Westwood Select Board Adopts Revised Fire Station 1 Project Scope and Budget Ahead of Special Town Meeting
New $39.98 million program reduces total budget and tax impact from 2025 proposal
Westwood, MA — The Select Board officially adopted a new scope and budget for the Fire Station 1 (FS1) project during its meeting on September 28, reflecting a commitment to fiscal responsibility and reduced taxpayer impact. The revised project budget totals $39,981,158, which is a reduction of $1.62 million (4%) compared to the previous proposal that went before voters in 2025. The Select Board vote sets the not-to-exceed project budget, which will go before voters at the October 26 Special Town Meeting.
In August, the former Deerfield Elementary School site was selected as the future location of Fire Station 1. Following that decision, site plans for the new FS1 were presented and updated after feedback from the Westwood community. In early September, the schematic design package was provided to independent cost estimators, who came together to reconcile the cost estimates, resulting in this project budget.
The $39.98 million project scope and budget adopted by the Select Board is a decrease from the previous $41.6 million proposal from 2025. Additionally, this new FS1 project includes:
Reduced Facility Size: The new proposal incorporates community feedback to focus on essential programming for safety. The design calls for an approximately 29,000-square-foot facility with four apparatus bays, a roughly 20% decrease compared to the previous project.
Reduced Tax Impact: The estimated annual tax impact for the average single-family home is projected at $343, an 8% reduction from the prior projected tax increase of $372 per year. Most single-family homeowners (at or below the median assessed property value of $1,077,000) could see an annual cost of less than $300.
Innovative Funding Plan: The funding plan for the project proposes utilizing $5.18 million in non-debt excluded funding sources, including free cash, sale of real estate, meals and hotel tax, and recreation revolving funds. This would reduce the debt-excluded bond by 13%, saving an estimated $10 million in debt service payments over 30 years and reducing overall tax impact.
No Compromise on Safety: The new proposal still includes essential features to protect firefighters, including decontamination space and separate hot and cold zones to remove carcinogens from living and working spaces.
Community Benefits: As part of this project, the Deerfield site would be renovated to replicate fields and/or green space, improve stormwater management and drainage, and expand the Westwood Public Library parking lot to benefit both field and library users.
No Immediate Tax Increase: Preliminary cashflow and funding forecasts indicate that FS1-related tax impacts will not commence until FY29 (starting July 1, 2028). Final bond issuance timing and interest rates are subject to market conditions.
“This is the culmination of a great deal of staff, volunteer, consultant, and resident engagement after over 70 public meetings this past year,” said Select Board Chair Marianne LeBlanc Cummings. “I appreciate the focus of the FS1 Committee, verifying the needs of the Fire Department to make the building as efficient as possible, with a funding package that achieves a smaller tax impact despite significant escalation in construction costs.”
“I am proud of the team for the heavy lift all summer to deliver this on time,” said Select Board Clerk Erin Sibley. “And I appreciate how seriously the project team is taking water concerns on site and that the financing plan turns over every rock to be creative with ways to finance this project.”
“Addressing FS1 is a top priority,” said Select Board Member Joseph Previtera. “This new approach takes both fire department needs and community feedback seriously and will allow us to get the right FS1 for Westwood.”
The adoption of the project scope and budget is one of the final milestones in the FS1 feasibility and schematic design process, which voters approved funding for at the May 4 Annual Town Meeting. Following Monday’s Select Board vote, the feasibility and schematic report will be finalized in the coming weeks. Project documentation and presentations, schematic designs, site layouts, and the Town’s funding proposal, are available to the public at www.westwoodfs1.com/updates-documents
Any questions can be sent to the FS1 Advisory and Community Engagement Committee at FS1committee@westwoodma.gov.