WILLIAMSBURG — As the police and fire departments continue to work out of the seriously dilapidated buildings, the town is moving the process of building a new public safety complex forward.
Jim Ayres, co-chair of the Owners Project Manager Steering Committee, said members are currently focusing on bringing in a project manager.
“We are going to be having a conversation with interested firms shortly,” Ayres said, adding that committee members hope to issue a request for quotation “within the next few weeks.”
After examining several possible sites, the Williamsburg Public Safety Complex Committee concluded in its report to the Select Board that the only workable location would be the property of the former Helen E. James School.
“There was some pushback from the community,” Town Administrator Charlene Nardi said. “There are just a lot of feelings about the James school and how it should be used.”
Nardi said that other ideas for the property, which is located in the center of town, included creating a green space or senior housing.
“This is a $2.5 million project and the Select Board felt they needed more time to take a step back and get more perspective,” she said.
According to Paul Wetzel, a member of the OPM Steering Committee, there are currently no approved sites for the public safety complex.
“There is no site selected and there is no short list from this committee; everything is on the table right now,” he said. “This project is really going to require thinking about all aspects of the town’s capital needs, which makes it harder and more complicated but you have to consider all of that.”
Ayres said the steering committee is looking to refine the criteria previously used to evaluate potential sites for the safety complex and hopes the project manager will help with that task.
“We want them to help walk us through that process as they will likely know how other communities have problem-solved around these things,” Ayres said.
The OPM Steering Committee meets every other Thursday at 6 p.m. in the town offices.
CUMMINGTON — The Bryant Homestead in Cummington will celebrate maple sugaring and the rustic New England life on Saturday.
Participants will feel transported back to 1865 while they enjoy pancakes in the homestead’s dining room and parlor, take in a 19th century boiling demo with Dennis Picard, and tour the house and a special exhibit about the history of sugaring in New England
Maple day at the homestead goes from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The entrance fee is $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers. For more information, contact acaluori@thetrustees.org
PLAINFIELD — Plainfield Fire Chief Dennis Thatcher has announced the following promotions within the town’s volunteer fire department officer group:
Lt. Matt Hardwick has been promoted to captain after serving the department many years as a lieutenant. Hardwick joined the department in 2001, then did a six-year tour in the U.S. Navy before returning and rejoining the department.
Firefighter Duane Meehan has been promoted to captain and training officer. Meehan moved to Plainfield last year from Hatfield, and is an 11-year veteran of the Hatfield Fire Department, serving as a fire officer before his move.
Ideas for this column on life in the Hilltowns can be sent to Fran Ryan at fryan.gazette@gmail.com.