Article 38 Passes at May 6 Town Meeting

During this meeting, many points were made by Town Meeting members in support of and in opposition of this article.

As a reminder, Article 38 is to authorize Select Board to acquire property, this is in reference to the proposed fire station site located at 432 Adams Street, East Milton.

Presentations were made and documents presented by members of the Fire Station Building Committee. Information presented during Town Meetings can be viewed here.

Safety was a common concern brought up by multiple Town Meeting members.

Fire Chief Madden spoke about safety, and how safety is the fire departments number one concern, always. The department is constantly training and going into the neighborhoods to practice driving.

“Safety is our number one priority. Safety is always paramount in everything that we do. If you cannot get to an incident safely, than you are no good to the citizens that have actually called you.”

Melinda Collins, Select Board Chairwoman, addressed some of the safety concerns by mentioning that there is a plan in place with a redesign project for Squantum and Adams streets. The new provisions will create bike lanes and better pedestrian access, and the plan will overall be much safer for the areas of concern, especially for emergency vehicles, like ambulances. She mentioned that traffic studies are available to the public through the DPW.

Those in support of the article echoed to trust the process. In essence, no location for a new fire station will be perfect, but the proposed option is pretty close. The firefighters deserve better as the station they currently use is not sufficient for their current needs.