Washburn: Rutland Town Article 23 | Commentary | rutlandherald.com – Rutland Herald

As a resident of Rutland Town, Id like to voice my support for Article 23 on the Rutland Town Ballot, the construction of the Rutland Town Public Safety Building.

The current police department office is 320-square feet inside the Town Hall. There are three desks to be used by the four full-time officers and the records administrator. This alone occupies the majority of the office, but then add in the three filing cabinets, a fax/copier/scanner, air purifier and basic amenities, and you are left with a single path to move around the office.

The current office was remodeled in 2015 and was a temporary (three to four years maximum) fix to the single closet office the police department was in. It is now 2022 and the police department has long since outgrown the office. There is no interview room, processing area and with limited desks, if there is a major incident, an officer will have to wait for a desk to be available to type their report.

The McKinley Avenue Fire Station was built sometime in the 1960s to fit the need of the fire department at the time. The building was constructed with a cinder block foundation and wall, steel-beam roof supports and three bays. A lot has changed since the construction of the building. Modern-day fire departments are required to carry more equipment, meaning the fire trucks are bigger. In order to get the new trucks into the station, the truck must be built to fit under the steel beam roof supports, which limits what equipment can be added to the trucks.

While the trucks not fitting is a concern, the building itself is falling apart. Anybody who has ever had a cinder block foundation or wall, knows cinder blocks crack, deteriorate and require constant fixing to keep their stability. There are cinder blocks at the McKinley Avenue station that have begun to crack and turn to dust. This compromises the structural integrity of the building, and I would rather see the town be proactive in replacing the building, versus the building collapsing and millions of dollars in fire equipment getting destroyed, the town be without multiple fire engines while they are replaced, and at the end of the day, the town would need to put up a new building.

I know there are people who oppose the construction of this building, citing its more than what the town needs, and its too expensive. While I respect these individuals are exercising their First Amendment right, I feel I also should be allowed to voice my First Amendment right.

The planned for public safety building was designed by the fire department and police department. The building has the necessities both entities need to perform their duties. There are no added bonus rooms, or luxury areas, just space needed to perform daily operations. The building was also designed by both agencies with the intent to last for the next 30 to 40 years.

As far as the price tag, yes, the overall building would cost $4 million to build. However, because of capital improvement funds and federal funding, the town has the opportunity to put down $2 million, meaning the overall cost of the building would be $2 million, instead of $4 million.

On March 1, Ill be voting yes on Article 23, and I ask for the support of Rutland Town residents to approve this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Ted Washburn lives in Center Rutland.

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Washburn: Rutland Town Article 23 | Commentary | rutlandherald.com - Rutland Herald