Williamstown Fire District Waiting on Lawyers for Land Buy
 Chief Craig Pedercini said the department will be installing dry fire hydrants and is looking to partner with North Adams to replace aging fire hose. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Fire District's efforts to relocate its station about a half mile are being held up by the inaction of parties 3,000 miles away.
The Prudential Committee, which oversees the district, met on Wednesday evening at the firehouse on Water Street. The three-member panel had hoped to be able to approve a purchase-and-sales agreement on a 3.7-acre Main Street parcel owned by the estate of Kurt Lehovic.
But committee member Edward Briggs shared the disappointing news that the estate's lawyers in California are not ready to submit a contract to the district for its approval.
"Last Wednesday ... it looked awfully good," Briggs said. "On Monday, I hadn't heard anything back, so I got hold of our attorney in Boston and said I'd very much like to put this together for our meeting on Wednesday night.
"[The estate's] attorney in Massachusetts said they were sending it to California. ... And I think that was our Waterloo."
Briggs said he heard back Wednesday evening that while the local attorneys are still optimistic, they had no progress to report from the West Coast other than to say they expected something "in a couple of days."
"We absolutely expected to have it by tonight, but it's not here," Briggs said.
The committee had at one time discussed putting the expenditure for the land on the warrant for its annual meeting, but on Wednesday night, the committee instead signed a warrant for the May 28 meeting that does not include any mention of the acquisition. That opens the possibility of a special meeting of the Williamstown Fire District at a later date.
Williamstown, like many other Massachusetts communities, has a Fire District that is a separate entity from the rest of town government. The district holds its own annual meeting, at which all members of the district can vote, has its own power of taxation and is governed by the Prudential Committee, which is elected at the annual meeting.
At this month's annual meeting, voters will be asked to approve a fiscal 2014 budget that is essentially the same as the one they OK'd last year. The total proposed budget for the next fiscal year is $471,000, an increase of just $1,000 from the 2012-13 budget.
"We have to commend the chief and the engineers for that," Prudential Committee Chairman John Notsley noted.
In other business on Wednesday night, Fire Chief Craig Pedercini updated the committee on the district's plan to install four more dry hydrants around town.
Dry hydrants are designed to provide water to firefighters in areas not served by town water. They are essentially pipes that run into bodies of water that allow pumper trucks to draw water from a lake, pond or stream in the event of an emergency.
The Williamstown Fire District is looking at installing four new dry hydrants: on a bridge on Blair Road, into the Green River at the Five Corners in South Williamstown, at the juncture of Oblong Road and Torrey Woods Road and on Hopper Road.
"I talked with Mark (Stinson of the Massachusetts Depatment of Environmental Protection) ... and sent him pictures we took of the Blair Road bridge, and he said he's OK with that," Pedercini said. "We have paperwork in to the Conservation Commission, and we're on their agenda for their May 9 meeting."
Pedercini said the Blair Road and Five Corners hydrants, which are straightforward projects, likely will be the first ones installed. The hydrant on Hopper Road likely will wait until the state replaces a bridge where the pipe would be attached. The site on Oblong Road involves accessing water currently used as a swimming hole, so Pedercini said he expects residents may have some questions.
Pedercini said a ballpark figure for installing the dry hydrants would be about $1,500 apiece.
Pedercini also let the committee know that the district needs to look at replacing about 2,000 feet of 20-year-old fire hose. He said he is discussing with North Adams Fire Director Steve Meranti the possibility of a regional grant application to reduce the cost of that acquistion; on the open market, the replacement cost would be about $14,000, he said.
Tags: fire department, fire district, fire station, prudential committee,
