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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
— Babe Ruth
FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014
VOL. 83 NO.149
75 cents
WSU trustees approve fee increase
Cups and tourneys Westfield Nationals Shae Byrnes, right, is congratulated by Jared Noel (4) after scoring on a basesloaded single in a Little League Baseball 9-10-yearold All-Star district tournament game at Paper Mill Field. See complete coverage of last night’s cup and tournament games, Pages 9, 11. (Photo by Chris Putz)
Council agenda includes World Cup By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council will conduct a special meeting on Monday, June 30, at 6 p.m. to consider a number of loose-end financial issues and to close the books for the end of city’s 2014 fiscal year. The agenda for the most part is just moving money to expense accounts from free cash and to move any remaining free cash, projected at more than $2 million, to the city’s stabilization account so it is available during the 2015 fiscal year which begins Tuesday, July 1. There is another July 1 issue
You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.
on the agenda which has nothing to do with city finances. It has everything to do with the World Cup game featuring the US team in a 4 p.m. game Tuesday, as it enters the Round of 16 elimination phase of the games. Westfield Business Improvement Executive Director Maureen Belliveau will appear before the City Council at the special meeting to seek council approval of a proposal to sell beer and wine between 3-8 p.m. in the Park Square Green while the game is broadcast on a big screen system. City ordinance prohibits
consumption of alcoholic beverages on city property, a prohibition that the City Council can waive, and has done so in the past. Community Development Director Peter J. Miller Jr., said the event is an opportunity to bring community members together. The organizers are “trying to do something similar to what’s happening in other cities,” Miller said. Diana McLean of the Community Development Department, working in coordination with the BID, is attempting to organize the event which will require not
only the approval of the City Council, but also the License Commission and Park & Recreation Department, which controls the Park Square Green. McLean said that several local food and alcohol vendors who have participated in similar events, such as the Concert On the Green held Thursday night, have been notified of the proposed World Cup event, but have little time to obtain the permits needed to participate. “I believe that it will be a younger audience,” McLean See Special Meeting, Page 3
Residents invited to participate in planning process By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer MONTGOMERY – Town residents are invited to participate in creating a hazard mitigation plan being developed by town officials with the assistance of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. Town officials recently initiated the process of developing a hazard mitigation plan to identify actions that can be taken to reduce damage caused by natural disasters. Meetings are slated to be held on three Mondays, July 7, 21 and 28 and will be held at the Montgomery Town Hall at 7 p.m. Josiah Neiderbach of the PVPC said the adoption of the hazard mitigation plan will make the town eligible for FEMA grant funding. “The Town of Montgomery is currently developing a hazard mitigation plan to
identify ways to prevent damage from natural hazards such as snow storms, flooding, and wildfires,” Neiderbach said. Neiderbach recently met with town officials to initiate the planning process and to form a hazard mitigation committee. “The planning process will last a couple of weeks, pretty much through the end of July,” Neiderbach said. Those actions include something as simple as improving stormwater drainage to mitigate road damage caused by flooding, Neiderbach said. Part of the planning process is to establish priorities for mitigation action and to consider the cost of the actions. ”This planning effort is being undertaken to help the town officials and residents assess the risks faced from natural hazards, identify action steps that can be
taken to prevent damage to property and loss of life, and prioritize funding for mitigation efforts,” Neiderbach said. “A mitigation action is any action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards.” The hazard mitigation plan is being developed with funding provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and with the assistance from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). Neiderbach said the public meetings will provide residents with an introduction to the planning process, a summary of existing mitigation initiatives, and an outline of recommended strategies for addressing natural hazards. Municipal officials and PVPC staff will be available to answer questions and listen to comments on the planning process.
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD - The Board of Trustees for Westfield State University unanimously approved a mandatory fee increase of $435, or roughly five percent, for the upcoming fall semester, a number Board Chairman John Flynn III said was “wrestled with.” Whether or not the University will implement the full $435 fee increase is dependent on whether the Commonwealth’s legislature honors the commitment it made last year when it made a three year pledge to get the state’s universities back to 50-50 funding. The current budget coming out of the House provides around 50 percent of the funding needed to honor the legislature’s commitment, while the current Senate budget offers only level funding for the state universities. The Senate has still pledged full funding for the University of Massachusetts in it’s current budget. Should the legislature honors the terms outlined last year, Westfield State and it’s sister institutions will not be forced to implement the approved fee increases. The approved $435 increase will not affect the University’s tuition, which will remain $970. Total costs for a residential in-state student will be $18,250 for fiscal year 2015, an increase of $855, or nearly five percent, from last year’s fee of $17,395 for fiscal year 2014. Total costs cover tuition, fees, and average room and board. “Obviously the state funding for the institution, and the Universities in general, is a challenge and we somehow have to figure out how to do more with less with an eye on next year,” said Board Finance Committee Chair Kevin Queenin of the increases. The meeting also marked progress for the school’s presidential search committee, as a budget of $125,000 was granted to Trustees Steven Marcus and Tirrell Hill, who were appointed at the Board’s previous meeting to head the committee. “I just want to thank everyone for their hard work in trying to pull this together, specifically on the finance side with allowing the appropriate monies to be set aside to find our next leader,” said Marcus, who also thanked the board and the school’s unions for providing a roster of candidates to get the search started. “I think it’s most prudent to wait until the entire Board of Trustees is brought together to begin the entire process.” he concluded. The funds will go toward a request for response in acquiring a professional search firm to select the school’s next President. The meeting also marked the final meeting for Flynn, the chief administrative officer for the Massachusetts State Police and a 1979 WSU graduate, who has served as a trustee since 2005. The Board voted to approve Vice Chair and former Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel to replace Flynn, as well as elevating Marcus to the vice chairmanship and Hill to secretary. In what proved to be an emotional and teary eyed sendoff, Flynn thanked the entire Board and touched on his tenure as Chairman, which proved to be one of the more trying periods in the school’s history as a result of the spending scandal involving now ex-President Dr. Evan S. Dobelle. See WSU, Page 3
Massachusetts Senate passes tech spending bill BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate has passed a nearly $1 billion bond bill authorizing spending on an array of projects designed to improve information technology across Massachusetts. Among the projects included in the bill approved Thursday is $100 million for information technology improvements at the Department of Transportation; $68 million to upgrade the state police’s existing statewide communication network; and $60 million for improvements to the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. The bill also includes $12 million for a data system to track the diagnosis, treatment, services and outcomes of individuals with autism. Senate President Therese Murray said the spending is needed to help keep the state competitive The House has passed its own version of the bill The House and Senate bills now go to a legislative conference committee to hammer out a single compromise version. The bill includes a $50 million reserve to support the Massachusetts Broadband Incentive Fund, which is used by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) to further its mission. “Securing broadband access for every address in my district that wishes to have it has been a top priority since 2007,” said Downing. “Due to the unrelenting advocacy of my colleagues in the western Massachusetts legislative delegation and the leadership of Governor Patrick, we have come a long way in bridging the digital divide that existed in Massachusetts just a few
years ago. It is almost incomprehensible to believe that in 2007 there were 32 communities with absolutely no access to high speed Internet in western and central Massachusetts. This reality directly and negatively impacted the economic growth, educational opportunities and public safety of our region. Today, due to the efforts of the MBI, there are no remaining unserved communities. It is my hope that the funding authorized in today’s IT Bond will be used over the next three years to achieve our goal of universal broadband access.” SENATOR Created by an act of the Legislature (the Broadband Act of 2008), the MBI is a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) BENJAMIN tasked with achieving the deployment of affordable, universal high speed DOWNING broadband access across the Commonwealth. Since 2008 the MBI has completed construction of the MassBroadband 123, a fiber-optic cable network connecting more than 120 western and central Massachusetts cities and towns to the Internet. This “Middle Mile” network expanded high-speed Internet access to communities that were completely unserved or underserved in 2008, improving the lives of residents, closing the digital divide and bringing new economic opportunities to western and central Massachusetts. The $50 million provided in the IT Bond will support MBI’s efforts to develop the “Last Mile” solution, so that every resident, business, school, nonprofit, city or town, regardless of geographic location, service provider or address will have access to high speed Internet service.
COMING SOON!
Sessions will start Monday, July 7, 2014
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