LAKEVILLE — The Lakeville Select Board is taking the next steps toward constructing a new fire station by forming a building committee for the project. 

This committee would be responsible for oversight of the building process and decisions on design details, board members agreed at their Dec. 5 meeting.

Town officials and employees on the building committee are likely to include the fire chief, the building commissioner, the town administrator, one Select Board member, and one financial committee member.

The board is also seeking at-large members from the community. Select Board member Richard LaCamera said that he would like to see community members with experience in construction, architecture, and project management join the committee.

The exact number of members on the committee has not been finalized. 

Fire officials have said that a new station is needed because the current site on Bedford Street is too small and antiquated. Engines can barely fit in the bays, which causes delays in response time and damage to equipment, Fire Chief Michael O’Brien has said. 

Special Town Meeting voters agreed in November to fund the design of a new station. 

O’Brien said he would like to serve on the building committee. He also said he would like to see a firefighter named to the committee so there is a non-administrative point of view from the fire department present.

Select Board member Richard LaCamera used the town’s police station building committee as a reference point for the fire station group make-up.

“The at-large members were very, very important because they came from engineering firms or construction companies or were project managers,” LaCamera said. “They added tremendous value. They would say to us, ‘the architect isn’t doing this right, the project manager isn’t doing that right.’”

During the police station building process, LaCamera said police officers formed a subcommittee to provide feedback on the design. Later in the process, the full committee members handled administrative tasks such as putting the project out for bids. 

LaCamera recommended forming a similar subcommittee for the fire station project.

Select Board member Lorraine Carboni stressed the importance of including a person with technological knowledge on the committee because of the requirements of a modern fire station.

Select Board Vice Chair Evagelia Fabian, who led the meeting after LaCamera’s resignation from the chair position during the last Select Board meeting, said she would like to fill the at-large positions by the new year.

That might not be enough time to fill the roles with qualified candidates, Town Administrator Ari Sky said. But he said he would begin soliciting application letters for those at-large committee memberships. LaCamera warned that the committee could be a two- or two-and-a-half-year commitment.

Applicants should send a resume and a letter highlighting their background and interest in the project to Executive Assistant to the Town Administrator and Select Board Tracie Craig-McGee at tcraig-mcgee@lakevillema.org.