Warren voters will cast ballots on a bond vote for a new town garage on November 4.
The Warren Select Board confirmed the date at an April 30 meeting last week. Next steps include the town providing the preliminary design elements to ReArch, its construction management firm, next week for the first round of cost estimates.
In January the town received a rough cost estimate of $12 million to build the garage, after previously receiving an estimate of $15 million. Since that time the town has been fine-tuning the design and working to identify additional cost savings if possible.
NO LONGER SAFE
A town garage task force identified a 78-acre parcel of town-owned land on Vaughn Brown Road after a search that began over two decades ago. Vaughn Brown Road is just south of West Hill Road.
The town has been in the planning and preliminary engineering phases for a new town garage for over a year. The current town garage is located on School Road and is no longer safe for employees, the village, or the environment.
In addition to being undersized and made up of three buildings that have been in use since 1969 or before, the property is structurally deficient, poorly lit and lacks proper ventilation. Additionally, mold is present, and water infiltration occurs (including through electrical outlets) and sight lines onto Brook Road is difficult.
Currently, the Warren road crew has to store a significant amount of its equipment outside which impacts its lifespan.
TOWN-OWNED SITE
The town garage planning committee has been clear that rebuilding on the current site will not meet the needs to the town currently or in the future and that it would be more costly to build a temporary garage while rebuilding one at the current site.
The Vaughn Brown Road parcel came after an extensive search and analysis. The town already owns the site, and it had already been developed and used for 40 years as a town gravel pit. The location of the site keeps it away from the village, the school and residential neighborhoods and offers sufficient space for a new facility, built to current energy and environmental standards.
The selection of the Vaughn Brown Road parcel has raised some concerns with residents of Vaughn Brown Road, and others, about traffic circulation and safety on that road as well as the intersections of Route 100, Main Street and West Hill Road.
SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS
Klein Corrigan said that safety on Route 100, particularly near the intersections at Ellen Lane, West Hill Road, and the north end of Main Street, has long been a concern for Warren.
She said that the town had reached out to VTrans about an analysis of the intersection and said the town learned that VTrans will not undertake work to reconfigure the intersection until it works with plans or projects it has underway. Until that time, she said that the town was exploring other options for safety improvements, traffic calming and other measures that it could take on town land.
Work on the town garage project and plans will continue with a series of public meetings slated for July once more detailed design plans and cost estimates have been developed.
