By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — A request for $2.6 million to fund the construction of a new fueling facility on Nahant Street for all town-owned vehicles to replace the aging and outdated fuel island at the DPW yard on North Avenue was defeated at Monday’s Town Meeting session by a wide margin.
Article 11 called for the creation of a new fueling facility to be located at the Nahant Street Yard Waste Facility. DPW Director Joseph Conway explained that the present North Avenue fueling island is approaching the end of its expected 30-year life. He added that the present fueling station in the North Avenue DPW yard is very constrained and sits on top of a contaminated site, so any digging to replace the fueling station on the current site would be ill-advised.
He noted that, if approved at Town Meeting, the proposal would still have to go through a public process with the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Conservation Commission and the Traffic Advisory Committee.
Nahant Street resident Karen McMaster spoke against the proposed new location. She noted that Nahant Street is already burdened with potential 40B developments and traffic.
Walden Road resident Scot McCauley argued that the town should just fuel its vehicles at local commercial gas stations that already have the infrastructure.
“You can buy a lot of diesel for $2.6 million,” he said.
Conway said that not only is it much cheaper for the town to operate its own fueling facility, but the town would have emergency backup power on the site to keep it open 24/7 in the event of a major disaster in town.
Haley Ballou of Forest Street asserted that the world is in a “climate emergency” and the town should not be building new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Davis Bisson of Central Avenue echoed that sentiment, saying that the town should not be enabling the continued use of fossil fuels and internal combustion engines.
But Derek Gerry of Broadway stressed that the DPW’s large trucks and heavy equipment cannot run on electricity with the technology currently available. He still saw the Nahant Street site as problematic, however, and asked if there were any plans to reconfigure the entry and egress at the site.
Conway said that there were no immediate plans to change the entrance to the Nahant Street facility as part of the proposed project but would not rule out a future redesign of the driveway.
Daniel Lieber of Elm Street said that if Town Meeting approved the $2.6 million project, it would put pressure on the Zoning Board of Appeals and Conservation Committee to approve it. He and others urged getting feedback from the ZBA, ConCom and Traffic Advisory Committee before bringing it to Town Meeting.
But Conway said that he was hesitant to ask town boards to expend time and energy on a project that has neither approval nor funding.
Marie Oliveira of Nahant Street questioned the proposed Nahant Street location for the fueling facility considering that large truck traffic is prohibited on Nahant Street.
Conway was asked what would happen if Article 11 failed. He said that the town would continue to operate the current fueling facility for as long as it lasts.
Since Article 11 would require the town to borrow the $2.6 million, a two-thirds vote was required to approve the article. But in the end, that requirement was moot as the article fell well short of even a simple majority, with 115 voting against the article, versus 40 in favor.