WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown Fire District is soliciting applications to serve as the body's owner's project manager on a long-discussed fire station project.

 

The district set a deadline of Jan. 6 to reply to a request for qualifications for an OPM to help with "design development, construction documents, bid and award, construction and final closeout" of a station at 562 Main St. (Route 2), just east of Aubuchon Hardware.

 

The RFQ gives a ballpark estimate of the project's cost at $10 million, which would be subject to a vote of all district, i.e., town, residents. The district's Building Committee hopes to interview candidates by the end of the month and sign a contract by Feb. 19, according to the RFQ.

 

"Time is going by quickly, so we'll assume the Building Committee and chief and officers will be digging into responses after the 6th," district Treasurer Corydon Thurston said last week.

 

Thurston was reporting on the RFQ process to the Prudential Committee, which oversees the district, a separate municipal entity apart from town government.

 

"[The Building Committee] will review, hopefully whittle it down to the top two or three contenders," Thurston said. "I assume they'd most likely invite them in for interviews or a personal presentation to the committee. Typically, they encourage respondents to visit the site. The committee will establish criteria and make a final decision."

 

Finding an OPM would be the latest in a series of steps to advance a long-term goal of the Prudential Committee: replacing the outdated, undersized station on Water Street (Route 43). In 2017, the district purchased the 3.5-acre parcel from the estate of Kurt Lehovec after voters first rejected the idea in two other special district meetings.

 

The current station sits on a third of an acre which is hemmed in by the Green River on one side and a retail complex on the other.

 

And 4,300 square feet are inadequate to the needs of the fire service.

 

"Problems include lack of size and space for apparatus and all other fire and rescue operations," the RFP reads in part. "The lack of space in the bays poses a safety concern due to proximity of apparatus to each other and to the structure."

 

Fire Chief Craig Pedercini told the Prudential Committee that the district is applying for a fire safety equipment grant that he might use toward a new battery operated rescue tool to go along with recently acquired battery operated cutters and spreaders.

 

Meanwhile Assistant Chief Michael Noyes reported that the district lost out on a much larger state grant to replace one of the department's engines. But Noyes said he learn some things from the application process that will help the district make a stronger pitch next time around.

 

"[One] issue that was there was, 'Why are we replacing W3 when our maintenance numbers on that aren't very high?' " Noyes said of his discussions with the granting agency after its decision. "But the fact is we already did a refurbish on that truck, and we never informed them of that. We need to make sure we include that into [the application].

 

"I'm still very much working on this project for the grant period that is coming out. I expect it to be out any day now. Our intent is to apply for it again. Hopefully, through the narrative, we can improve our chances to get it this time."

 

In other business on Wednesday, the Prudential Committee received its annual audit from the North Adams accounting firm Sawyer LLC. Billie Jo Sawyer reported that she was issuing a clean opinion to the district.