NORTHFIELD — The proposed public safety complex cleared two hurdles in March, with votes of approval from the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.

“There’s been a lot of work involved and we’ve had a lot of public comment that we’ve incorporated, not only in the site, but the building itself,” said Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III, who also chairs the Emergency Services Facility Committee. “It’s been a work in progress over the last two years. We’ve been moving forward steadily.”

The Planning Board reviewed and unanimously approved the site plan on March 22, sending the project next to the Zoning Board of Appeals. After reviewing the environmental conditions of the 121 Main St. property and other criteria on Tuesday, the ZBA also issued its endorsement by approving the necessary variance. The ZBA will meet again on Tuesday, April 4, to review and sign its notice of decision.

“We thought it was very, very good,” Planning Board Chair Steve Seredynski said of the site plan, noting that the public safety complex is “absolutely needed” due to the poor conditions of the existing emergency services facilities.

The multi-million-dollar complex, to be located just north of Dickinson Memorial Library, was designed following the release of a video tour showcasing the inadequacies of the police, fire and emergency medical services buildings in February 2022. The interior design of the 18,200-square-foot building includes three distinct sections — one for police, one for fire and one for EMS — with an area in the middle with conference rooms and other multi-purpose rooms to be shared by the three departments.

At 18,200 square feet — a plan that was reduced from an original proposal of roughly 26,000 square feet — the 1½-story building would measure 191 feet long by 64 feet wide, with apparatus bays of 84 feet by 97.5 feet. Public parking will be available on the building’s southern side, with potentially one electric vehicle charging station, and separate parking for first responders.

During Tuesday’s ZBA meeting, planners described the property’s unique challenges. Architect John MacMillan of Caolo & Bieniek Associates presented a floor plan, with the locations of each department being color coded. MacMillan said designers reduced the size of the building while also pushing it closer to the street. The ZBA’s agendas have noted the variance would entail a reduced front offset.

William Murray, director of landscape architecture and planning at Places Associates, noted the building needed to be closer to the street to avoid wetlands in the area of Mill Brook that bisect the property’s 26.96 acres. Planners aimed to stay away from the steep slopes that lead down to the wetlands, where the property then flattens out again.

“Because of the slope of the property, we’ve taken the apparatus area of the building, which is basically five bays, and we’ve dropped that down 4 feet from the main building,” MacMillan said.

The wetlands also introduce an “awful lot of environmental constraints” for the project in accordance with the Wetlands Protection Act, Murray continued. The act “severely restricts any developments” within 100 feet of wetlands and 100 to 200 feet of a perennial stream.

“The standards to work in those zones are very high,” Murray said, adding that the land is in a riparian zone.

Murray also touched upon the sandy soil conditions, which he described as being great for construction but not for “permanent stabilization.”

“We don’t want large ... sandy soil slopes that we have to maintain in perpetuity,” he explained. “So, the topography with the soils as combined conditions are really making us push this building as close as we can [toward Main Street] to avoid impacting wetlands, to avoid impacting all of the slopes on the site and to accommodate the soils that exist on the site.”

Murray also mentioned the hardships that are inherent with public safety facilities.

“It creates a very difficult scenario for the town to find a piece of property that meets the requirements of the police, the fire and emergency medical services, all at the same time,” he said.

Recounting his previous experience with public safety facility projects since 1990, Murray said that EMS and fire departments need to be centrally located in the town so the staff can quickly respond to the station, get the apparatuses and go to the scene. Murray said the town did “an amazing job” by locating the building in the center of town where there’s public sewer and water, “which are really big important things.”

The ZBA meeting also included a discussion of the existing facilities’ deficiencies.

A primary point of structural concern is the Fire Station. The concrete ceiling of the lower level began cracking a few years ago, causing support issues on the second floor. The department no longer places its heavier apparatuses on the upper floor.

Dunnell then spoke about the Police Station, which is located in the basement of Town Hall next to the Senior Center.

“If [Police Chief Jon Hall] has to bring a prisoner in for booking or has to have witnesses in for questioning … he has to bring them by the Senior Center and by the public, which is not a good mix,” Dunnell commented.

Dunnell also said heavy rain has led to flooding in the Town Hall basement.

Meanwhile, EMS leases the former Sandri Energy building at 41 Main St.

“The building has done us well to this point,” said EMS Chief Mark Fortier. “However, over the course of time, we have now grown from basically being an on-call department to almost a full-time department.”

Fortier said the EMS station doesn’t have enough space for its trucks. He also said there’s no place for training, meetings or overnight accommodations for the department’s 24-hour model.

“The space just is not adequate enough for us to have any number of trucks that we need in order to operate proficiently,” Fortier said.

With Planning Board and ZBA approval, Dunnell noted that, in time for an April 19 Special Town Meeting, the Emergency Services Facility Committee will have “hard and fast numbers for everything from the landscaping, final construction [and] paving.” According to its next agenda, the Selectboard plans to sign the Town Meeting warrant on Tuesday, April 4.

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