Dalton Prudential Committee Eyes Broader Involvement
The committee met on last week, with an ambitious agenda that garnered some criticism and confusion surrounding procedural processes.
The, at times tense, meeting started with the swearing in of the committee's newest member David Pugh. Vice Chair Dennis Croughwell was elected onto the committee in May 2025, and Chair Daniel Filiault has served for several years.
The committee previously only met for financial discussions, mostly during budget season prior to town meeting. Under this new leadership, the committee plans to meet the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30.
The agenda item included policy and operational items that had previously not been in the committee's scope of duties, including a potential support person policy, proposal to establish working groups, and an update on recent legislative efforts that could impact the district.
Fire Chief Ryan Foley expressed concern over the inclusion of what he described as "several controversial operational topics" on the agenda without prior discussion with other district leadership or department members.
He specifically cited items including the potential financial separation of the emergency medical services and fire department budgets, fire department collaboration between the town and district, capital planning, mutual aid agreements, and fire department policies and reporting.
"This generated unnecessary concerns, speculation, and unrest among many department personnel. This outcome was entirely avoidable, and could have been avoided by basic communication to professional courtesy," he said.
In matters involving departmental operations, staffing, leadership, and professional safety being placed on public agenda without the consultation or explanation, it creates confusion and undermines confidence within the organization, Foley said.
"This does not produce productive dialog or effective governance, instead, risks damaging morale and distracting personnel from the primary duties to the community," he said.
Foley said he respects the responsibility and authority of the committee but believes it should be done in a more transparent, professional, and collaborative manner.
"The district remains committed to serving the community with professionalism and integrity, and I would just like to say that I hope future matters of this nature will be handled to communication and collaboration before being presented publicly," he said.
Committee members encouraged Foley to reach out to them next time he has concerns with items on future agendas and explained that the goal of being more active is to more easily distribute responsibilities rather than placing them all on just a few people.
"I'm very much into collaboration. I know all the intentions of everybody in this room are positive, and for the betterment of this community, that's my intention," Pugh said.
"I prove myself in my actions, and over time, I think this committee, I highly respect, will build each other's trust, and we're going to figure out each other's strengths, and within that, we're going to be able to support you within your work, and also have the confidence of the talent the town behind you."
Later in the meeting, Melanie Roucoulet, the district's treasurer and clerk, expressed confusion over the supervisory authority.
"I feel like this whole meeting is trying to turn the district into the town [by] just doing everything the way the town does it," she said, adding that it feels like there are too many hands in the pot.
Filiault confirmed that the Board of Water Commissioners are still the supervisory authority that staff report to.
According to the district's charter, the duty of the Board of Water Commissioners is to establish water rates and has general supervision and management of the operation of the facilities. While the Prudential Committee collects, has charge of, and expend, all monies raised by taxation.
In a joint statement from the chairs of the Board of Water Commission and the Prudential Commission, sent by board chair James Driscoll, it was said that "the duties of each committee consist of seeing that the Dalton Fire District continues to provide the services needed by the community we serve.
"As always, the boards are committed to working together and sharing the tasks needed to address the needs of our constituents."
Some noteworthy items discussed during the meeting which lasted nearly an hour and 40 minutes include:
The hiring of a recording secretary for both the Prudential Committee and Board of Water Commission on a six-month trial basis, an estimated cost of $2,000 a year for a rate of $65 for two and a half hours, plus $13 for every additional half hour.
Filiault said he believed this would streamline and make more efficient use of time.
Roucoulet, who is responsible for taking minutes during the meetings, was against this, citing that it's a waste of money given how she already does this and can look back on her recording to ensure accuracy.
During the meeting, Driscoll said the board would prefer to maintain Roucoulet as their minute taker because she provides valuable insight during the meeting.
The committee also discussed digitizing records to make the district more efficient and ensure information is available in the case of new onboarding.
The town has been working on digitizing records and would like to invite the fire district to be part of the effort, Select Board member Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo said.
The district has 40 boxes of files that can be digitized, he said, adding that the district's participation in the effort may help them obtain a grant to help cover the costs associated with it, he said.
According to the information technology person and a representative of the town, there is a way to segregate the district's information from the town's, Filiault said.
Filiault also suggested creating a support member policy, allowing department members to continue their service — an approach currently used in Adams. He noted that he has already discussed this with officials from the Adams Fire Department.
He also provided updates on legislative bills, specifically H.4721, which amends the district charter increasing the Board of Water Commissioners from three members to five.
District voters approved increasing the number of board members in May 2025. The bill is in the Senate Rules Committee and was anticipated to take a long time to go through, Filiault said, adding that it took Lanesborough two years for their amendment to pass.
He also presented bill H.3132, which provides volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians with a local option real estate tax exemption. The House ordered a third reading of the bill on Feb.12, 2026.
Several communities are struggling to recruit volunteers. This bill will allow a city, town, or district to establish a program for volunteer, call, or auxiliary firefighters or EMTs that reduces the real property tax obligations of these volunteers. No reduction of a real property tax bill shall exceed $2,500 in a tax year.
Tags: fire district, prudential committee,
