Falmouth Takes First Steps Towards Building New Fire Station

FALMOUTH, MA — The Falmouth Select Board got the process started for building a new fire station on Sandwich Road by appointing seven people to a new fire station building committee.

Board members said they sought members with experience in building procurement, the construction process, and/or fire department logistics.

"We got a lot of really good applicants," said select board member Megan English Braga, who lauded the experience of the applicants.

Members chosen included:

• Margaret Nickerson, a town meeting member and former member of the Falmouth Senior Center Building Committee.
• Boyd DeMello, a firefighter and the town's fire prevention inspector
• Patrick Callahan, ad former member of the Senior Center Building Committee
• Christian Valle, co-owner of the construction company The Valle Group and a member of the Falmouth Historical Commission
• Christopher Simmler, a former member of the Falmouth Senior Center Building Committee and a civil engineer
• George Rogers, the former Bridgewater fire chief and former member of the Falmouth Future Fire Station Citizens Advisory Committee
• Marc Finneran, a former member of the Falmouth Future Fire Station Citizens Advisory Committee

Each candidate submitted a resume and was briefly interviewed at the last select board meeting on June 21. John Elliot, the assistant master mechanic for the Falmouth Fire Department, was also selected as an alternate member. Other applicants included Edward Pride, Karen Dusini and Richard Bowen.

Town meeting members in April voted for the town to spend $800,000 to design a new fire station next to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth and the George Gaspa Sports Complex. Fire Chief Timothy Smith said the station will serve the northeast section of town, from Sandwich Road to the Mashpee border, Joint Base Cape Cod and toward the north, addressing a gap in public safety coverage for the town.

The new committee work with a project manager, architect and town officials to oversee the design and construction of the new station.