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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” — L.P. HARTLEY
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 85 NO. 154
75 cents
FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2016
Westfield At Large City Councilor Daniel Westfield At Large City Councilor Matt Van Westfield Ward 3 City Councilor Andrew Westfield Ward 6 City Councilor William Knapik. (Photo by Marc ST. Onge) Heynigen. (Photo by Marc ST. Onge) Surprise. (Photo by Marc St. Onge) Onyski. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
City Council passes Meals Tax, approves FY17 Budget By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – At the start of Thursday’s Special City Council meeting for final passage of the FY17 Budget, Mayor Brian P. Sullivan asked to address the council. He thanked them for their time, effort and work on budget deliberations, noting the diligence they had taken to review all departments and issues this year. Sullivan asked for $500,000 in Free Cash to be transferred into the budget, which would leave more than $1 million in the account, and for all remaining Free Cash from FY16 to be moved into stabilization, which he said would give the Council more authority as to its use, as transfers from stabilization require an affirmative vote of nine rather than seven. Sullivan also asked the councilors to approve the Meals Tax, which increases the 6.25% tax to 7%, allocating the .75 increase to the city, and bringing in an additional $450,000 in revenue for FY17. He acknowledged that there were letters from city restaurants asking to defeat the tax increase. Sullivan said he had spoken to each of the restaurant owners, but felt that the city needed to take advantage of the usage tax opportunity now. Ward 6 Councilor William Onyski asked Sullivan what his intention was for the new revenue, acknowledging that it can’t be earmarked. “It will be going to Free Cash, but my commitment to you will be to use it for roads. As that money comes in, and as we document it, we will use it for infrastructure,” Sullivan said. The council then voted to approve the transfer of Free Cash into the budget and the remainder from FY 16 into stabilization. During the discussion on the Meals Tax, Ward 3 Councilor Andrew K. Surprise continued his vocal opposition to the new tax. “We’re not solving our city’s problems with
Thursday’s Special City Council meeting for final passage of the FY17 Budget. (Photo by Marc ST. Onge)
this. It’s a one-time bump, that sends an antibusiness message,” Surprise said. At-large Councilor David Flaherty called it “a nickel and dime tax” that sends the wrong message. He said the city has a history of raising taxes “more and more,” and that several councilors had already voted no to this tax three or four times. At-large Councilor Daniel Knapik countered that at the time of previous “no” votes, the city had been in the grips of the recession, and that now all the neighboring cities have already adopted the tax. “Down in Boston, they’ve said to me, why should we help you down in Westfield, when you won’t help yourselves,” Knapik repeated. He said the needs in the city were “gargantuan,” and also that with great regularity, charges in gas and electric go up, and nobody says “boo.” “75 cents on a $100 dinner bill, I don’t think personally anybody’s going to have a problem with that,” Knapik added. “I don’t like new taxes. But I think with the
Mayor’s commitment to put it towards roads and infrastructure, that sways me,” said Onyski. “I’m confused. On the one hand, people say we’re on the verge of bankruptcy and approaching the levy ceiling, and on the other hand, we don’t need this money. We need this money,” said At-large Councilor Stephen Dondley. “I’ve heard this several times about not going to the state and taking advantage. Yet I don’t see any proof whatsoever that people who have this tax get more state aid,” Flaherty said. He also said there is no way to earmark this money, and even though he trusts Sullivan to use it for roads, no future mayors would be obligated to use it for infrastructure. Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul said he would approve the tax because the city needs the $400,000 in anticipated income, and that the mayor would use it for the infrastructure. “Rather than raising taxes, we have to reduce spending,” added Surprise. The vote for the Meals Tax then passed 7 to 5.
Public participation was invited prior to the vote on passage of the budget. 21-year-old resident Mark Butler, who ran for At-large City Councilor in the last election, asked why Westfield had to solve every one of its problems with taxing. He said his parents were planning to move out of Westfield due to the rising costs of living in the city. “The real issue is that Boston is not giving us the money we need for infrastructure. We need to find new routes to solve these problems,” Butler said. Joe Giffune, president of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail, said he was concerned about the changes in commitment to the project expressed by the City Council. He said by recommending to cut the engineering budget by $240,000, the city came close to cutting the money earmarked for the Rail Trail. “Don’t underestimate the importance of the Rail Trail to Westfield,” Giffune said. Following Giffune, City Engineer Mark Cressotti also came to the podium, thanking the City Council for their diligence and hard work. He said the money in the engineering department goes towards development of larger projects that will bring in $8 to $10 million from the state. He added that cutting funding was not the appropriate way to address problems some councilors may have with individual projects, and invited them to come to engineering with their concerns. Following these comments and prior to the vote on the FY17 budget, At-large Councilor Matthew T. VanHeynigen made an amendment to reconsider the previous evening’s vote on the recommended cut to $240,000 in engineering, which had failed to pass. VanHeynigen said one councilor had expressed confusion to him in the vote on the recommendation, and had not voted as wished. See City Council, Page 3
City man receives life in prison for Chicopee home invasion SPRINGFIELD – Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni announced today the guilty verdict stemming from a 2013 home invasion, armed robbery and assault in Chicopee, Mass. William Wright, 37, of Westfield has been found guilty by a Hampden County Jury and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the armed robbery and
shooting of a father and son in their home. Because of Mr. Wright’s multiple prior convictions of other violent and serious crimes, his sentence was enhanced by statutory mandatory minimums. Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni stated, “I thank and commend the members of the jury for their service, which results in a dangerous
MassDOT sets sights on fall AET implementation By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTFIELD — As the Massachusetts Department of Transportation continues to test all of its electronic tolling software on I-90 this summer, residents are encouraged now to open up an individual E-ZPass account. Once the electronic tolling software goes live, all 24 existing toll plazas will be demolished and the connecting interchanges will be reconfigured to enable more efficient connections to connecting roadways. A previously scheduled go live date in October will occur if software testing goes as planned before September. “The majority of the toll support buildings are proposed to be demolished with the exception of select facilities that may remain for purposes of roadway maintenance or operations,” said Ryan Grannan-Doll, deputy communications director, Mass DOT. “The toll support building at exit 3 in Westfield is to be demolished.” Grannan-Doll noted that the overall traffic pattern at exit 3 will be maintained after the plaza is demolished. “There will be some realignment work to the approach to the intersection with Route 202,” he said. All electronic tolling (AET) gantries,
placed over the road and equipped with sensors, will electronically register tolls from vehicles that pass under any gantry. Drivers will no longer have to stop at a toll plaza and will be able to maintain a safe highway speed. During the testing phases of AET, drivers may notice a brief camera flash as they pass under a gantry. If a vehicle has an E-ZPass transponder, the toll is automatically charged to the customer’s E-ZPass account that the transponder is registered to. If a vehicle does not have an E-ZPass transponder, cameras mounted on the gantry will capture a photograph of the vehicle’s license plate and the registered owner of the vehicle will be sent an invoice. Customers who do not use an E-ZPass transponder will pay a “pay-byplate” surcharge in addition to the toll cost. E-ZPass accounts can be opened online as well as at RMV locations including Springfield, Greenfield, and Pittsfield. Tina Gorman, executive director of the See AET, Page 3
and habitual criminal going to jail for a very long time and kept away from the law-abiding public.” D.A. Gulluni went on to say, “I would like to thank Assistant District Attorney James Forsyth for the outstanding prosecution of this case and the See Sentenced, Page 3
WILLIAM WRIGHT
Social media leads to misinformation about Cobble Mountain reservoir By DAN DESROCHERS Correspodnent GRANVILLE—Cobble Mountain Reservoir still remains closed to the public, in spite of what people may have seen on social media. Instead, Wildcat Road in Granville has been reopened. The road runs adjacent to the Cobble Mountain Reservoir where Springfield Water and Sewer maintains a water supply, and it appeared to several people that the road led to the reservoir, hence the confusion. Doug Roberts, Granville Highway Superintendent, said that the road was originally closed due to storm damage following Hurricane Irene in 2011. It has since been reopened to allow for easier travel while construction efforts take place on Route 57. Construction is expected to take six weeks. Roberts also said that the road will remain open after construction through the summer, and going forward would be open during warmer months and be closed during the winter months. As for the Cobble Mountain Reservoir, it will continue to be closed for the foreseeable future. It is currently patrolled by Mass. state troopers and is heavily posted with “No trespassing” signs. “The reservoir has been closed to public access since 2001,” Joyce Mulvaney, Public Communications Director for
Springfield Water and Sewer, said. “A lot of safety measures were put in place around 9-11.” Cobble Mountain Reservoir provides around 30.4 million gallons of clean water daily to the cities and towns of Springfield, Agawam, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow and Ludlow.