Recently Paul Goldberger, the influential, former New York Times architecture critic opined: "The most urgent issue is not what people build, but how much they're building; there's too much. The critical issue is land preservation and growth."  This from someone who has spent his entire professional life advocating for the built environment.

I firmly believe that the proposed new fire station needs much more study.  Regionalization options will—despite claims otherwise—save tax dollars and enhance efficiency, especially when trained volunteers or even paid staff are in short supply. 

Combining management and administrative functions, such as personnel recruitment and financial oversight as well as tighter, more comprehensive planning for regional allocation of equipment should produce significant cost saving.   

Recent studies in Maine indicate fire emergencies are a very small percentage of fire station response calls (most are for auto accidents and 911 health care emergencies).  In light of such studies, should we be looking at adding ambulances in lieu of fire trucks? Based on recent Thomaston government-originated promotional materials lobbying for a new fire station,  what Thomaston officials want and what we, the majority of Town residents, can afford are likely two very different things. 

In light of many unanswered questions and unknown costs, a more modest approach should be carefully and fully considered, too.  The fire department's present location on Knox Street—in the heart of downtown—provides immediate proximity to aging and vulnerable historic businesses and neighborhoods.  And, critically, it is next to mid-town’s only existing traffic light for ease of access to Route 1. 

A new station in a different location will require a new traffic signal, further exacerbating traffic congestion that is already turning Main Street into a parking lot. 

Have officials seriously considered retrofitting part of the Town-owned Watts Block, directly across the street from the present facility, for fire and EMS ancillary needs: sleeping quarters, equipment storage, training and meeting space, and kitchen facilities?

The Watts building should be able to accommodate both current theater group programs and fire and EMS crew needs, although the Town Meeting space at the former Lura Libby school already has an under-utilized auditorium for concerts, theater programs, etc.  The Watts Block building belongs to the Town; it is not owned by the Community Players or any other private, nonprofit group.  And while theater, concerts and public gatherings at Watts Hall are enjoyable and often charmingly presented by community members, public safety service providers’ needs must take precedence.  

Right now, architects have been engaged to design a new fire station based on premises and assumptions that are, at best, moving targets. How many million-dollar-plus fire trucks does Thomaston actually need?  Pretty much every fire truck in Knox County shows up for any and all major fire emergencies (except on July 4 when they are all parading in Thomaston, anyway).

How will recent OSHA rule changes affect the design of  new or retrofitted older fire station buildings? Not incidentally, urban fire stations near schools are generally considered to be hugely comforting and beneficial—educationally and when school student safety has become an issue of utmost parental and community concern.  Whatever happened to the original plan to relocate the fire department next to or integrated with Town offices at the former Lura Libby school, adding an important layer of emergency safety personnel to Thomaston elementary schools?  

The look of the building, especially sited at the southwestern entrance to Thomaston’s  museum-quality collection of historic and impressively cohesive vernacular  architecture will require considerable design sophistication and sensitivity—all of which comes at insignificant added cost.  If we don’t care what it looks like, then re-visit a new fire station behind the business block (near Lura Libby) on Town land where we can build something we might actually be able to afford.

Before approving an $8 million to God-knows-how-much cost for a new fire station, there should be a public hearing centered on an in-depth data-driven analysis, with relevant comps for what a new Thomaston fire station should be.  Three minutes for public comment at Select Board Meetings does not allow for a full and fair airing of arguments for and against something that will affect residents' property tax bills—government grants notwithstanding—for many years, possibly decades, to come. 

These are not new questions and considerations, but for nearly a quarter-century the Select Board has been hell-bent on building something—anything—on the Green without prioritizing what the community actually wants or needs—or what is feasible in a community of less than 3000 residents.

Many of us no longer trust our own Select Board and its recommendations.  We remember the Town Meeting vote in 2023 allowing the Knox health clinic along with the Fire Department to build on the Green—Thomaston's most visible, accessible to all, large, open space that had previously served for two decades as our only substantial public park within walking distance of most residents.  

Preservation of the Green for parkland lost by four votes in a travesty of the democratic process: in-person only voting in an overcrowded Town Hall meeting still shadowed by a deadly pandemic—on a work- and school-night—effectively suppressing likely voter turn-out by working families and parents, as well as those unable to attend for varied valid reasons including travel conflicts and disabilities.   

In this age of only accepting voting outcomes if “I win,” one hesitates to complain.  Still, when the “Refs”—whether the U. S. Supreme Court or our own Select Board—pre-determine and promote their own agendas, it permanently damages not only their credibility but confidence in the very rules by which the “game” of democracy must be played.

The Town Meeting form of local government was established in the era of limited local government and even smaller populations who would meet in small town halls, or even local living rooms and barns.  Still, even more antiquated and troubling, this was also  a time when women and non-property-owning residents were not allowed to vote at all.  Limiting voting to in-person only meetings at times and places when many residents are unable to attend, in our own early 21^st century, is an unconscionable, legalistic tactic for voter suppression—fundamentally unfair to all—and contrary to how democracy is supposed to work.  

And one final thought—what makes anyone thing building a non-profit, non-tax paying facility on a de facto public park--along with an already tax-free fire station--brings significant (or any) economic benefit to Thomaston?  Numerous recent studies tell us that parks enhance local property values exponentially.  And the indirect impacts parks bring—the recreational, health, and social enhancements associated with public parks providing incalculable benefits, including a strong economic platform for attracting new growth and financial health for the entire community.

No one questions the necessity of fire protection for our small town. And I have nothing but admiration for local fire and EMS staff and volunteers.  But if even public safety staff can no longer afford to live here due to increased property taxes and  rising housing costs and join with those of us who are concerned that local  government has lost sight of practical reality, then now is the time for everyone to ask hard questions.  It is not the Select Board’s job to tell citizens what to think or what they should vote for. It is their job to present clear, fulsome options for the community to decide what is in their own best interests.   

Chris Crosman lives in Thomaston