Brodeur Rebuilds Defunct Committee Ahead Of Critical Library Vote

MELROSE, MA — For the first time in three years, there is significant movement on the committee behind improving the city's dilapidated police and fire stations.

Mayor Paul Brodeur on Monday announced who he has appointed to make up the Public Safety Building Committee.

The timing of the announcement could be an attempt to disarm some of the questions about the prioritization of public safety buildings ahead of a critical vote on a massive library renovation. The City Council was set to vote Monday night on whether approve a $10.8 million bond toward a $21 million overhaul of the Melrose Public Library.

"This community is as eager as I am to identify how we can improve our police and fire stations to give our public safety professionals the updated facilities they need to do their jobs effectively," Mayor Paul Brodeur said in a statement. "While the process to round out the committee is ongoing, we have compiled an impressive roster of committee members to shepherd this effort forward."

That roster includes Councilors Jeff McNaught, who will chair the commission, and Cory Thomas. Both men are not running for reelection this November.

Also on the committee are: Former alderman and city solicitor Donald Conn, Jr., Emmanuel Andrade, Jason Chen and Eugenia Gibbons, as well as Police Chief Mike Lyle, Fire Chief Ed Collina, Planning Director Denise Gaffey, DPW Director Elena Proakis-Ellis and representatives from the public safety unions.

"I’m honored the Mayor has asked me to serve as Chair of this committee," McNaught said in the statement. "I know how important it is to the community to address the deficiencies of our public safety buildings, and I look forward to drawing on the professional experience of all the committee members to advance this critical project."

One name notably absent is City Councilor Shawn MacMaster, the council's Public Safety Committee liaison who has worked in public safety for 23 years.

MacMaster declined comment when reached by Patch.

The committee's first task will be to review options stemming from the findings of a 2017 feasibility study.

The state of the public safety buildings has long been a blemish on the city. Members of the police and fire departments have groused for years about the decrepit buildings, and the city's current push to renovate the library has sparked renewed calls for improvements.

"It's one of those frustrating things where everyone says they support but it never comes up for a vote," former alderman and Public Safety Committee liaison Scott Forbes told Patch.

The Melrose Fire Department's primary fire station on Main Street was constructed in 1895, the West Side Fire Station on Tremont Street is from 1930 and the East Side Fire Station on East Foster Street was built in 1964.

"The Main Street fire station is structurally unsound," Forbes said. "It's unsafe."

The Melrose Police Department's West Foster Street headquarters has been around since 1900.

The committee was convened in 2017 under Mayor Rob Dolan but didn't gain any traction and hasn't met since 2018. Forbes said the committee and city had different plans on how to move ahead, and the public safety buildings got buried under issues like the 2019 override.

"It was frustrating to say the least because everybody [on the committee] knew what they wanted," Forbes said. "But what was being presented [by the city] was not what they wanted."

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.