GREENFIELD — At least one member of the Fire Station Building Committee will attend the City Council’s online meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. to answer questions councilors have about the extra $6 million the mayor is requesting for temporary and permanent fire stations.
Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said the city is in “urgent need” of a new fire station, but will have to move into a temporary one while the Greenfield Public Library builds its new library, which requires the current fire station be razed.
The planned site of the temporary station is the municipal parking lot on Hope Street. It will be another week or so before the city has renderings of what the temporary station might look like.
As for the site of the permanent station, the city is still in negotiations, but hopes to purchase property at Main Street and Coombs Avenue, the open-air market property.
City Council had approved $10 million for the two projects in May. Fire Station Building Committee member David Moscaritolo said both projects together are now estimated at $17.3 million. He said the city will be asked to cover $16 million of the total, and the rest will come from grants and other ways the city finds to raise money. If necessary, some costs will be deferred, like new equipment, to make sure the project doesn’t go over budget.
“This (permanent) fire station is meant to be usable for at least 50 to 75 years,” Moscaritolo said. “We might have to update certain systems, like HVAC, after 20 years, but the building will be here for a very long time.”
The current fire station, which was built in 1930, does not meet the standards required of a modern municipal fire station. The city has been discussing building a new one since 1994.
City Council will have a first reading on the mayor’s requested $6 million at its Wednesday meeting, and will likely have a second reading and vote in December.
For more information or to attend the City Council’s virtual meeting, visit bit.ly/36u5r2w.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.