Orleans Select Board Unanimously Adopts Net Zero Standard for Proposed Fire Station

ORLEANS — April 15, 2026 — Orleans Select Board adopts net zero energy definition for proposed $52 million to $60 million fire rescue station. The board voted unanimously Wednesday during a five-hour Town Meeting workshop to define net zero — energy produced on-site equals energy consumed on-site — as the design standard for the proposed fire station at 58 Eldridge Parkway, clearing the way for the project team to advance geothermal and solar planning. Fire Chief Jeff Deering told the board the current 1987 station, built for two on-duty members and now serving 33 full-time equivalents answering 2,800 calls annually, exposes firefighters to carcinogens through a fitness room situated on the apparatus bay floor and no proper decontamination area. Architect Ted Galante of TGAS pegged hard construction costs at $41 million to $48 million depending on massing choice and escalation, with total soft costs bringing the range to $52 million to $60 million. Finance Director Darren Tangeman calculated that borrowing $60 million over 30 years at 4.5 percent would add $581.49 annually to the tax bill of a median-assessed Orleans home by 2031. Public commenter Ken Heritage pressed the board to account for bond fees, land purchases, and asbestos disposal costs he said push the real figure above $64 million, and flagged ambiguous language in Article 17 suggesting the stated $60 million "includes all incidental and related costs."