Durham P&Z Approves Proposal for New Public Works Facility

Durham Public Works Director Kurt Bober said new facilities for the town's Public Works Department are "long overdue" - a sentiment shared by members of the town's Planning and Zoning Commission.

On Wednesday night, the commission unanimously approved the department's proposal to build three new buildings at 20 Cream Pot Road.

The project has been on the fast track since early February, when the town's salt and sand storage shed under the accumulation of heavy snow.

Under the proposal, three new buildings would eventually be built on the property, including a new 60 ft. x 60 ft. salt and sand storage shed with four parking bays, as well as a larger, roughly 11,000 square foot multi-use building. A 2400 square foot, four bay garage would be built at a later date to provide additional space for maintenance, equipment and storage.

"We started thinking about what we needed to do to bring our public works crew into the 21st century. Our guys spend more time in the winter with each other, than they do with their families," Bober said, indicating that the town's current facilities do not include some basic amenities.

"Sometimes, when the weather is bad, our businesses in Durham will close at 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then we're looking for a place to feed our men," Bober said.

The main building would include a kitchen area, showers, more than a dozen beds, office space and bathrooms.

Bober said the main building would also be built to include space for the Durham Volunteer Ambulance Corps, which is currently using 205 Main Street as its headquarters.

"The ambulance corps needs a second ambulance and they need a place to house it," Bober explained, adding that volunteers also need a place to sleep, eat and shower in order to operate during a 24 hour day.

The shared space with the ambulance corps is expected to be temporary, as plans are in development for an all-in-one emergency services facility at 41 Main Street.

Durham First Selectwoman Laura Francis said the next step for the new public works facility will be to put the project out to bid.

The town is currently working with its insurance company to cover the cost of rebuilding the salt and sand shed. The remainder of the project, which is expected to cost in the $400,00 to $500,000 range, would be paid for, in part, with the general fund, which was left untouched in next year's budget.

"This is a project that has been in discussion for several years. The collapse of our building has elevated our priority. We have been operating insufficiently over there for a number of years and this will solve our problem," Francis said.