DPW Building Committee

The Seekonk Select Board voted Wednesday to form a five member building committee for a new Department of Public Works facility. 

Voters approved $1,600,000 for the purchase of land and a building located at 911 Taunton Avenue at the November 2025 Town Meeting.

The current facility at 871 Taunton Avenue lacks sufficient space for employees and equipment, DPW Director David Cabral said. 

Cabral noted the completion of several building projects, such as a new animal shelter and the completion of phase two of the Senior Center.

“I was very hopeful that by purchasing 911 that would be the site that would be locked in as the location for a new DPW facility,” Cabral noted. “I understand money constraints. I think we can pick up where we left off with the design. We’ve been patiently waiting for our turn. We kind of fell by the wayside.”

The proposal to build a new 61,000 square foot DPW facility at a cost of approximately $40 million was rejected by voters at a November 2024 Town Meeting.

“We bought a building,” Chair Gary Sagar said at the September 16 meeting. “We’re not going to just let it sit there. It’s there. The offices are available and I think it’s short-sighted to just let it sit there.”

Board member Michael Healy voiced his dissatisfaction with the proposal, noting he would not support allowing any employee of DPW to move into 911 Taunton Avenue without a Building Committee being appointed first.

“I don’t want to move any of my staff,” Cabral said Wednesday. “Because as soon as we spread people out, we’re now going to have two buildings which are occupied. Wasting money on whatever that cost would be from the taxpayers’ perspective. We can do better than what we have there and what we have next door.”

An article regarding a DPW feasibility study is on the November Town Meeting warrant.

Town Administrator Shawn Cadime said several options are possible, including knocking down the 911 property and constructing a new building on that site.

“Is it a (demolition) of 911, is it a renovation of 911?,” Cadime said. “Are (DPW) working out of two buildings? From my standpoint, that’s what we need to look at from a feasibility standpoint.”

“I think it would be a travesty to tear that building down,” Sagar said. “It’s structurally sound and there are a lot of things that could happen there.”

Sagar added that he didn’t believe there was an “appetite” among voters for a $30 million building.