New South Seekonk Fire Station-A Need Not a Want!

I am a current member of the Seekonk Select Board, and at present, the only member in support of allowing voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote on making a crucial decision at the Annual Town Election on April 6, 2026, which would determine the fate of the new South Fire Station. This station is a must not a want like other town projects. This much needed facility was initially proposed in June 2020 by the then sitting Board of Selectman at Town Meeting where a request for $425,000.00 was made to design a South Fire Station. This proposal was enthusiastically approved. The Town Administrator, at the time, spoke in support of this warrant article, citing the need to reduce response times, reduce the need for mutual aid from surrounding municipalities, and add a significant increase in ambulance receipts, which would provide additional revenue for the town. The South Fire Station would ultimately result in an overall improvement in service. I encourage residents to review the “South End Fire Station Building Committee” documents I previously provided which can currently be found on the Town’s website. The documents support the clear need for this facility and include the comments made in support of the Station.
Since these comments were made in June 2020 at Town Meeting, our town has grown both residentially and commercially. As a result, the response time for a fire truck and/or rescue to arrive on scene has increased exponentially. Mutual Aid has increased. The revenue obtained from ambulance calls/billing would increase significantly due to new fees recently implemented. This would result in substantial revenue for the town. To illustrate exactly how much revenue could be generated, we could use the numbers provided by the town administrator in 2020. He estimated mutual aid calls at approximately 100 annually, (it is my belief this number has increased since then). The increased fee(s) for the use of ambulance transport is $4,000-$5,000, per trip. This could potentially generate $400,000-$500,000 in additional revenue per year!

During the February 18, 2026, Select Board Meeting, a detailed presentation was made by our Fire Chief on the present and future of the Seekonk Fire Department “Operational Readiness: Staffing & Infrastructure”. This presentation was very well prepared with pertinent details and information. I thank the chief for his effort and the presentation and wholeheartedly support the need to improve resources for the Fire Department. The Fire Department is currently the most critically under-resourced department in the town — a serious concern when the public and firefighter safety are on the line.

I must emphasize the importance of the South End Fire Station as a major component of the “Operational Readiness: Staffing & Infrastructure”.

Much needed staffing and equipment can only be provided and of assistance to the public, most efficiently, when the appropriate infrastructure is strategically positioned throughout the town. At present, the South End is the busiest district, with approximately 2/3 of all calls for the SFD. The activity will only increase as pending commercial businesses come into operation; that district cannot be serviced adequately, efficiently, or properly from the Public Safety Center located on Taunton Ave. Response times can be 9-12 minutes, sometimes more, with the need for mutual aid from a surrounding municipality, making it difficult to save life and/or property. The response time will just become greater with the increase in traffic generated by businesses due to open. This new Station will improve overall efficiency by the SFD.

We are fortunate that the Chairman of the South End Fire Station Building Committee previously applied for the Building Permit for this project. That permit is currently on hold pending an Earth Removal Permit from the Select Board. A recent conversation with the architect for the project confirmed the estimated budget of $9,500,000 is still within the current range of cost. We have the added benefit of the Permit Extension Act, which allows us to utilize the original plans, until December 31, 2026. If we allow the permit to expire, it will cost the Town millions more for new plans and construction costs.

Additionally, the proposed South End Fire Station was also to house the new Communications Department, however, this part of the plan has now been cancelled. This cancellation could/would provide additional space for the Police Department such as an unmanned outpost, a training room, or any other potential use to be decided by the department itself.

The town generally chooses Debt Exclusions for funding major projects such as this. This requires a vote of Town Meeting and a vote at the Ballot at our Annual Election or a Special Election. This process can be in either order. Two previous Town Meeting votes resulted in a positive response, however, to pass, a 2/3 majority vote is needed. The first vote was 51% to 49%, the second was 65% to 35%. The second Town Meeting was just 7 votes short! These two affirmative votes demonstrate support for this project.

The request to place this question on the Ballot for resident to decide was solely mine. The town election is scheduled for April 6, 2026. The reason for my request was twofold and intentional. Placing the question on the April 6th ballot adds no additional costs to the Town or residents. Additionally, voting once provides convenience for the voters. In the alternative, holding a special election will cost upwards of $10,000.00 and will require voters to make an additional trip to the polls to vote. Placing this question on the ballot for the upcoming election just made sense. Unfortunately, and to my utter disappointment, not 1 board member agreed.

I am deeply concerned that the Select Board denied you the ability to decide for yourself and undermined your constitutional right to cast your vote.

It is deeply concerning that the Select Board’s decision restricted your ability to make an independent choice on what directly affects your safety.

Based on the financial information supplied by the Town Administrator at the time, the Town would assume a 20-year bond in the amount of $9,500,000 at a 4% percentage rate. To calculate the project cost per household, we can use fiscal year 2026 information. The median household value is $493,000, and there are 3,276 properties at or below the average single-family assessed value of $558,474. The fiscal year 2026 Average Single Family Tax Bill Impact (estimated new) is a mere $89.36.

HOME VALUE TAX IMPACT
$250,000 - $40.00
$350,000 - $56.00
$450,000 - $72.00
$550,000 - $88.00
$650,000 - $104.00
$750,000 - $120.00
$850,000 - $136.00
$950,000 - $152.00

The basic method to determine the tax impact is to multiply your tax assessment per thousand of value X $.16. Example $500,000 assessed value x $.16= $90.00 annually for 20 years.

Hopefully we will have a path forward to getting this facility under construction no later than 2026. Please contact me with any comments or questions

Thank you,
Gary S. Sagar