CONWAY — As State Auditor Suzanne Bump walked through the tight confines of the Conway Fire Station, she expressed surprise at the condition of the building, which is so small the fire engines have to be retrofitted to fit into the garage and must be parked bumper to bumper.
Bump was invited to tour Conway and Ashfield’s fire stations on Monday by state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland, and state Sen. Adams Hinds, D-Pittsfield, to show the deteriorating condition of public safety infrastructure in western Massachusetts. Bump was joined by the House chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield.
The tour was held as a way to illustrate the need for Bill H.3821, which would establish a public safety building authority — similar to the Massachusetts School Building Authority — that would administer matching funds to finance public safety and municipal office buildings. Bump said a committee like this could help “provide regional equity.”
Additionally, the tour served as a follow-up to Bump’s 2021 report, titled “Public Infrastructure in Western Massachusetts: A Critical Need for Regional Investment and Revitalization,” which determined the lack of state investments in western Massachusetts could “further exacerbate the commonwealth’s east-west divide.”
“It’s one thing to read about it in my own report, but seeing it … lets you appreciate the inadequacy,” Bump said following Monday’s tours.
The Conway Selectboard, Fire Chief Robert Baker, Police Chief Ken Ouimette and Highway Superintendent Ron Sweet joined the tour to discuss the condition of their public safety buildings.
“Our needs are diverse, numerous and massive for a small town,” said Selectboard Chairman Philip Kantor. “We can’t pay for what we need to do. … There is no fat on our bones.”
With towns across western Massachusetts in a financial bind, they often have to choose only one long-term project to invest in, which leaves other services to deteriorate. In Conway, the town recently finished a new garage that was desperately needed for the Highway Department, but expending that money means police, fire and emergency medical services have less money to upgrade and maintain their own facilities and equipment. In one notable exchange, Ouimette mentioned his department only has his office and a few storage areas. Bump asked him where he would bring someone if they were detained. Ouimette replied that anyone who is arrested has to be booked at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction in Greenfield, which is nearly a 20-minute drive away.
“That’s the crux of it right there — one town next to the other is more safe because of investments we’re able to make,” Hinds said. “That’s just wrong in Massachusetts.
“It’s an unequal playing field,” Hinds added. “It’s resulting in an unsafe environment for folks.”
Blais added that towns often have to make “these impossible choices” when choosing which public safety department to fund, and those not funded are held together by “duct tape and bubblegum.”
“Nearly all of our small towns have public safety buildings just like this,” Blais said before the tour.
As officials observed the Fire Station, Baker showed them the bell that sounds while the garage door is raising. Because the building is so short, moving a fire engine before the door is fully open could tear the door right off its track. Inside, trucks are packed in tightly, with the ones in the back parked right up against the wall.
“It’s been eye-opening,” Gonzalez commented. “I don’t think many of the individuals from Boston — where most of the conversations take place about where we spend the money — have come out here.”
Bill H.3821 is currently before the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. Blais and Gonzalez said the committee is redrafting the bill before sending it on, with the hopes of passing it before the end of the legislative session at the end of July.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.