Penobscot raises fire station funds

PENOBSCOT – It’s been a long time coming, but the Penobscot Fire Department plans to bring a proposal for a new fire station to selectmen and eventually to voters at the annual town meeting in March.

In the meantime, the department’s fire station committee has asked residents to pitch in and help raise funds for the project, which could cost between $320,000 and $370,000. In a letter to residents last week, Dennis Robertson, chair of the committee, said the department would like to raise $150,000 before asking the town for the rest of the funding.

“We don’t want to burden the taxpayers of Penobscot,” Robertson said. “If we had to borrow the full amount we’d be paying $45,000 a year for 10 years. I don’t think the taxpayers would accept that. We’d like to see that payment down around $25,000 or $30,000 at the most. That’s something the taxpayers can afford.”

Robertson said the fund-raising effort will be a community effort and he hoped that everyone in town would contribute.

“We need their help,” he said. “We’re asking everybody to give a little something. We’d like to get 100 percent participation.”

Although no detailed plans have been prepared yet, committee members plan to construct a four-bay station with an additional space for a conference room. Fire department officials have been planning for a new station since 1994 and most people have accepted the need for a new station, Robertson said. The existing station has no running water and no septic system; it needs major repairs and is too small. Also, the town does not own the building or the land it sits on.

In 1999, the committee held two informational meetings on the proposal during which residents supported the idea of a new station, but raised questions about the proposed site and the type of structure that would be built. The committee had identified a parcel of town-owned land on Route 199 between the nursing home and the elementary school as the preferred site.

Residents questioned whether the site included wetlands that could be affected by the project. Representatives from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection determined that there were wetlands on the site and will require a Tier 1 permit that will allow it to fill up to 15,000 square feet on the property.

Also, at the request of residents, the committee is considering constructing a metal – rather than a wooden – building. Estimates for both types have been obtained and costs are comparable, but no decision has been made yet.

The department already has funds dedicated to the fire station project. A fund in memory of Delores Thombs was established in 1998 and has been added to memorial funds for Donald Blodgett and Tim Hutchins. That fund now has about $24,000 in it, Robertson said.

In addition, voters last March allocated $13,000 toward the new fire station and in June put up another $2,000 for the planning.

Since the fund-raising letter went out last week, residents have donated another $13,000, with individual donations ranging from $10 to $5,000. Robertson said the committee hopes to raise the money by January, when it will have to present a request to selectmen and the town budget committee, although he stressed that donations will be accepted after that time. Plaques listing donors’ names will be placed in the new fire station, he said.

Donations may be sent to: Town of Penobscot Fire Department Building Fund, c/o Union Trust Co., PO Box 570, Blue Hill 04614.