new pg 1 7-25-24
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caption, page 7:
70 May Street, Putnam. Linda Lemmon photo.
New home for
emergency
services
is proposed
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — The proposed purchase of a 7,500-square-foot building for emergency management services will be put before voters Aug. 5.
The proposal to buy the Providence & Worcester Railroad building at 70 May St. was voted down, 4-3, at a recent Board of Selectmen’s meeting.
A petition was then submitted to the town clerk for a vote on the proposal and that town meeting was set by selectmen July 22.
Town Administrator Elaine Sistare said the building would provide a base for emergency management and the town’s EMS/ambulance departments. Putnam is also the base for some of the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Region 4 equipment.
The Putnam Police Department and the Putnam Fire Department are not included in the proposal — they are Special Service District entitles. Putnam EMS is a contract service, Sistare said.
While all three are in need to newer, larger facilities, Sistare said the EMS problems are significant. “It’s old. It’s inadequate. There are a lot of problems with that facility,” she said.
Asked where the funding would come from, Sistare said the Board of Finance has the following accounts available: the undesignated account, the ash landfill account and capital funds. There would be no need for bonding.
She said there is no estimate at this time on buildout costs, should the proposal be approved. Three items jump out, upon inspection of the building: the need for an emergency generator, designations of the male and female restrooms and the need for a sleeping area for on-duty staff.
In the last couple months, the town had applied for a discretionary grant through Senator Richard Blumenthal’s office. It was for improvements to the current Putnam EMS facility. Should the proposal pass, Sistare believes the grant could be moved to the 70 May St. property. The total for the matching grant is $500,000. Sistare said it might be six to nine months before the town hears on that application.
The positives of the parcel is that it’s in a central part of town, next to the railroad and as one citizens pointed out “whenever a town comes across a large centrally located parcel, it should consider buying it for the town’s future needs.”
Part II coming later this week, on FB.