WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town's next fire chief says he was "ecstatic" when he heard that he would be offered the post.

 

On Tuesday afternoon, the Prudential Committee ratified a contract to make Jeffrey Dias the successor to Chief Craig Pedercini, who retired from the post on Monday.

 

"It's very sad to leave someplace you've been the better part of three decades," said Dias, currently the deputy chief and a long-time firefighter in the South Shore community of Onset. "But I'm very excited. A lot of big things are going to happen in the future."

 

The five-member Prudential Committee, which oversees the district, selected Dias on March 12 from among three candidates it interviewed earlier in the month.

 

Last week, the committee held an executive session — a rarity for the body — to discuss the negotiation of the contract. And on Tuesday, at a special meeting, the board voted to approve the deal.

 

Dias agreed to a three-year deal with a $125,000 base salary and 3 percent cost-of-living adjustments in years two and three.

 

"We are very excited to have Chief Dias lead the department forward as we look forward to the completion of our new station and the future of the Williamstown Fire Department," Prudential Committee Chair David Moresi said on Thursday.