Williamstown Fire District Prepping for Transition to New Station
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Prudential Committee last week took the first step in selling off the current fire station property on Water Street.
Meeting in a room that it shared with furniture already delivered for the new Main Street station, the five-person committee voted unanimously to declare the current station "surplus property."
Late this month or early in 2026, the committee likely will call a special fire district meeting to authorize the sale of 34 Water St., the local fire department's home since 1950.
"After we get the district's approval, we need to issue [a request for proposals] in accordance with the provisions of [Massachusetts General Law] Chapter 30B," Prudential Committee Chair David Moresi said. "We can craft that RFP in a manner most beneficial to the district. We need to have an eye to the community at large.
"We can put restrictions on the building. We don't have to accept the highest bid. We may see there's something that's going to be really beneficial to the community, and we can go with that."
The committee heard on Wednesday that the new station on Main Street (Route 2) remains on schedule and under budget. Officials have said they intend to start the process of relocating to the new station this month.
Chief Jeffrey Dias told the committee the project has reached the point where he is fielding calls every day, sometimes two or three times per day, with questions about finishing touches being applied at the project.
"We're getting into the nitty gritty, which is good," Dias said. "We're coming to the end of the tunnel."
Some exterior finishing touches are being put off until the spring, Moresi said.
"Obviously, we're getting into the time of year when it's not ideal to finish some things," he said. "One thing we'll be postponing is the final layer of asphalt [in the parking areas and driveway]. We've come this far with a great project, and we don't want to cut corners now."
Moresi mentioned that final landscaping at the Main Street site also is on hold until after the snow melts and the ground thaws next year.
"We are far enough along in the project that we can say we'll be coming in under our budget numbers," he added. "Everyone should be happy with that."
In February 2023, attendees at a special district meeting authorized borrowing up to $22.5 million for the station project.
The Prudential Committee, which oversees the district (a separate taxing authority apart from town government) worked efficiently through a relatively light agenda on the evening before Thanksgiving.
It reviewed the district's financials, a task made easier now that the committee has a separate Finance Committee that sits monthly to go over the district's finances the week before the Prudential Committee meets.
District Treasurer Billie Jo Sawyer on Wednesday told the Prudential Committee that fiscal year 2026 actual expenditures are tracking well against the budget.
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