Seekonk Rejects Fire Station Funding

A second attempt to authorize $9.5 million in funding for a new South End Fire Station was rejected by voters at Monday’s Special Town Meeting.

As required by law, the article needed a two-thirds majority to pass. 216 votes were in favor, with 118 in opposition. If the article had passed, a special election would have been held for the purpose of approving a debt exclusion, which is a temporary tax increase. The project was rejected at the May town meeting by a vote of 112 – 108.

Select Board member Gary Sagar cited the town’s growing population and the need to reduce response times as reasons for why a new fire station is necessary. “I believe it’s needed,” Board member Michael Healy said last month. “From day one, I’ve stated that staffing is the issue. (The fire department) has been understaffed and undermanned.”

Healy, a former Fire Chief, believes response times could be improved with a new station, but that would come with a price. “We’re putting the life of every single firefighter in greater jeopardy because they operate unsafely to this day,” Healy noted. “It’s time for it to change.”

Voters at the May 2020 town meeting allocated $425,000 for the design of the facility at the site of the former school administration building at 69 School Street. The town has since demolished that property. The 8300 square foot building was to include a dispatch center, living quarters, and fire suppression.

In July 2024, Seekonk Fire Chief Shaun Whalen shared his belief that a tax increase to pay for the project would have been too much of a burden on residents. Whalen explained the town’s other expenses had to be taken into consideration. $1 million will be used to pay Seekonk’s share of the Tri-County Regional Vocational High School’s new building.