Adams Fire District Approves Two Bylaw Changes in Special Meeting

By Brian RhodesiBerkshires Staff
04:52AM / Friday, June 17, 2022Print Story | Email Story

ADAMS, Mass. — The Adams Fire District approved both of the proposed bylaw changes on the warrant at its special meeting on Wednesday.

Article 1 moves the collection of fire protection and street lighting fees to Town Hall as a separate line item on town tax bills. The proposed changes resulted from a class-action lawsuit last year against the district. A Superior Court judge found that the district did not have the authority to charge for anything other than water, according to an 1873 act by the Legislature.

Article 2 adds language to Article XIII of the district's bylaws that gives the Prudential Committee authority to declare a state of water shortage. The committee can charge penalties for violations during a shortage that varies based on severity, ranging from a verbal warning to a $300 fine.

Voters disapproved these and other bylaw amendments at the annual meeting on May 24. The district, according to Treasurer Kathleen Fletcher at a June 6 meeting, decided to exclude the remaining bylaw changes from this meeting's warrant.

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Adams Prudential Committee Evaluating Truck Replacement

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:21AM / Thursday, September 03, 2026

ADAMS, Mass. — The Fire Department's Engine 2 is suffering from rust and the Prudential Committee needs to decide if it should be fixed or run until it can be replaced.

Fire Chief David Lennon told the Prudential Committee on Monday about the condition of the 20-year-old truck and acknowledged it's going to be an costly endeavor.

"If we choose to do this, it's going to be so expensive that it would have to be put out for multiple people to look at and possibly bid on, but moreover, we have to look at what the long-term plans are to decide if we want to spend that money on that truck," he said. "If we're going to replace it on its usual schedule, which would be in under 10 years now, so we have to decide."

Lennon said his thought was that it was similar to getting a medical diagnosis: since they've got one opinion, "it'd behoove us to get a second opinion to see.

"We see that it's rusting, but is that rust going to be completely detrimental to running that for the period that we want to run it for, and have somebody else look at it now," he said. "As far as who that would be, I don't know, but I think that's what we should discuss and see moving forward."

The committee set a workshop for Friday, Sept. 11, at 4 p.m.

Superintendent John C. Barrett said he plans to install a new system and water main for the Adams Housing Authority's 64 one-bedroom units in the Columbia Valley facility, which will mean a new suppression system for all of the buildings.

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