Kelly: Flood Damage to Sudbury Police Station Could be $15K

The massive fans and dehumidifiers the Sudbury Police Department was forced to bring in over the weekend due to busted frozen pipes were removed on Jan. 7.

All that remains now is the estimate to the damage.

According to Combined Facilities Director Jim Kelly, Framingham-based Service Master by Gilmore cleaned up the mess in the front lobby, inner hallways and locker room area over four days. 

Kelly said he has yet to receive a bill for the damage caused, but thinks it will be in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.

"Cleaning up the mold and mildew, we're done with that," he said. "If we can just get through the next couple of days (we'll be fine)."

Highs aren't forecast to be above freezing until Friday, WHDH reports.

According to Police Chief Scott Nix, the first pipe burst Thursday, which was located in the locker room area. On Friday, a pipe in the front lobby/dispatch area busted, flooding the lobby but sparing damage to the dispatch computer system.

"We're fortunate the water only came down in the lobby," Nix said. 

How the pipe in the attic above the locker room froze has Kelly perplexed.

"The pipe in the attic had no reason to freeze," he said. "There must have been direct air to the pipe."

The station has been a hot topic for the past year as the town debates whether a new state-of-the-art headquarters is warranted.

Nix and Kelly know many town residents still have concerns funding a new $7.5 million headquarters on Hudson Road after Ballot Question 1 at Special Town Election barely passed last year, 2,622-2,539.

Residents were asked whether the town be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2 1/2 the amounts required ($627,000) to pay for the bonds issued in order to provide professional and engineering services for the final design.

With the approval, there will be a $21 increase on the average tax bill for five years.

Nix said he thinks that with a new station, frozen pipes won't be an issue.

"I would hope so," he said. "We're learning from this. If we get public approval, we'll work with the architect so the piping is not near the dispatch. With new construction this would not happen."