Residents in Exeter, New Hampshire, will vote on four bond articles totaling $24.7 million to build a public safety structure, reconstruct school streets, upgrade a pump station and design a surface water treatment plant. Voting will take place March 14.
If approved, the bond would provide $17.5 million to build a combined police department and fire substation. The police and fire departments have outgrown the current public safety complex, resulting in security concerns, slower fire and emergency medical service (EMS) response time and a need for more space. The two-story replacement building would cover 23,165 square feet of space. The police department would cover 16,285 square feet, while the fire substation would be 6,880 square feet.
The public safety complex would feature secure parking, an auto impound and a trash enclosure. The town would build a 60-foot apparatus apron connecting the fire department substation bays directly to the street. The building would include a main lobby on the east side of the building for visitors, while police officers, fire crew and staff would use a secure rear entrance.
Other features include a two-stall sally port providing a secure entrance to the rear of the police department building. The town would also provide secure parking for vehicles and staff, a two-bay apparatus floor to accommodate fire and emergency response vehicles and decontamination spaces in the fire substation. Construction will conclude by fall 2026.
The town would use an additional $6.5 million to reconstruct water, sewer and drainage infrastructure in the School Street area. The current water mains lack the capacity needed to provide sufficient water for firefighting. The sewer piping is also aged and in poor condition. The town would replace the water mains with larger piping and update the sewer mains with modern materials. In addition, the town would also upgrade the road and sidewalks to make them ADA-accessible.
The bond would allocate $213,300 in supplemental funding to complete a sewer pump station project. Voters approved $5.7 million in 2022 to replace and modernize the pump station. The town would upgrade and increase the station’s flow capacity from 800 gallons per minute (gpm) to 1,200 gpm. The town would also deepen the wet well to expand pumping capacity, install a 12-inch, 1,940-foot force main and integrate a flow meter and force main shut-off valves with drain-back piping.
The town would leverage $500,000 to design and engineer a surface water treatment plant (SWTP). Currently, the three existing groundwater supplies have insufficient capacity to handle the town’s water demands. The current SWTP is susceptible to flooding, with the risk of future flooding rising due to climate change and sea level rise. After finishing design, the town would build an SWTP on a separate site. The bond funding would allow the town to evaluate potential future construction sites and determine how to repurpose the existing SWTP.
Strategic Partnerships, Inc. can provide information on contract opportunities, plus existing and future government funding. For more information, contact research@spartnerships.com.
Photo courtesy of the Town of Exeter
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