost, and Brickley estimated several thousand dollars. Martinez suggested the committee could authorize up to $10,000 so the work could proceed without returning for additional approval.

Brickley said the borings should be coordinated with preliminary building placement so testing occurs where construction is most likely.

Aug. 31 presentation is next major deadline

The committee plans to continue refining proposals ahead of the 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31 Board of Selectpersons special meeting.

Martinez said the committee will likely prepare one or two proposals for presentation, potentially in a slide format, once members settle on the surviving concepts.

Dunaway said each proposal should use the same metrics so selectpersons and residents can compare them more easily.

Committee members also discussed the possibility that more than one public safety proposal could eventually appear before voters. Dunaway noted that the Board of Selectpersons had discussed a possible ranked-choice format at its Aug. 12 meeting, though committee members said the ballot structure ultimately lies with the selectpersons rather than the facilities committee.

The committee did not enter executive session because members said they had no privately owned real estate matters requiring confidential discussion that night. It later approved minutes from its previous meeting and adjourned.