By Alan Burke
SWAMPSCOTT — Not a single member of last night's Special Town Meeting objected when a speaker described the present station as "a dump."
But when they voted overwhelmingly to send voters a $6 million plan to build a new one, they did it with Selectman Anthony Scibelli's Cassandra-like warning ringing in their ears.
Mostly, he talked of the tax burden that Swampscott residents already face.
"There is a significant gap between the income level in the town and the tax burden," he said.
He quoted state statistics that show Swampscott is 63rd among the cities and towns in income, but 27th in the level of taxes imposed on residents.
"Our residents are already bearing a significant tax burden," he said.
Moreover, he warned that Town Administrator Andrew Maylor is predicting deficits rising from $500,000 in 2011 to more than $1 million in each of the two years following.
"Those deficits will have to be made up," he said, questioning whether this is the right time to take on still more debt by building a new police station.
Finally, Scibelli quoted an anonymous resident who insisted, "When you're in a hole, you need to stop digging."
For all that, advocates of the new police station presented a compelling case. Officers Candace Doyle and Rose Cheever described their difficulties in a station built in 1938, long before there were policewomen.
"We go to calls where there's blood," Cheever said. "You're stepping in it."
Yet, there's no shower for officers to clean up. Women change in a tiny room flanked with cabinets. The men's locker room is also the squad room. The women must knock before they enter.
There are no interview rooms to conduct confidential talks with witnesses or victims or suspects. "The bathroom is a janitor's closet," Cheever said.
Leaks from a window are feeding the growth of mold, she added.
Doyle lamented that she couldn't go downstairs to the cells while pregnant because of high lead levels built up by the now-shuttered gun range.
"The prisoners are down there," she said.
David Hall rolled to a microphone in a wheelchair, pointing out that the police station is all but inaccessible to people with disabilities. As a criminal defense lawyer, he warned that the basement cells were a serious problem waiting to happen.
In court, he recalled, "I watched when five officers had to subdue somebody. God forbid if they had to take someone like that down those stairs."
Others cited problems with the basement flooding and exposed wires.
Michael McClung of the Finance Committee said the cost of the project would not increase the tax rate because other loans will soon be paid off. The new station, to be built at the pumping station on Humphrey Street, would reap nearly a 25 percent savings in the operating budget, he said, and increase the square footage from 5,400 to 13,000.
Savings could be realized by the sale of town-owned property like the former middle school and Temple Israel. Meanwhile, state Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, is seeking stimulus funds to ease the town's burden.
The measure will now go before the voters. Police Chief Ron Madigan referred to this as the biggest hurdle. The election date will be set by the selectmen, probably Jan. 19, the same day as the U.S. Senate special election, a move designed to save money.
