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.

Berkshire Museum Donates Cheshire Crown Glass to Town

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
07:15AM / Saturday, March 21, 2026

Historical Commission Chair Jennifer DeGrenier and Jason Vivori, Berkshire Museum collections manager, present the antique glass to the Select Board. 

CHESHIRE, Mass. — A piece of history has found its way back to the town with the donation of a well-preserved pane of bull's-eye glass made at Cheshire Crown Glass Works. 

 

Manufactured in 1814, the artifact was donated by the Berkshire Museum, where it had been since 1910. 

 

The glass will be on display at the town's new museum, located in the old Town Hall at the junction of Church and Depot Streets, alongside research and photographs gathered by the town's local historian Barry Emery.

 

Prior to being housed at the museum, the piece was at the Berkshire Athenaeum prior to the museum's founding, said Jason Vivori, the museum's collections manager. 

 

The glass was originally used in window making. Its distinctive bull's-eye center was formed when the molten glass was spun on a long rod to form large sheets, Vivori said. 

 

The bull's-eye rendered it unsuitable for windows today, but local historians admire the piece for its preservation, making it unique. 

 

There is another piece of Cheshire Glass in the old Reynolds store, Historical Commission Chair Jennifer DeGrenier said.