Open Forum On Environmental Aspects of Williamstown Fire Station Project

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Fire Station ProjectTo Be Held Nov. 9
 
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. An open forum on the environmental aspects of the proposed new Williamstown Fire Station will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 6:00 p.m. at the Williamstown Youth Center on School Street in Williamstown.
 
All residents are invited to attend this interactive event, which is co-sponsored by the Williamstown Fire District's Building Committee and the town's CO2 Lowering (COOL) Committee.
 
The station proposal is the first public capital project since Williamstown passed a resolution at its June 2021 Town Meeting to pursue a net-zero greenhouse gas remissions goal.
 
The station is designed to meet that goal. The Nov. 9 forum will discuss details of the green design and of proposed stormwater management at the site, which is on Main Street next to the Aubuchon store, and will seek input from participants on both. Present for the discussion will be members of the COOL and Building Committees, Chris Wante (associate principal of the architecture and design firm EDM), Chris Schaffer (principal of The Green Engineer), and
Charlie LaBatt (senior engineer of Guntlow & Associates).
 
The session will be recorded by WilliNet for later broadcast on tv channel 1303 and streaming on ROKU, AppleTV, and Amazon FireTV.
 
More information on the project is available at www.williamstownfiredept.org/newbuildinginfo
 
To proceed, funding for the new station will need to be affirmed by a two-thirds majority of the Williamstown registered voters in attendance at a district special meeting that is expected to be called sometime early in the coming calendar year.

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Williamstown Fire Committee Talks Station Project Cuts, Truck Replacement

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Prudential Committee on Wednesday signed off on more than $1 million in cost cutting measures for the planned Main Street fire station.
 
Some of the "value engineering" changes are cosmetic, while at least one pushes off a planned expense into the future.
 
The committee, which oversees the Fire District, also made plans to hold meetings over the next two Wednesdays to finalize its fiscal year 2025 budget request and other warrant articles for the May 28 annual district meeting. One of those warrant articles could include a request for a new mini rescue truck.
 
The value engineering changes to the building project originated with the district's Building Committee, which asked the Prudential Committee to review and sign off.
 
In all, the cuts approved on Wednesday are estimated to trim $1.135 million off the project's price tag.
 
The biggest ticket items included $250,000 to simplify the exterior masonry, $200,000 to eliminate a side yard shed, $150,000 to switch from a metal roof to asphalt shingles and $75,000 to "white box" certain areas on the second floor of the planned building.
 
The white boxing means the interior spaces will be built but not finished. So instead of dividing a large space into six bunk rooms and installing two restrooms on the second floor, that space will be left empty and unframed for now.
 
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