Neil Johnson, chairman of the Public Safety Building Committee, had one sentence highlighted at the top of his meeting agenda: “Need to find the perfect site.”

Some members of the group, however, believe the committee has already found the perfect location for a new police station (transfer station land off Mayflower Street,) and that they should press on despite a  defeat at last year’s town election.

Committee member Georgia Blatterman said the group needed to stick to the plan, and send a message to Duxbury voters: “If you don’t want it this year, we’ll be back next year, because it’s the right thing to do,” she said.

The group, tasked with coming up with a plan to replace/refit/renovate the town’s aging fire and police stations, has been wrestling with a variety of options over the past several years. A plan to build two completely new fire and police facilities was approved by Town Meeting in 2008 but then defeated at the polls. The group mulled the idea of building a combined facility on cemetery land but instead opted to pitch to voters a new police station on Mayflower Street and a renovation project for the main fire station. Unfortunately, this plan also passed Town Meeting only to be rejected at the ballot box.

Blatterman pointed out that the ballot was confusing (because of a last minute change, both the combo station and the separate projects appeared on the ballot) and said that if all the yes votes for the combo station were applied to the other questions, the project would have passed.

“We had two yeses and a no, and it divided our vote,” she said. “We weren’t necessarily wrong.”

Greg Carell of the Carell Group, an architect working with the committee, agreed that the land next to the transfer station was the ideal site for a new police station.

“It’s land that really isn’t going to become anything else,” he said. “I think you have the right site.”

One of the dilemmas for the group is that there are a few engineering and environmental questions about the Mayflower Street site. To answer those questions, however, requires money – about 25,000 to 30,000 dollars –– and the town simply doesn’t have the cash to spare.

Lt. Lewis Chubb of the Duxbury Police said fears that the location isn’t central enough for police are unfounded.

“We don’t work out of the building, we work out of the car,” he said.

Someone at the meeting suggested asking Town Meeting next March for the funds to test the land, but that would delay the project even further.

“This year is going to be the toughest year,” said Andre Martecchini, pointing out that there are no state rainy day funds or federal stimulus dollars available. “This is the year there could be real state aid cuts.”

“We missed a golden opportunity,” added Johnson. Carell added that construction prices are starting to creep up after a dip due to the bad economy.

There are other factors muddying the waters, including the uncertainty of the contract status of Police Chief Mark DeLuca. As it stands, the town is slated to get a new chief when DeLuca’s contract expires in November –– a new chief that would likely want input on any new police station. The group did throw around some alternate site ideas for the police station –– including land designated for affordable housing off Lincoln Street and the former Goodrich Lumber yard (a 40B project slated to be built there has stalled) –– but nothing is jumping out as “the perfect site.”

Many committee members feel the issue is less about buffer zones and perc tests than it is about public relations, getting the message out to the community that new public safety facilities are a top priority

“The issues haven’t gone away,” said Frank Mangione. “We’ve got to get that message resonated out in the community. That’s the problem.”

The group will next meet on Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m. at the Senior Center, and they hope to connect with a new building committee created by the town manager to oversee all public buildings in town. The Fire Department will also hold an open house on Oct. 10, and they hope to work with police to spread the message that new facilities are sorely needed.