Williamstown Fire Officials Want Another Look a Repair Plan
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Prudential Committee on Wednesday voted to hit the pause button on a repair project to the fire station.
The committee, which oversees the fire district, has for months been trying to address cracks that have developed in the wall at the front of the Water Street building.
A contractor was set to come as early as Thursday to begin work on reinforcing the wall, but the committee members questioned the fact that the project's nature had changed since the contract was signed.
"The whole complexion of the project has changed," committee member Ed Briggs said. "We ordered one thing, and we're getting something else."
The committee asked Fire Chief Craig Pedercini to arrange for the contractor and the engineer who originally studied the building to come and explain the new solution to the problem, which involves placing a steel support in the center column that holds the roof above the bay doors.
Pedercini said he would try to set up such a meeting as early as Monday.
The project is being funded out of a $60,000 appropriation OK'd at the annual Fire District meeting in the spring.
As originally conceived, the repair was going to involve replacing more of the masonry, and with that in mind, the committee decided to replace the "walk-in" entry door at the same time.
Now that the project involves less disturbance of the building's edifice, the panel on Wednesday discussed holding off on the door replacement, a nearly $6,000 piece of the overall project.
In other business on Wednesday, the Prudential Committee received the results of its annual audit.
Billie Jo Sawyer of North Adams' Sawyer LLC told the committee she was once again was reporting a clean audit with no major issues.
Clerk/Treasurer Corydon Thurston referred to a minor issue that he first raised at October's meeting.
Prudential Committee members Ed Briggs, left, and Ed McGowan listen to the results of the Fire District's audit.
"[Pedercini] presents the hours," Thurston said. "In theory, I look at those, verify them and present them to the payroll service for payment."
The problem is that Thurston is on the district's payroll, he said. Currently, there is no third-party check to make sure he does not move money around in the payroll.
"It would take time to catch me if I was to change my payroll numbers," Thurston said. "It is a little unusual for that situation to occur. We want to make sure there's no risk for the department and we're following proper procedures."
Thurston said he is looking at alternatives to bring more accountability to the process, including perhaps getting an itemized report back from the payroll service after it cuts the checks.
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