Bill Text: MA H2293 | 2009-2010 | 186th General Court | Introduced
Bill Title: Build and renovate fire and police stations in the Commonwealth
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-22 - Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the House Committee On Ways and Means [H2293 Detail]
Download: Massachusetts-2009-H2293-Introduced.html
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
PRESENTED BY:
Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.
_______________
To the
Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:
An Act to build and renovate fire and police stations in the commonwealth.
_______________
PETITION OF:
|
Name: |
District/Address: |
|
Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. |
26th Middlesex |
|
Richard J. Ross |
9th Norfolk |
|
Thomas M. Stanley |
9th Middlesex |
|
Bruce E. Tarr |
First Essex and Middlesex |
|
James E. Timilty |
Bristol and Norfolk |
|
Paul McMurtry |
11th Norfolk |
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS
SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2386 OF 2007-2008.]
The Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand and Nine
_______________
An Act to build and renovate fire and police stations in the
commonwealth.
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. For the
purposes of this act the following words and phrases shall have the following
meanings:—
“Board”, the public safety assistance board.
“Joint public safety facility”, any building constructed, enlarged or renovated
with the intent of housing more than one public safety agency.
“Construction standards”, the standards promulgated by the public safety
assistance board which shall be used to determine the minimum and maximum
sizes, including square footage, compliance with health and safety codes,
compliance with all applicable provisions of federal, state and local law
relative to the accessibility of facilities to handicapped persons, and the
scope of design of a municipal police station, fire station, or joint public
safety facility.
“Capital construction project”, a project for the construction, enlargement or
renovation of a municipal police station, fire station or joint public safety
facility.
SECTION 2. (a) There is hereby established in the executive office of public
safety, a public safety assistance board, which shall consist of five members
to be appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be a representative from the
Massachusetts Municipal Association, one of whom shall be a representative of
the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association and one of whom shall be a
representative of the Massachusetts Fire Chiefs Association. The governor shall
first appoint one member for a period of one year, one member for a period of
two years, one member for a period of three years, one member for a period of
four years and one member for a period of five years; provided, however, that
appointments made upon the expiration of a term of any member shall thereafter
be for a period of five years. All members shall be residents of the
commonwealth and one member shall be designated by the governor, from time to
time, as chairman. The secretary of the executive office of public safety, or
his designee, shall serve as an ex-officio, non-voting member of said board.
(b) Said board shall be provided with suitable office space in the executive
office of public safety. A majority vote of said board shall constitute action
by the board; any action decided upon by said board shall be in writing and
signed by a majority of said board. Each member of the board shall be
reimbursed for any expenses actually incurred by him in the performance of his duties.
SECTION 3. All administrative and clerical duties deemed necessary to carry out
the provisions of this chapter shall be carried out by employees within the
executive office of public safety, subject to the supervision and control of
the board.
SECTION 4. (a) The board is hereby authorized and directed to establish and
administer a grant program, to be known as the Public Safety Assistance Program
through which the board shall be charged with awarding and prioritizing grants
to cities and towns for capital construction projects, and to encourage and
foster the establishment and building of joint public safety facilities in
cities and towns which the board deems appropriate.
(b) All such grants made pursuant to this act shall be paid from funds in the
Public Safety Assistance Fund pursuant to section eleven of this act. No grant
shall be approved for any amount greater than seventy-five percent of the total
construction costs for a police or fire station facility; provided, however,
that in the case of a joint public safety facility, a grant may be awarded for
up to ninety percent of the total construction cost. In no case shall a grant
include payment for the principal, interest or any other amount obligated to be
paid by a city or town in furtherance of a capital construction project. The
specific percentage that a city or town is eligible for, if approved, shall be
determined in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the board
pursuant to this act; provided, however, that said rules and regulations shall
include provisions to determine the financial obligations or two or more cities
and towns when applying for a grant for a regional joint public safety
facility; provided further that all grant payments shall be made by the public
safety assistance board to a city or town in three equal payments over a three
year period.
SECTION 5. Between January first and May first of each year, a city or town may apply to the board for a grant for a capital construction project, including costs incurred for the preparation of preliminary studies, plans, drawings and estimates related thereto. All applications shall comply with the construction standards promulgated by the board pursuant to this act; provided, however, that any city or town which has certified blueprints for a police station, fire station or joint public safety facility prior to the effective date of passage of this act, and who shall act in furtherance of said blueprints within one year of the effective date of passage of this act by commencing the capital construction project, shall not be subject to the construction standards promulgated by the board pursuant to this act. All application shall be accompanied by required documentation in the form prescribed by the board, including copies of the plans, drawings, estimates and other construction documents, together with such additional information as the board may require.
SECTION 6. The board shall establish criteria for making a decision to
approve or reject the grant application for a capital construction project, and
to determine the amount of such a grant; provided, however, that each
application shall be placed in one of the following three categories as
determined by the population of the city or town in which the capital construction
project will take place:— (1) cities or towns with a population of not more
than 25,000, (2) cities and towns with a population of more than 25,000 but not
more than 75,000, and (3) cities and towns with a population greater than
75,000. In making a decision to approve or reject an application, the board
shall consider each category separately and shall in no case cause applicants
from one category to compete for funding against applicants from any other
category except the category in which the application was placed. The
population of a city or town shall be determined pursuant to the most recent
census figures.
(b) The board may vote to approve or reject such application after it is
satisfied that: (1) the plans so submitted are satisfactory with respect to
site, type and adequacy of the proposed construction or renovation; (2) that
such a capital construction project is in the best interest of the respective
city or town; (3) the city or town has demonstrated the ability and commitment
to adequately maintain a new facility according to standards set forth by the
public safety assistance board; and (4) the expenses so incurred are
reasonable.
(c) After a vote which results in the approval of an application, the board
shall then list all approved applications in order of priority and according to
the three categories pursuant to subsection (a). Subject to availability of
funding, the board shall certify to the comptroller for payment to such city or
town, not exceeding such expenses, as it may deem proper. A city or town which
has an approved capital construction project that has been prioritized by the
board shall be notified of their ranking and said project shall not be removed
from, or have its position altered on, the priority list until a grant has been
awarded to such city or town except when conditions beyond the control of any
city or town result in the destruction of an existing police or fire facility,
necessitating immediate action from the board.
(d) The board shall begin making awards and ranking applications in order of
priority pursuant to this section no later than January first of the year
following the effective date of this act. Each year thereafter said grants
shall be awarded on or before September first.
SECTION 7. (a) The board is hereby authorized to enter into contracts for
technical service within the scope of its duties, to provide legal,
architectural or other technical advice and assistance to all applicants in the
planning, building or renovating of police and fire station facilities.
(b) The board is hereby authorized and directed to promulgate rules and
regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this act relative to
capital construction project applications; provided, however, that said rules
and regulations include standards to be known as “construction standards” which
shall include a requirement that all police station facilities shall be
designed to include a so-called, community meeting room; provided, further that
the board shall establish a formula for the equitable distribution of revenues
from the Public Safety Assistance Fund for each of the three categories of
applications pursuant to subsection (a) of section six; and provided, further,
that said rules and regulations shall be promulgated no later than September
fifteenth of the year following the effective date of this act.
SECTION 8. The board may recommend to the general court such legislation as it may deem desirable or necessary to further the purposes of this act. The board shall submit biannual reports to the house and senate committees on ways and means and to the joint committee on public safety. Said reports shall include, but not be limited to, a listing of applications received and approved by the board to receive a grant under both grant programs, together with the amount of each such grant, and a listing of cities and towns whose applications have not been approved, together with the reason for failure to approve such applications.
SECTION 9. (a) Any city or town which engages in a capital construction
project using funds from a grant pursuant to this act shall not be eligible to
apply for or receive a grant pursuant to this act for the construction or
rehabilitation of the building which was the subject of said capital
construction project for a period of twenty years; provided, however, that the
board may waive the provisions of this section when conditions beyond the
control of a city or towns severely damage or destroy the building which was
previously the subject of a capital construction project.
(b) A city or town which engages in a capital construction project using funds
from a grant pursuant to this act shall not hire an individual or company to
work on said project in any manner without proof that said individual or
company will pay to its employees the current prevailing wage in the
commonwealth. Such proof shall be furnished to the board in the form of an
affidavit signed by the owner of the business contracted to perform work, or
the agent of such owner.
SECTION 10. The commonwealth of Massachusetts shall expend $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2010 for funding of grants made pursuant to the establishment of the Public Safety Assistance Fund, for the planning and studies, acquisition of land and buildings and interest therein, the preparation of plans and specifications, construction, renovation, reconstruction, alteration, improvement, demolition, expansion, repair and equipment for municipal police and fire facilities; provided that the secretary of the executive office of public safety shall file an annual spending plan with the house and senate committees on ways and means, which details, by subsidiary, all administrative costs charged to this item. This amount shall increase to $40,000,000 in fiscal year 20012 and $60,000,000 in fiscal year 20013, at which time the annual amount shall remain $60,000,000.
