Letter: Delay Vote on New Williamstown Fire Station

To the Editor,

There is no question that the Williamstown Fire District needs a new modern facility to replace its antiquated 73-year-old Water Street station. While a new fire station is long overdue, the proposed $25 million building is challenging to justify.

In response to concerns about the size and cost of the project, the district recently released a "Comparison of Size of Proposed Williamstown Fire Station to Other Fire Stations" study on its official website and Facebook page. However, the comparison study overlooks several details and, when thoroughly examined, provides the best evidence why the Feb. 28 vote should be postponed so a re-evaluation can occur, and a new design can be presented for consideration.

In summary, a breakdown of the comparison study reveals the following:

• Every community listed has a population greater than Williamstown, excluding Wellfleet (Armonk, N.Y., is a hamlet of North Castle, population 11,765.)

• Every community is a full-time agency, or a full-time department complemented by call or volunteer firefighters, excluding both Armonk and Putnam Valley.

• Every fire department provides ambulance service to their community, excluding Newton (7,500 fire calls for service) and Putnam Valley, N.Y., (472 fire calls for service), both fire service-only agencies.

Scott E. McGowan
Williamstown, Mass.

Williamstown Recognizes Local Farmer, Library Director at Town Meeting

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
09:35AM / Thursday, May 21, 2026

Win Chenail has had a farm stand at his Luce Road dairy farm since 1965. The Chenails have been farming in Williamstown since 1916. Right, Select Board Chair Stephanie Boyd thanks board members whose terms were up this year. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For more than 60 years, Winthrop F. Chenail has been selling his bountiful crops to residents of Williamstown and beyond. 

 

"The family dairy farm at the top of Luce Road has been an anchor farm in our community since 1916," said Elisabeth Goodman. "His farm stand has been operating since 1965 and that's where we get our sweet corn, homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, summer squash flowers, and pumpkins that he and his grandson Nick Chenail grow as a side business to the family dairy farm."

 

Win Chenail's integrity, excellence, and dedication of service to the citizens of Williamstown was recognized at the annual town meeting on Tuesday with the 11th annual Scarborough Solomon Flint Community Service Award.

 

"At age 90, Win has not slowed down much," Goodman said. "I never did get to speak to him on the phone when notifying him about this award, as his wife told me he was busy in the greenhouse repotting 2,000 tomato plants."

 

Five generations have worked the Mount Williams Dairy Farm that Chenail's grandparents purchased, and Chenail's also been a caretaker of 130 acres of town land at the Spruces and Burbank properties. 

 

"The Chenail family has been managing the land since the 1950s keeping the fields green, lush, and productive with sustainable management practices," she said. "They fertilize it with manure from the dairy farm and lime as needed. With such careful, long-term stewardship of the soil, the land has continued to be fertile and productive for half a century under his fare."

 

Chenail thanked his family and fellow farmers for contributing to the welfare of the community and said it had been a privilege to keep the town-owned fields in farming.