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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 86 NO. 63
“History is not life. But since only life makes history, the union of the two is obvious.” — LOUIS D. BRANDEIS
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FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2017
School district officials hold meet and greet in Granville
The school district office formally introduced themselves to Granville parents. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent GRANVILLE – Officials from the SouthwickTolland-Granville Regional School District held a meet and greet at the Granville Village School on Thursday evening. When the school committee voted in favor of closing the Granville Village School on Feb. 7 the district created a transition team that would help students from the Granville Village School ease their way into their new schools. The school closing will be put into effect for the start of the 2017-18 school year. The transition team consists of three members from the school district office, three from administration, five parents, four guidance counselors, with each segment containing members from both Southwick and Granville, and one school committee member .
During Thursday night’s meet and greet, staff from the school district office were present and formally introduced themselves to the Granville parents. Superintendent Jen Willard discussed the fact that the transition team’s objective is to plan the Granville students for the future. With Granville parents having questions about the transition, the rest of the meet and greet was opened up for an informal conversation between the school district and the parents. Willard found that the questions from Granville parents are extremely important towards the transition. “Everyone needs to know this is a school district,” said Willard. “We want to be able to answer questions See Meet and Greet, Page 3
Boise Cascade seeks operation change at public hearing
Bernard Puza, new alternate member for the Westfield Planning Board.
City Council approves new planning board member By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–The city council approved a couple of planning board changes last night, filling a position left vacant recently. The Westfield City Council, upon the recommendation of the council’s Personnel Action Committee, approved Bernard Puza to the planning board as an alternate member, while also moving Raymond St. Hillaire from the position of alternate to full member. The appointment of St. Hillaire brings the planning board back to the full seven members with Puza taking the position left vacant by St. Hillaire. According to Westfield’s Code of Ordinances, Chapter 13, Sec. 13-22:
“The planning board shall consist of seven members, with four members constituting a quorum. Additionally, there shall be two associate members who, in the case of a vacancy or of a member’s inability to properly act on specific business before the board, shall be designated by the chairperson to serve in that member’s stead and act in full capacity and on all matters for the duration of said vacancy or business. For Puza, this is his first position on the planning board but not in an elected position. Just last year, he was elected onto the city’s off-street See Planning Board, Page 3
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – A public hearing to allow Boise Cascade to extend to a 24-hour operation was held Thursday during the City Council meeting. Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates requested an amendment to a City Council special permit regarding the lumberyard at Fowler Street Extension and Union Street, for his client Ronald Schortmann, owner of the property. The Boise Cascade Company distributes building materials on a wholesale basis to lumberyards, home centers, industrial accounts, and other retail businesses. The Westfield branch, which opened in 1999, is one of 33 across the country. A special permit and tax increment financing package issued by the City Council in 2015 allowed for expansion of the business. Levesque said after operating on the special permit for one year, the Westfield facility is finding they need to operate beyond midnight, and need to go up to 24 hours. He said the company is working with the Planning Board regarding operating issues, including noise and light pollution to an abutting property. The Planning Board discussion has been continued to April 4. At the public hearing, Westfield branch manager Nathan Oliveri described the business model at Boise Cascade, which he said results in last minute decision making. As a wholesale distributor servicing retailers,
orders come in as late as 2 to 4 p.m. He said the business has changed, with retailers requesting smaller orders, customized shipments and a quicker turnaround. The request for 24-hour operation is to allow for loading of trucks after midnight for early morning delivery. Council president Brent B. Bean, II asked if the business had seen this coming. Oliveri said right now they cut off next day orders at 2 p.m., but in order to compete they need to expand. During the day they are selecting orders to ship and loading them at night. He said they can’t do both at the same time. Jim Wickham, the northest regional manager for Boise Cascade said the Westfield plant is limited by the rail lines and the number of trucks that can fit in the property. Oliveri added that the business currently employs about 100 out of the Westfield facility. He said most of their new hires have been Westfield residents. Ward 6 Councilor William Onyski asked several questions regarding truck traffic that he said were concerns expressed in three letters he had received from neighboring residents. Oliveri said that half of their inventory comes in on rail car. The rest is trucked in, and broken down into smaller quantities. He said 100% of orders are trucked out of the property. After See Public Hearing, Page 3
Credit for Life Fair for high school students a success By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—Students from several local high schools filled the Woodward Center at Westfield State University (WSU) yesterday and learned about real-life monetary matters. Students from White Oak, St. Mary’s, Westfield High School, Westfield Technical Academy and Southwick-Tolland Regional School attended the third annual Greater Westfield Credit for Life Fair at WSU yesterday morning. The fair, which was mostly run by volunteers and the Westfield Public Schools, helped to educate the students about financial literacy, managing money and employment, along with real-world applications of skills learned in the process. “It was really helpful—I didn’t know how to live a life until now,” Katie Hathaway, 18, of Westfield High School, said. “It opened my eyes
to reality.” Hathaway was among the approximately 330 students that showed up to the Woodward Center, who found their ways through stations set up like a job fair—but instead of jobs there were stations for real-life monetary decisions. At one station a car could be purchased, at another insurance could be bought for both themselves and an automobile, then at another a student could find just how much food and entertainment really do cost. However, in order to fund all this each student had to get a job. Many, like Hathaway, who became a dental hygienist in the scenario, chose to get a degree in order to earn more. However, those degrees came at a price. “Degrees are more expensive than I thought,” Hathaway said. “But it wasn’t that bad.” See Credit for Life Fair, Page 3
Jim Wickman and Nathan Oliveri of Boise Cascade, and Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates at the public hearing.