HADLEY — Before a new $3.7 million substation for the Hadley Fire Department on River Drive in North Hadley can be built, site plans for the building may need to be adjusted to win support from the Planning Board.
At last week’s first public hearing on the town’s application for a site plan review special permit for the 5,300-square-foot project, which also needs a permit under the town’s erosion and sediment control bylaw, planners put off any decision until at least March 5.
One of the concerns came from board member John Mieczkowski, who is insisting that a loop driveway be added to the parking lot so fire engines and ambulances don’t have to back into the two bays from River Drive. He called backing in an “unacceptable” aspect of the design presented by Carlos Nieto from the Berkshire Design Group.
But Select Board Chairwoman Joyce Chunglo, who is a liaison to the fire substation committee, told Mieczkowski that this change is not only unnecessary but could add costs to the designs. She observed that in Sunderland, about two miles to the north on a different section of Route 47, fire engines have to back up to get into that town’s public safety complex.
The substation, which has a July groundbreaking scheduled on the 9.5-acre parcel at the intersection of River Drive and Stockbridge Street, will replace the 1950s two-bay garage at the North Hadley Village Hall that has been used by firefighters for vehicles, emergency communications and equipment.
Planning Board Chairman James Maksimoski said his worry is that residents at Town Meeting, which approved an additional $855,400 for the project last May, never saw the substation’s layout on the property. This means the town doesn’t know what it’s getting, he said.
“Town Meeting has never seen this project as it sits,” Maksimoski said.
Chunglo said the committee was tasked with locating the building so that it wouldn’t restrict future use of the property.
“We’re maximizing the best we can by putting the fire station where it is,” Chunglo said.
Planning Board member Joseph Zgrodnik said town officials should be planning for other municipal uses on the site.
Moving the building, though, could add costs to the future water and sewer connections, and Fire Chief Michael Spanknebel said where the building would be positioned provides a better buffer from nearby homes.
Carla Mokrzecki, who lives at a home just to the north of the substation site, requested additional arborvitae screening from the new town building.
Another issue identified by planners was whether a traffic signal should be installed at the location.
Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer said the site plan special permit needs four votes from the five-member panel, and with Michael Sarsynski recusing himself from participating because he owns an abutting property, the vote will have to be unanimous.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.