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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

By Janet Hefler
Published: June 25, 2009

The Tisbury Emergency Services Facility (ESF) committee has made a decision on the orientation of the new joint facility that will house the town's fire, ambulance, and emergency management services. The committee expects to present its site plans at a public forum soon.

The facility is to be built on Spring Street, across from the Tisbury School, on the site that now houses the town hall annex.

The planned meeting, according to committee chairman Joe Tierney, will offer an opportunity for public comment as the process enters the design and development stages. Tisbury voters have approved funding for the architectural design and the proposed site planning, but their approval will again be required before construction can begin.

Mr. Tierney said the town plans to seek a share of federal grant monies specifically designed to fund firehouse construction. Selectmen have agreed to hire a grant writer to prepare an application for $2 million.

The ESF committee has worked with a design team from HKT Architects in Somerville over the past two months. The committee and designers have considered comments and suggestions received in public forums held on May 12 and June 17, Mr. Tierney said. The ESF committee also met with fire and ambulance personnel, Tisbury School leaders and parents, and town officials, boards, and committees.

The collaborative effort resulted in one orientation plan, which the ESF committee and HKT design team will present at the next public hearing along with options for materials and design elements.

The site plan provides a view of the entire three-plus-acre parcel. The area in the rear contains the existing leaching field and leaching expansion areas for the town's current treatment facility.

The apparatus bay was sited to the west of the lot to give responding apparatus a better view to the east up Spring Street, Mr. Tierney said. The building was sited to give better south facing exposure so the town may utilize solar panels and make use of passive solar for heat and light.

Mr. Tierney said the chosen site plan was one of 12. "By narrowing to one plan the building committee can now focus on developing the floor plans and exterior design," he said.

At a hearing on June 17, HKT project manager Michael A. Lawrence and lead architect Janet Monteverde Slemenda explained that a site feasibility study determined that the ESF's design and placement on the property is constrained by setback requirements and the existing leaching fields behind the town hall annex.

The ESF committee has given the HKT design team a tight schedule to complete the design process. At the May 12 public forum, Mr. Tierney said the ESF committee wants a cost estimate for the facility it can present to Tisbury voters at a special town meeting possibly in November. If voters approve the facility, Mr. Tierney said it might be possible to break ground for the building by March 2010 and aim for completion by August.

To meet that schedule, design development must be completed very soon in order to have a cost estimate ready to put to voters in the fall, Mr. Lawrence said, adding that it will take about six weeks to get a bid in hand on the project after finalizing a building plan.

"We're pleased with how much progress has been made so quickly," John Schilling, Tisbury fire chief and a member of the ESF committee, said last week. "The members of the committee are in agreement with the layout of the building, especially given the limitations of the site."