GREENFIELD — City Council will hold a special meeting Friday to hear what the public has to say about Mayor Roxann Wedegartner’s request for $6 million more than the $10 million that was already approved for a new fire station.
The meeting will be held virtually, and the council will still hold its regular monthly meeting Dec. 16, when it will hold a public hearing and second reading on the matter. It is expected to vote on the $6 million that night.
City Council President Ashli Stempel-Rae clarified that the 5 p.m. meeting on Friday is for public comment only, and is not to be confused with the public hearing Dec. 16.
“They could be done on the same night, and there will be public comment and a public hearing on Dec. 16, but we want the community to have as many opportunities as possible to come before the council and share their thoughts and concerns without it being minutes prior to the vote,” Stempel-Rae said.
Wedegartner said she is asking for $6 million instead of the original $5 million because of current estimates. She has said it makes sense to ask for more than the project might need. She has also said that if the project goes over $16 million to the estimated $17.3 million, the city will seek grants and other types of funding and will not look to taxpayers.
The mayor has said the city is in “urgent need” of a new fire station, and the city hopes to purchase property at Main Street and Coombs Avenue, the open-air market property, to house the new station. However, the Fire Department has to move into a temporary station while the new one is being built because the Greenfield Public Library is going to start its new building project next year and will need the current fire station property to do so.
The city needs $1.9 million for the temporary station planned for the municipal parking lot on Hope Street, which the Greenfield Fire Department would occupy for about two years while it waits for the new station to be constructed. The $1.9 million is included in the original $10 million City Council voted earlier this year.
The council had a first reading on the $6 million in November. The library plans to start construction and the Fire Department will relocate to the temporary fire station by the end of next June.
To attend Friday’s meeting online, visit bit.ly/37N8Qdd. To join by phone, call 408-418-9388 and use the access code: 132 219 0063.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.