Additional Land Identified For Orleans Fire Station

ORLEANS – The town is working toward securing an additional half acre of land to support the construction of a new fire station on Eldredge Park Way.

Select Board Chair Kevin Galligan said during the board’s April 1 meeting that an article will be placed on the warrant for the upcoming annual town meeting on May 11 seeking authorization to purchase .48 acres of land at 48 Eldredge Park Way. 

“This article is a practical solution to help construct a major community project in a way that is mindful of the site, the existing business, and the surrounding neighborhood,” Galligan said.

Assistant Town Manager Mark Reil said that the article will seek the use of $600,000 in free cash for the purchase. Michael Solitro, the town’s special projects coordinator, said in a follow up conversation April 2 that two appraisals of the property were done to arrive at that figure.

The land the town is looking to purchase is part of the 1.48-acre parcel owned by Lower Cape Dental Associates. Galligan said the proposed acquisition “will not impact the operations of the dental practice.”

“The town of Orleans looks forward to continuing a collaborative approach to ensure that Lower Cape Dental Associates can continue operating without disruption,” he said.

The board voted 4-0 April 1 to support and place the article on the spring warrant. Board member Andrea Reed was not in attendance and did not vote.

The piece of the parcel sought by the town abuts a .82-acre property at 56 Eldredge Park Way that the town closed on earlier this year in support of the new station. Voters at last November’s special town meeting OK'd spending $1.35 million in stabilization funds to purchase the property. The existing dental practice at that site, Advanced Family Dentistry of Cape Cod, will continue to operate there on a lease with the town until the anticipated start of construction in summer 2027.

Reil in the April 2 follow up said that the .48 acres would be used to allow for “easier public access” to the new station, as well as access to the site for work crews during construction.

“It would not serve as the primary emergency vehicle entrance and exit,” he said. “The building is proposed to be built on Eldredge Park Way, so a lot of the ambulance vehicles and fire apparatus are going to be able to pull directly out onto Eldredge Park.”

Solitro said that talk of acquiring the land predated his arrival in town hall in 2023. Last June, letters were sent to property owners abutting the project site expressing the town’s interest in purchasing land to support building the new station.

“So it’s almost been a year that we’ve had discussions with all of the neighboring property [owners] at different levels,” he said. 

Reil said that conversations toward a purchase are still ongoing with the property owner, and that those discussions are likely to continue following the annual town meeting. While language in the town meeting article gives the town the option of securing the property through eminent domain, he said that the town is “very much committed to working collaboratively with the property owner to get to a resolution.”

“We need town meeting to authorize the acquisition, regardless of how it’s done,” he said.

Along with the article seeking authorization for the land purchase, voters will be asked to approve a $60 million debt exclusion for the new station’s construction. The town’s fire rescue building committee is looking at four potential designs for a two-story, 39,000-square-foot fire facility. Those options are due to be presented to the select board on April 15.

The existing station, which has been in operation since 1987, will remain in use through the new building’s construction. Plans are for the aging building to be demolished after fire services are relocated into the new facility.

The building committee had looked at options for making use of the existing station as part of a new three-story facility. But that option comes at a significantly higher cost and would encroach upon the neighboring Orleans Elementary School land. 

“We have been working toward eliminating any impacts to the elementary school, and this acquisition would do that,” Reil said. “We see this as the last key puzzle piece to making this project come together and making it work.”