By KENNEDY GRIFFIN 

(Greenfield, MA) The Fire Station Building committee met last night, Thursday, May 12th, to discuss project updates. They discussed the budget, funding opportunities, site development, and the pre qualification of contractors.

Currently, the project is on track for staying on budget. A little over three million dollars has been spent thus far, mainly on site acquisition, the temporary fire station, and the design process. 

Mayor Roxann Wedegartner spoke about funding opportunities by way of two grants. One grant for $700,000 is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) where there is funding available through community facility grants. In working with the New England representative from the USDA, this project seems to be a match for this grant as it meets requirements such as the city having already committed significant funding to the project and the funds could be used on furniture, fixtures, and equipment. The second grant currently being applied for in the amount of $900,000 is pandemic-related funding and will be used for construction costs.

There will be a special zoning meeting called in order to stay on schedule with the project and get bid packages out for contractors, date to be announced. Once the zoning board has a written decision, there is a 20 calendar day period wherein appeals to the permit may be made. After this appeals period, the bids may go out and then it is about nine weeks until construction could begin, hopefully around mid-September to stay on schedule.

The railroad property acquisition was also discussed. This is important for the project due to utility poles that need to be moved and a fifteen foot strip of land that would need a retaining wall. The Mayor is currently discussing this property acquisition with the current owner, who is amenable to the project. 

The pre-qualification of contractors was also reviewed. This project requires contractors to be prequalified because it is over ten million dollars. All of the prequalified contractors will then go on to the biding process. 

The next meeting for the Fire Station Building committee is scheduled for May 26th at 4:30 pm via WebX.