Fire Chief Craig Pedercini provides information on articles at the Fire District's annual meeting. Right, Markus Burns, a member of the district's Community Advisory Committee, gives an update.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — After decades of service to the town's fire district and decades more to the protection of lives and property, Ed Briggs said an emotional goodbye at Tuesday's annual district meeting.
"I've enjoyed every bit of it," said Briggs, who decided not to run for a 14th consecutive three-year term on the district's Prudential Committee. "I've spent most of my life involved in fire departments, so that will be a change.
"I appreciate the voters electing me for 13 terms. I don't know if that's good or bad. But it's gone in a flash."
Briggs will not truly be gone from Williamstown's fire service, and his service will involve a flash.
Prudential Committee Chair John Notsley told Tuesday's meeting that he has appointed Briggs the district's official photographer, a title that is more meaningful than one might think.
"It's kind of an important role because when we have a bad situation and call in the fire marshal, they want to see what we saw when we arrived," Briggs said. "I've gotten to know some of the marshals, and when they arrive, I give them the chip out of the camera or – in the old days – got the film developed as fast as I could so they could start their investigation."
In addition to his service behind the lens, Briggs has played an integral role in advancing the district's efforts to build a new fire station, Notsley said.
"We're going to miss Ed's expertise and thoughtfulness," Notsley said. "He's been a fantastic guy. He kept the board rolling along."
Notsley is the sole remaining member from the Prudential Committee in its days as a three-member board; it was expanded to five in 2019. Last year, another longtime public servant, Ed McGowan, stepped down after serving 18 years on the committee and 50 as a firefighter and chief in the town.
Prior to the start of the annual meeting, the district held its election for new committee members to fill Briggs' seat and the one vacated during the year by former Chair Richard Reynolds.
Alex Steele and Joe Beverly, the only candidates on the ballot, were elected with 36 votes and 33 votes, respectively.
Thirty-eight voters participated in the election from 4 to 7 p.m., and 25 residents checked in to the annual meeting in the Williamstown Elementary School gymnasium.
The meeting members needed to take care of one bit of business to bless the results of the election. At the end of the meeting's previously warned agenda items, Notsley sought a vote to allow Steele, a call volunteer firefighter in the district for 18 years, to serve on the Prudential Committee in light of what could be seen as a conflict of interest.
Like the other 11 votes in the meeting, which took a little more than half an hour, the motion passed unanimously.
None of the meeting members spoke from the floor to question the articles crafted by the Prudential Committee over the last couple of months. But Chief Craig Pedercini went to the podium a couple of times to provide additional information on some of the special fiscal articles outside the district's regular operating budget.
Before a vote on a $120,000 appropriation for a new brush truck for the Forest Warden, Pedercini explained the current truck is nearly 30 years old and actually broke down last year during the fight to contain the East Mountain wildfire.
Likewise, Pedercini said his primary vehicle, known as "Car 1," recently broke down during a call. The Prudential Committee sought and received from the meeting approval to spend up to $70,000 on a new command vehicle to replace the 10-year-old rapid response command vehicle.
Tuesday's meeting included reports from the district's Building Committee and Community Advisory Committee, who both received thanks from Notsley for their service to the district.
In turn, the advisory committee's Markus Burns thanked the department's firefighters.
"As a town, we kind of take it for granted that when there's an emergency, the district shows up," Burns said. "We don't necessarily consider everything else that goes into the work done by the district. [The advisory committee has] learned about the limitations of the current space and also the staff and recruitment challenges.
"We've been happy to try to help think of different ways to adapt to the availability of volunteers."
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Williamstown Housing Trust Commits $80K to Support Cable Mills Phase 3
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The board of the town's Affordable Housing Trust last week agreed in principle to commit $80,000 more in town funds to support the third phase of the Cable Mills housing development on Water Street.
Developer David Traggorth asked the trustees to make the contribution from its coffers to help unlock an additional $5.4 million in state funds for the planned 54-unit apartment building at the south end of the Cable Mills site.
In 2022, the annual town meeting approved a $400,000 outlay of Community Preservation Act funds to support the third and final phase of the Cable Mills development, which started with the restoration and conversion of the former mill building and continued with the construction of condominiums along the Green River.
The town's CPA funds are part of the funding mix because 28 of Phase 3's 54 units (52 percent) will be designated as affordable housing for residents making up to 60 percent of the area median income.
Traggorth said he hopes by this August to have shovels in the ground on Phase 3, which has been delayed due to spiraling construction costs that forced the developer to redo the financial plan for the apartment building.
He showed the trustees a spreadsheet that demonstrated how the overall cost of the project has gone up by about $6 million from the 2022 budget.
"Most of that is driven by construction costs," he said. "Some of it is caused by the increase in interest rates. If it costs us more to borrow, we can't borrow as much."
Developer David Traggorth asked the trustees to make the contribution from its coffers to help unlock an additional $5.4 million in state funds for the planned 54-unit apartment building at the south end of the Cable Mills site.
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The donors, who wish to remain anonymous, say the gift reflects their desire to not only support Williams but also President Maud S. Mandel's strategic vision and plan for the college.
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Neighbors of a proposed subdivision off Summer Street last week asked the Planning Board to take a critical look at the project, which the residents say is out of scale to the neighborhood. click for more
The Select Board and Planning Board this week clashed over a proposal that would add to the town charter a mechanism to ensure compliance with the foundation of town government. click for more