Frozen Pipe Bursts Inside Sudbury Police Station

The subarctic temperatures that followed the year's first snowstorm took its toll on the fledgling Sudbury police station.

According to Chief Scott Nix, a pipe burst in the lobby/dispatch area Friday night as the area "looked like a waterfall."

"(Combined Facilities Director Jim Kelly) called a service company to drain the water," Nix said on Saturday. "It remains frozen and is still an issue."

Nix said on Thursday the locker room area was losing heat to what is believed to be another frozen pipe.

The station has been a hot topic for the past year as 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.

Plans presented to the Board of Selectmen on Dec. 18 were 60 percent complete, according to Co-Chair of the Permanent Building Committee Mike Melnick.

The Board is scheduled to observe the site on Jan. 28. 

"If we get a new station, we'll still be in (the current) facitliy for a year to two and a half years," Nix said. "We'll just move on as we always do."