Published in the June 7, 2018 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD – A televised public forum was held last night to discuss the ballot question that will face voters at the June 26 Special Election. The question is the same one that Town Meeting voters approved by a more than 4-1 margin (168-41) on May 7 and relates to whether the town should spend $8 million to rehab the police side of the Public Safety Building.

During a two-and-a-half-hour discussion at the May 7 Town Meeting, Chief Smith detailed the reasons why he believes the present building lacks adequate space for modern day police needs. Other issues include the fact that dispatch is not currently located in the lobby area as well as structural and functional deficiencies that have surfaced since the last time the building was rehabbed in 2003.

After the Town Meeting vote to approve the project, a group of citizens collected the required 200 signatures to force a town-wide election on the matter. That election has been set for Tuesday, June 26. The cost of the Special Election is estimated at between $12,000 and $15,000.

Although last night’s forum was billed as an opportunity for concerned residents to ask questions and get answers about the proposed project, only four citizens attended who were not town officials.

David Watts, Jr. served as program producer and host of the one-hour forum, which took place at the WCAT Studios. The panel included Police Chief Rick Smith, Fire Chief Michael Sullivan and Permanent Building Committee chairman Joseph Bertrand.

Robert Mitchell of Spaulding Street was one of the activists who collected the signatures to force the Special Election. An opponent of the project, he led off with the first question.

He questioned why no swing space was being proposed during construction. He was especially concerned about citizens entering the building while it was was undergoing a major rehab.

Chief Smith said that there were contingency funds in the budget should any unforeseen relocation be required. But Bertrand said that because the project will be done in phases, the Police Department will be able to remain in the building.

Mitchell said that he was worried that the town was trying to put too much facility on too small a footprint. He urged citizens to vote “No” arguing that there were better options for the Police Department.

Robert McLaughlin of Water Street was also involved in collecting the signatures to force the Special Election. He said that he agreed with much of what Mitchell had said.

McLaughlin also maintained that it was “a good thing that we’re going to have the vote,” on June 26 as it will give more people an opportunity to weigh in than did at Town Meeting. If it doesn’t pass, he argued, the town “could come back at a future Town Meeting with a better plan.”

He asserted that many of the needed improvements at the Public Safety Building could be accomplished through the Capital Outlay process.

McLaughlin asked Bertrand to explain why dispatch was not placed in the lobby when the building was rehabbed in 2003.

Bertrand said that the original intention was to have an officer in the lobby 24/7. But that was tied to funding and to a plan to employ civilian dispatch, neither of which materialized.

Chief Smith stressed that the problem was not the location of dispatch or any other single issue.

“We don’t have adequate space for an agency that serves the public like we do,” he said. The building was too small in 2004, he added. He said that it was misleading to claim that the building is only 15 years old.

He described the police side of the facility as “a 68-year-old building with some cosmetic features.”

McLaughlin said that before the 2003 rehab, he had suggested the then vacant Mike’s Gym property on Broadway as a location for a new Public Safety facility. But Bertrand countered that there had been an effort to relocate Public Safety to that that area of town, but that proposal failed at Town Meeting.

Smith said that he would love to have a brand-new facility but argued that the town is so built out that land is not available and would be cost prohibitive to acquire. After land acquisition costs, a new police facility would cost close to $30 million, he said.

“This was not done in a vacuum,” he added. “We solicited a lot of input and came up with this plan.”

Bertrand added that when the architect was hired to do the feasibility study, one of the questions was whether the proposed rehab of the current building would suffice to meet future police needs. The conclusion, he said, was that it would.

Patrick Bruno of MacKenzie Lane noted that much of policing today relates to “societal matters.” He wondered whether some of those functions could be done at another site with more space.

Smith was adamant that it would not work, insisting that having police operations in multiple locations would be fraught with management and logistical problems.

Bertrand and Chief Smith talked about the fact that for every six months that the project is delayed, the cost of materials and labor will increase by 4 percent.

Finance Committee member Peter McManama of June Circle reminded people that the proposed rehab went through an extensive review and vetting process by a lot of qualified people who were confident that it was the way to go.

Bertrand stressed that the proposed rehab of the Public Safety Building would not affect the tax rate as it will be done within the tax levy using the debt service program.

Town Council member Ann Santos noted that the proposed project was discussed at numerous public meetings. She argued in favor of giving police the kind of facility that they need in order to serve and protect the town.

“We owe it to our most fragile citizens,” she said.

Deputy Police Chief Craig Calabrese said that the police have always had the support of the citizens.

“We are not asking for something that we don’t need,” he said. “We’ve made the current building work. We can do it even better with a newer facility.”

Town Council member Edward Dombroski said that the deficiencies in the current building are well-known and stressed that the town must now look at options that are viable and realistic.

“We have to act in the interest of public safety,” he said.