New CT Fire Station Put on Hold

WILLINGTON, CT—Awaiting more information, selectmen Monday held off scheduling a town meeting about the Willington Hill Fire Department’s request for funds for a new firehouse site.

The fire department has requested $60,000 from the town, $50,000 toward the purchase of a new property and $10,000 for maintenance and other expenses.

The total purchase price is $350,000 and the fire department has set aside $300,000 from its own funds.

Finance board members requested last week selectmen schedule a town meeting for residents to vote on the $60,000 appropriation.

During the board of selectmen meeting Monday, Willington First Selectman Erika Wiecenski said the board of finance typically specifies where the money would come from and what the money would be used for.

She said it did not do that.

“Those are questions we don’t have answered,” Wiecenski said.

The department’s current station is at 24 Old Farms Road and firefighters are interested in purchasing the property across the street at 25 Old Farms Road, where St. Jude Church closed a few years ago.

The current station is 65 years old and there are many issues with it, including an insufficient number of bays and Americans with Disability Act compliance problems.

The fire department has a total of 120 days to finalize the property purchase, which is up July 24.

If the department backs out after July 24, the closing deadline, the church could keep all, or a portion of, the deposit, according to Willington Hill Fire Department Chief Tom Snyder.

He said the department will not have trouble meeting those deadlines.

Snyder said if the town does not kick in funds, the fire department would have to finance the additional $50,000 of the purchase.

“We would have to take out a loan,” he said.

Selectmen are seeking more details about what the $10,000 would be used for, such as electricity, insurance and mowing, to name some examples.

Wiecenski said the fire department will also need to apply for a permit for the project.

She said the planning and zoning commission will review various aspects of the project during the application process, including parking, site access, noise and lighting.

“Any potential change of use to the building code would require potential review by an architect to make sure that there weren’t any code updates, but that isn’t part of the planning and zoning realm,” Willington Zoning Agent Michael D’Amato said.

He said the fire department would need to hire an architect and submit a report to the building inspector, who would decide whether any code modifications are necessary.

Firefighters have been hoping to rent out the rectory, which is on the church property, as housing to bring in some revenue.

“That’s something we’d like to do to lessen the burden to the taxpayers,” Snyder said, speaking of a scenario through which town funds would go toward the project.

According to D’Amato, the rectory building, which is a single-family home, was originally permitted as a rectory.

Relaying information from D’Amato, Wiecenski said there cannot be two primary uses on one parcel, which the firehouse and home would be.

The fire department can, however, use it for other purposes, such as an office.

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