Adams Fire District Details Proposal for Appointed Officials
ADAMS, Mass. — A proposed changeup in the Adams Fire District's positions aims to increase efficiency and accountability.
On Wednesday, an information session was held regarding the Prudential Committee's recommendation to change the clerk/treasurer, chief engineer, and assistant engineers from elected to appointed positions.
They also discussed changes to the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant, which would support the hiring of two full-time firefighters for the next three years.
Early next year, district voters will be asked to decide if the three positions should continue to be elected positions or be appointed by the Prudential Committee. It would be a two-stage process that would have to pass at the district election and meeting.
The committee has been recommending appointment rather than election for several years. This year's district meeting approved the change to appointed but the measures narrowly failed in the election.
"These changes are aimed at enhancing efficiency, accountability, and expertise in the district," Chair Thomas Satko explained.
The state Department of Revenue recommends appointing key financial positions to ensure they are qualified, and fire chiefs find it hard to put training requirements on elected officials. Currently, district voters elect officials every three years, though candidates aren’t required to have specific experience or knowledge about municipal operations.
With this change, the administrative department would be reclassified from four positions to three: clerk/treasurer, assistant clerk/treasurer, and administrative assistant.
"And responsibilities of the bookkeeper would be absorbed over the three remaining positions to make checks and balances," Satko said.
"So duties will be shifted between positions, but the workload will still be the same.
This would not impact the budget, and compensation for each position would remain as voted at the FY26 annual meeting. Appointed officials would be selected based on expertise, require a medical exam and drug and CORI (criminal background) check, and report directly to the Prudential Committee.
If this passes, current officials will finish their terms and be replaced by a committee appointment based on qualifications and experience.
Satko cautioned that if they continue to elect officers, the district may face challenges in everyday operations.
The Fire Department has five fire engineers, three lieutenants, 19 members, and five apprentices. Chief John Pansecchi reported that the department is aging and that calls have increased, combined with the department's decreasing membership.
As of Sept. 22, there have been 312 calls in 2025.
He pointed to changes in fire service and professional qualifications, and fire code over the years, including a 240-hour certification program in Springfield that is difficult for Northern Berkshire volunteers to attend.
He said it was important to make these changes.
"Every job in this country has changed, the world has changed, and we're pretty much still operating in the same manner that we were, I would say in 1986 when I started," Pansecchi said.
If this district members reject the questions, and officers are re-elected, the proposed changes can't be revisited until 2029.
At the annual meeting in May, district voters did approve hiring two full-time firefighters through a SAFER grant with a 100 percent federal reimbursement.
"Since then, we found out that it's not going to be 100 percent reimbursable," Satko reported.
The federal share is now 75 percent in the first and second year, 25 percent for the district, and 35 percent in the third year, 65 percent for the district. This needs to be approved by voters at a special meeting on Oct. 22.
This would require $40,000 from the district in fiscal year 2026, which would need to come from free cash.
"Of course, this is if we received a SAFER grant, too," Satko added. "We've applied for it in the past and haven't received it. We're hoping this year that we get it."
SAFER Grants, distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, help fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations increase or maintain the number of trained, front-line firefighters available in their communities.
The Fire Department expects to know if it is awarded the grant by the end of September, and would have 180 days to hire the first firefighter.
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