Bow taxpayers group offers alternative to safety complex

BOW Concerned Taxpayers of Bow has presented a petitioned warrant article it says is a money-saving alternative to the towns $6,796,000 proposal to build a new fire and police safety facility on town-owned land.

The groups petition is asking voters for $225,000 to repair the electrical system in the fire station and community center, and provide proper ventilation in the centers kitchen. The petition was signed by 120 registered voters, and member Bryan K. Gould said it would satisfy the towns needs in the long-term.

The $225,000 will remedy the electrical issues the fire marshal identified when the town fire chief invited him to inspect the firehouse. It will also pay for repairs to the hood and ventilation system for the cook top in the building, he said. The $225,000 will certainly fix the issues with the firehouse/community center that have been raised as a justification for spending over $10 million on a new complex.

The town proposes a 25,000-square-foot public safety building to house the fire, emergency management and police departments. In addition, voters will have a choice of approving $4,640,000 to renovate the fire station and the community center, and $1,724,000 to renovate the existing police station. The Board of Selectmen and the Budget Committee do not support the articles to repair the facilities.

Another article seeks $200,000 to install a geothermal heating and cooling system in the public safety building. If the safety building proposal is approved, the bonds to repair the two properties will be deemed void. Each town-proposed article must pass by a two-thirds vote. The petition article needs a majority vote to pass.

Bows tax rate is in the top 10 percent for New Hampshire. By any objective measure, Bow residents are already overtaxed, said Gould. The project will cost more than $6.8 million. We know that it will be at least $7 million if the proposed method of heating it geothermal is approved. If the geothermal proposal is rejected, presumably there will be another expenditure for some other form of heating. Interest on the bonds will be over $3 million making the capital investment over $10 million. This doesnt include the cost of furnishings and equipment.

Members of the group said they have been told it would be too expensive to renovate the existing fire and police stations because of the new structural standards, which require new buildings to withstand hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The new building would be built to that standard, said Town Manager David Stack.

But the group said other towns have built public safety centers for $3 to 5 million less than Bows proposal, and its a matter of want rather than need, said Gould.

There are far less costly alternatives to a new complex, such as repairing any deficiencies in the existing buildings. Even if the town concludes that a new public safety complex is important enough to bond for, the cost of the proposed Bow facility is two to three times higher than what other similarly sized towns have spent on such projects over the past three or four years, he said.

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Bow taxpayers group offers alternative to safety complex