Newington Fire Station No. 4 Committee Advances $7.3 Million Design Toward Council Referendum

Other Committee · Meeting of April 16, 2026

CT NEWINGTON — Newington's Fire Department Facilities Project Building Committee moved a $7.3 million replacement of Fire Station No. 4 toward a public referendum vote, agreeing to restructure proposed upgrades as deduct alternates at its April 16 meeting. Committee Chair Stephen Woods and members including Chris Minor and Don Brown settled on including a standing seam metal roof, radiant floor slab heating, and interior column removal in the base bid, with each item listed as a deduct alternate to preserve cost-cutting flexibility if bids run high. The $7.3 million estimate already carries a 4 percent inflation factor and is supported by roughly $1 million in layered contingency reserves, according to Woods.

Resident Joe Harpy, speaking during public comment, praised the committee's work but cautioned that the 10 percent owner's contingency "seems thin" given the number of alternates in play. The committee is set to vote next Thursday on a formal recommendation to bring the project to the Town Council, which would then control the referendum timeline; grant applications to federal and state sources are pending and could reduce the tax burden on residents.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 789 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of April 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

NEWINGTON — April 16, 2026 — The Fire Department Facilities Project Building Committee moved closer to a council referendum on a $7.3 million replacement of Fire Station No. 4, agreeing Thursday to restructure key construction upgrades as deduct alternates and to hold a final vote at its next scheduled meeting.

The committee, chaired by Stephen Woods, reviewed updated conceptual design options and cost estimates prepared by project architect Bob Roach, who was absent. Members debated how to handle proposed upgrades — including a standing seam metal roof, radiant floor heating, and the removal of structural interior columns — settling on a strategy of including them in the base bid while listing each as a deduct alternate, giving the town flexibility to cut costs if bids come in high.

The Full Story

The $7.3 million figure already incorporates a 4 percent inflation factor, Woods confirmed, making it a projected rather than a present-day cost. Committee member Chris Minor argued that both the metal roof and the radiant slab floor heat should be included in the base package, citing long-term maintenance savings. "I would hate to see, unfortunately, historically, what we do, which is trying to cut it too tight and paying for it later," Minor said. [no timestamp index supplied]

The committee initially discussed these items as add alternates before member Don Brown proposed reversing the approach. By listing the upgrades as deduct alternates, Brown explained, the base bid would reflect a fully loaded project cost, giving the council and voters a more honest picture of the expense while still preserving a path to savings. Jonathan, the committee's staff liaison, agreed to have Roach revise the bid documents accordingly. The specific items to be carried as deduct alternates are the standing seam metal roof, the radiant floor slab, and the elimination of rear structural columns.

Woods framed the column removal as non-negotiable in practical terms. "To spend $74,000 to eliminate a potential problem makes sense to do it now," he said, noting that columns, unlike a roof or exterior planters, cannot be addressed after construction is complete.

During public comment, resident Joe Harpy praised the committee's budget work but raised two concerns: that the 10 percent owner's contingency seemed thin given the number of alternates in play, and that the proposed site appeared tighter than the roughly three acres he believed the design required. Woods and Jonathan responded that the contingency figure is supplemented by a separate design contingency and a contractor's contingency, with the combined reserves totaling approximately $1 million.

Committee member Teresa Avey raised questions about community receptiveness, noting public anxiety over taxes and recalling a crowded public hearing on the subject. Woods and others said the timing of any referendum would be a council decision, not the committee's, and that the town would move into a formal non-advocacy period once council authorized a referendum. The committee also discussed what advocacy restrictions, if any, would apply to volunteer fire department members, agreeing to seek clarification before the referendum process begins. The fire department chief, present at the meeting, noted the department handles more than 1,000 fire calls annually in Newington, and that the current apparatus assigned to Station No. 4 cannot be replaced by any other engine in the fleet if it goes out of service. Woods said Jonathan had also reached out to the committee's grant writer to pursue federal and state funding for the project.

A question raised late in the meeting about whether the bay doors shown on elevation drawings matched the specified 14-foot-by-14-foot overhead doors was resolved when a committee member located the line item in the cost estimate confirming the 14-by-14 specification. The committee agreed to flag the apparent discrepancy in the elevation drawings for Roach to correct.

Why It Matters

Fire Station No. 4 serves a section of Newington with limited road access, and the committee noted that no current spare apparatus in the town's fleet fits the existing building. If the station were taken offline, response times to that neighborhood would increase substantially and homeowners' insurance costs could rise. The committee expects to vote at its next meeting — scheduled for the following Thursday — on a formal recommendation to bring the $7.3 million project to the Town Council, which would then decide whether and when to put it to a public referendum. Grant applications to federal and state sources are pending and could reduce the tax impact on residents.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Approval of minutes of the March 18 meeting Tally: Approved unanimously

• Action: Formal recommendation to advance the project to the Town Council — Continued to next scheduled Thursday meeting

Source

Newington's community access TV: Fire Department Facilities Project Building Committee meeting, April 16, 2026