Westwood MA
9-27-2025 8:16pm

PRESS RELEASE: Town of Westwood Announces Community Forum to Explore Options for Fire Station 1

Thanks to the Town of Westwood for contributing this news to Westwood Minute.

WESTWOOD – The Town of Westwood and the Select Board invite residents to a Public Safety Community Forum to discuss the future of Fire Station 1 (FS1). The forum will take place on Tuesday, October 7, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Westwood High School Auditorium.

The purpose of the forum is to share information about potential options for addressing ongoing challenges with Fire Station 1 and to hear directly from the community.

“Many residents have expressed agreement that something needs to be done to address issues at Fire Station 1,” said Select Board Chair Robert Gotti. “This public forum is a chance for several options to be evaluated as possible paths forward. Our hope is to have the community’s input help shape the best solution.”

The Town is considering a range of options based on several priorities:

  • Ensure firefighters and their equipment are placed to respond most effectively to protect the
    community
  • Ensure firefighter health and safety
  • Ensure adequate and inclusive living quarters
  • Ensure the Town is making fiscally responsible decisions

Seven options, some with variations, will be presented. Each has been evaluated based on how well it meets the operational needs of the Westwood Fire Department, aligns with financial goals, and supports broader community or facility needs.

The forum will be moderated by Human Services Director Danielle Sutton and will include a panel of town officials:

  • Interim Town Administrator Molly Fitzpatrick
  • Fire Chief Steven Lund
  • Building Commissioner Michael Perkins
  • Finance Director Stephanie McManus
  • Director of Community and Economic Development Nora Loughnane

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions during the forum. Panelists will also be available afterward for informal discussion. The event will be livestreamed and recorded by Westwood Media Center.

If you cannot attend but would like to provide feedback, please email: bos@townhall.westwood.ma.us.

Updated 9/29/2025 at 10:33 a.m. 

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You may also be interested in reading:

- Westwood Residents Reject Funding Request for Proposed Fire Station 1, Again (UPDATED)

- September's Special Town Election Drew High Number of Westwood Residents to Cast Votes

- Dover's New Fire Chief Has Long History with Westwood Fire Department

- Republic Services Workers' Strike Comes to an End

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9-29-2025 11:36am

Not sure where this is going, and likewise, the need to have a public forum unless we're to be told what direction the Town Administration has informed our Consultants to take in down-sizing the project.

The majority has spoken and the message is clear - it's too expensive.

And too expensive is directly proportional to the size that was proposed. 

This is very simply, in that, it doesn't require a pubic forum. This sounds like another 'listening session', of which, no one was listening.

If our current Design Consultant cannot deliver what we want, then it's time to move on and pay the Consultant for their Services rendered to-date.  Take all documentation and design deliverables produced so far an advertise a new RFP to get a Design Consultant on-board that can produce a design for a new fire station that meets our public safety needs an at a price we can afford.

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9-30-2025 7:27am

It sounds like the town is trying to host a public forum to present different options and for people to ask questions about those options so I'm not following what seems to be upsetting you.  
 
The proposed design that we voted on did just that - meets our public safety needs.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion but it would be pretty wasteful to replace FS1 with a station that doesn't meet programatic needs from day one.  Do we really want to be like other towns who were forced to scale back a design only to have to look at building an addition, etc. in a relatively short timeframe because it lacked sufficient space?

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9-30-2025 9:40pm

Thanks to Brian and Nancy for participating on this platform! As comments may continue, here's a reminder to all of Westwood Minute's Community Guidelines, which aims to support respectful online discussion that our community may find valuable:

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