Ed Briggs and Ed McGowan look over the Williamstown Fire District's financial statement at Wednesday's meeting.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The elected committee that governs the town's fire district on Wednesday discussed budget priorities for fiscal 2016.

 

The Prudential Committee held a special meeting to weigh requests from the fire chief and advise clerk/treasurer Corydon Thurston about the spending plan Thurston will present to voters later this month.

 

That budget could include a significant increase in the district's allowance for maintenance and operations and a warrant article for replacement of one of the department's fire engines.

 

This spring, the voters of the district will have the final say on the budget at the annual Fire District meeting. The district operates as an independent municipal entity with its own taxing authority, apart from town government.

 

Wednesday afternoon's meeting at the fire station began with a review of the current year's budget. Expenses are tracking pretty much as expected with a couple of notable exceptions.

 

The district currently is running a nearly $5,000 deficit in its $45,000 line item for maintenance and operations, and that deficit could increase with repairs already foreseen. The M&O shortfall is offset somewhat by projected surpluses in other areas, like pay to the volunteer call firefighters, who are given a small stipend when they are called to the scene of a fire.

 

The unknowns heading into the next fiscal year include what repairs will need to be made to the fire station itself, where cracks in the front wall are causing concern, and the status of Engine No. 3.

 

"I'm really concerned about the rails on the chassis of Engine 3," committee member Ed Briggs said. "It looks to me like it could become really unsafe pretty quickly."

 

Engine 3 was acquired in 1990, making it the oldest engine in the department. The tower truck was added in '98, and Engines 1 and 2 were acquired in 2002 and '06, respectively.

 

"The stuff they're putting on the roads is eating away at cars," Prudential Committee Chairman John Notsley said.

 

"It's murder on everything — not just fire trucks," agreed colleague Ed McGowan.

 

If the three-person committee decides to recommend a warrant article for a new truck, it would be paid for out of the district's stabilization fund, which will be at about $450,000 at the end of the fiscal year (June 30), Thurston said on Thursday.

 

The Prudential Committee did decide on Wednesday not to pursue a couple of items on Chief Craig Pedercini's "wish list" for FY16 appropriations: a utility truck to help transport equipment or use to send firefighters to off-site classes and a set of airbags to use to lift vehicles during extrications.

 

"I've seen them in action, and I agree [they're effective]," Notsley said. "At the same time ... I don't want to get into them at this point. We don't know what we're going to end up with with Engine 3. We don't know what we're going to end up with with the building.

 

"I think air bags are a luxury at this point."

 

Pedercini said he understood the committee's position.

 

"We talked about this last year," he said. "We're not going to get everything on our list."

 

On the other hand, the committee told Thurston to build money into the budget for upgraded hydraulic spreaders and a new ram for extrications. Pedercini said the 30-inch ram he wants to acquire is smaller than the department's current device and would allow firefighters to "get into some tighter places."

 

And the committee also OK'd another item on Pedercini's "wish list," replacement hose for some of the department's older equipment.