More than five years after first exploring its options, the town of Castine is almost ready to start making specific plans for a new fire station on Battle Avenue.
For years, the town has been weighing different sites, projected costs and possible PFAS contamination as it has tried to get traction on replacing its current 65-year old fire station on Court Street, which an outside study found “completely insufficient” in 2020.
Bids for an owner’s representative, or a professional to represent the town throughout the design and construction process, were set to be reviewed by a committee of town officials Tuesday morning, according to Town Manager Derik Goodine. A bid should be awarded by the Select Board in the next few weeks after candidates are interviewed, he said.
Site selection, costs, hydrogeologic testing and concerns about contamination from PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” have complicated the process.
Bid documents state a predesign and final design will likely be developed over the next year, with construction expected to start next fall and finish in October 2027. The building could be up to 11,700 square feet, a past study concluded.
The town is among many in Hancock County working to replace fire stations from the 1960s and ’70s that are too small for modern firefighting equipment — particularly the height of today’s firefighting vehicles — and lack other modern needs. Doing so costs millions of dollars, and in some towns, finding locations for them has generated some controversy over costs and locations.
Nearby Orland completed its new fire station earlier this year at a cost of around $3.9 million. Elsewhere in the county, Deer Isle is designing a new building estimated to run around $7 million, Hancock broke ground on a replacement in April and Brooksville is fundraising for a second one.
In Blue Hill, voters decided in August to purchase a parcel in town for more than $1.8 million with an existing building that leadership has proposed could house a new public safety building.
Some residents there raised issues with the location and the speed of the vote on the purchase.
In Castine, the planning process has been underway for more than five years, Chief Randy Stearns said Tuesday; the urgency of finding a new building “cannot be overstated,” he wrote in the town’s 2024 annual report. The 2020 study found the current one far too small, out of step with current building code and having “few if any of the features required for a safe working environment.”
In 2022, the town studied three potential sites for the building before the design process would begin, including the current site, town land near the transfer station and a property on Battle Avenue that voters approved purchasing earlier that year as a potential location, according to BDN coverage at the time.
Architects recommended the Battle Avenue site, which met with “considerable vocal opposition,” the fire department wrote in 2023 without elaborating. Stearns declined to comment further.
Residents have raised concerns about PFAS contamination in the area, leading to testing on that site; the town is waiting on new test results from a well that has tested positive in the past, which should be available in a few weeks, Goodine said Monday. Part of that project includes interviewing people about potential contamination sources north of the site, according to Goodine.
When an owner’s representative is selected for the project, they will oversee design and construction to “make sure we get the right fire station for the right price,” the Select Board wrote in the most recent town report.
Infrastructure isn’t the only big issue facing the fire department, according to Stearns. Like other Maine towns, its existing vehicles will need expensive replacements soon, and its membership base is small and aging, which could put its ability to respond to fires in jeopardy, the chief has said.