Bourne Exploring New Fire Station for South Side

The Bourne Fire Department’s station in Sagamore Beach

BOURNE – Town officials in Bourne are once again looking at building a new fire station on the south side of the Cape Cod Canal.

At a meeting this month, Bourne Fire Chief Norman Sylvester said a decision needs to be made on the future of the aging station on Barlows Landing Road in Pocasset and the call fire station in Monument Beach.

“We all understand that the Pocasset and Monument Beach stations either need some serious love or need to be merged into one,” Sylvester said.

Sylvester said the current stations in Pocasset and Monument Beach have a number of issues and cannot reasonably be restored at this point. The buildings have issues with cracked flooring, lack of sprinklers, and are not in not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A feasibility committee is being formed to examine a number of factors, such as possible locations for the new station and how much it would cost.

At this point, no parcel of land has been identified for a possible new facility.

“This is where I’m hoping the committee comes and gives me locations and what they feel would be the best spot for the town,” Sylvester said.

Bourne Town Administrator Thomas Guerino will form the feasibility committee. Right now, plans call for having a number of town officials and at-large members as part of the working group.

A similar feasibility committee was established 10 years ago to look into the possibility of building a new station on the south side of the canal, but nothing came from that effort.

Sylvester said having firefighters stationed on both sides of the canal is critical to providing appropriate coverage to the town. This becomes especially challenging in the summer when traffic in the canal region is often jammed.

“There’s certain times with these bridges, we all know, we can’t get on either side. We have to be able to provide a service to the community,” Sylvester said.

The Sagamore station, the newest fire facility in Bourne, opened in 2006 and cost taxpayers $6.5 million.

Last year, Bourne voters approved a new $17.5 million police station. Residents also voted in favor of a new $39.9 million Peebles Elementary School at the same town meeting and election.

“I understand the town’s financial constraints so I’m looking for the best bang for the buck,” said Sylvester.

By MATT McCARTHY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter.