Adams Fire District OKs Articles Related to Greylock Glen Project
ADAMS, Mass. — The Fire District voted affirmatively on two articles Monday night that will move forward the Greylock Glen project.
The first article authorized the district to take on the responsibilities of the "parent system" for the water system that will service the Glen. This is contingent on the town's reimbursing the Fire District "for all expenses, costs and fees" that the district takes on to construct that system.
The second article was to authorize the district to hire Stantec Consulting Services to examine the proposed water system for the Glen from an engineering perspective. The Fire District settled on a $37,000 quote from Stantec prior to the meeting.
The meeting, which took place at the firehouse in Adams, did not draw a substantial crowd. The members of the district who attended seemed somewhat confused as to the purpose of the articles.
Catherine Foster, for instance, asked what would happen if the voters of the Fire District chose not to approve the first article. Prudential Committee Chairman Thomas Satko replied, "then [the town] wouldn't be able to get water from the district."
Charles Foster, who was present at the meeting and is also a member of the town Finance Committee, asked why the town would have to reimburse the Fire District for the project, and why the latter has to pay for an engineer if the town had already paid for one on their end.
He asked, "can't you review the engineer's work that the town [paid for]?" Satko assured Foster that this is what the Fire District was doing in Article 2.
John Barrett, superintendent of the water system, also pointed out that the town had to pay the engineer to ensure that the new water system at the Glen would not be a detriment to the existing water system in that area of town. He assured another resident, who was concerned about water pressure decreasing in those neighborhoods, that this was one reason why the Fire District is hiring the engineering firm in the first place.
But the attorney for the Fire District felt compelled to point out to the voters present that this meeting did not actually break any new ground on the Glen project, but rather it gave the Fire District the ability to commence its engineering study of the project. The town has its own process to go through before the project moves forward.
The attorney for the Fire District seemed to think that the voters had misconstrued the purpose of the meeting. This misconception likely stems from the fact that the Fire District is a separate entity from the town, but still works closely with the town government on these types of projects.
After less than 20 minutes of deliberation, the district voted in favor of both articles.
Tags: Greylock Glen, prudential committee,
