Fire District Finance Committee Advances Old Firehouse Sale, Calls for Environmental Study

WILLIAMSTOWN — June 24, 2026 — Williamstown Fire District Finance Committee moves toward selling its old firehouse but slows down to assess environmental and strategic risks. Meeting June 24, the committee confirmed that two of six required steps under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30B have already been completed — the prudential declared the property surplus and a district meeting authorized disposition — but members agreed a certified property survey must be located and a Phase 1 environmental site assessment commissioned before any request for proposals goes out, in part because an underground storage tank was removed from the site at an unknown date with no records immediately available. Member Fred Puddester urged caution about a too-quick sale, warning that if Williams College eventually moves to sell adjacent non-strategic parcels — including the lot housing the ambulance service — a buyer who acquired the fire district parcel cheaply could block or profit enormously from a larger mixed-use development. Annual carrying costs on the vacant building were estimated informally at roughly $10,000 in heat plus hard-to-obtain insurance. On the new station, the committee reached consensus to address an overheating IT closet — estimated at $10,000 to $15,000 for a mini-split unit — as a change order under the existing Consigli Construction contract, avoiding a new public procurement, with roughly $400,000 to $450,000 in unexpended bond proceeds available to cover it.