To the Editor:

I read with interest the comments in last week’s Bee (December 19, 2014) relative to the proposed new firehouse to be located at 12 Church Hill Road. I am trying to understand why the Borough Zoning Board approved this location before it was reviewed by the Police Commission. One of the charges of the police commission is to review projects such as this and to give their opinion on whether this location makes sense. Haven’t we put the cart before the horse? What do we do now that the Borough Zoning Board has approved the project if the commission, which is the traffic authority for the town, concludes that this is a horrible location? Ignore their recommendation?  

I must applaud Commissioners Mangiafico and Procaccini for requesting a traffic study.

The issue here is the practicality of siting the new firehouse on busy, soon to be busier, Church Hill Road. Why the town land use agency feels a traffic study is a waste of money and thus is not necessary is beyond me. While I understand that there is a need for a new firehouse for all the reasons that were mentioned, 12 Church Hill Road, Main Street and Sugar Street are all the wrong locations.

In addition, why would the fire department want to spend $500,000 for a piece of land on Church Hill Road with such a poor location, when they can opt for a much better  location on the town owned Fairfield Hills campus? They contend that Fairfield Hills is located in a corner of their fire district, and this presents some kind of problem. Well why not modify the fire district, redistricting their area with one or more of the other fire companies so that Fairfield Hills is more centrally located? Are these districts set in stone?  It would seem that exiting from Fairfield Hill in response to a fire would be far easier and faster than coming out of 12 Church Hill Road. What about the times when traffic bogs down on Church Hill Road because of an accident on I-84?  Isn’t response time a very important issue?

Furthermore, wouldn’t it make more sense for the fire department to put the $500,000 down on the new firehouse mortgage? Perhaps then the town might only have to contribute $1,000,000 to the project saving the Newtown taxpayers some money.

In closing I want to recognize the great service our firefighters perform. It is a dangerous and sometimes seemingly thankless job. Suffice to say that we all appreciate their sacrifices.  

William R. Colbert

19 Church Hill Road, Newtown                      December 23, 2014