The following is a message from the Conserve Woodbridge mailing list. The title of this post is taken from the subject line of the email.

The Woodbridge Fire Department says it's squeezed for space in its new 20,000-square-foot building. The department has applied for permission to construct an 1,800-square-foot shed that will disturb 1,190 square feet of protected wetlands or wetlands buffer. The shed will begin in the parking lot and extend into the Fitzgerald Tract.

On Wednesday the department will make its case to the Wetlands Agency, whose job it is to regulate construction that disturbs or destroys wetlands. The state requires towns to have a wetlands commission because wetlands improve water quality, reduce flooding, support wildlife, and minimize the flow of pollutants into drinking water.

The public is invited to speak on this application Wednesday, July 21, at 7:30 pm in Town Hall.

Please pass this on to friends and neighbors. And if you received this message from a friend and want to join the Conserve Woodbridge email list, please reply to this email. The purpose of the list is to inform Woodbridge residents about the use of our town's natural resources.

If you believe that the department needs more space, please insist that the town find space on land other than the wetlands. If you question whether the department needs more space, ask the selectmen to appoint an independent task force to assess available space in town and in the new firehouse.

If you cannot attend the meeting, you may submit a letter stating your position. You may email it to this address , give it to Gerry Shaw in the selectman's office or ask a friend to read it for you at the meeting.

More on the firehouse proposal:

The proposed project consists of the construction of a 1800 s.f. shed adjacent to the municipal fire station parking area on the Fitzgerald Tract. The proposed project will disturb approximately 5100 s.f. and will require associated grading, drainage, landscaping and soil erosion and sediment control activities. It will disturb 1190 square feet of protected wetland areas/or buffer areas.

It will also add impervious area by 900 square feet, including 150 square feet of regulated wetlands area.

Both oral and written comments regarding the application are welcome to be received at the public hearing on July 21st.