The Edgartown select board is deciding whether it will ask voters to cover a $2.5 million shortfall in the new fire station budget at a winter special town meeting. 

Voters in 2023 approved $21.5 million for the new station, but bids for the project have come in higher than anticipated due to inflation in construction costs. That has put a halt to construction, which was scheduled to start in late September with the demolition of the existing station.

Town administrator James Hagerty said the town is prepping a warrant with additional items yet to be determined for the meeting, which would be held on Dec. 9. He said the window is tight because if the town were to push the meeting to January, he’d worry about reaching quorum.

“Obviously, a special town meeting in December at somewhat of a month’s short notice isn’t easy to facilitate,” Mr. Hagerty said. “I think if you did it in January or February, you face a lot of difficulties with regard to people leaving.”

The select board will vote later this month on whether to put the $2.5 million item on the special town meeting warrant or instead attempt to scale down the fire station plans. Project manager Mike Owen of CHA Consulting urged against reducing the scope.

“It would be really difficult if not impossible to go and redesign it,” Mr. Owen said.

The fire station building committee has met for several years to finalize designs for the new station, which is almost double the size of the current building. The existing station was built in 1966 and the department has struggled with a lack of space to fit modern fire trucks. 

Edgartown fire Chief Alex Schaeffer voiced his support for allocating additional funds in December. He said the fire station building committee has gone to great lengths to keep the cost to taxpayers low.

“I feel that we’ve done the due diligence to value engineer everything that cost a lot of this project…” Chief Schaeffer said. “We eliminated a whole structure of this project that had long term implications for storage [and] we’ve even reduced the size of hallways.”

Mr. Schaeffer said he’s worried if the town delays the project or waits until the annual town meeting in April to allocate funds, that costs will be higher. He said a manager for Dellbrook JKS, which is contracted for the construction, told him there would be a 25-30 per cent price increase if the town waited until the spring. 

The select board last week voiced its support for putting the $2.5 million allocation on the special town meeting warrant, but postponed its vote for a routine meeting scheduled for Nov. 24th.

“It would seem to me that the best course is what you have recommended, simply because we want to know as soon as possible [if] we have the money,” select board member Art Smadbeck said.