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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 84 NO. 250
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015
75 cents
Board approves grant application
Grant funds, focuses downtown activity
for sewers By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – A plan to meet a Department of Environmental Protection mandate to bring sewers to the Southwick schools campus is still under consideration. The Sewer Implementation Committee presented a plan to connect the schools to the sewer, build a new pump station, and serve area residents if they choose to hook into the sewer system. Committee member Gerald Patria said this plan, known as Alternate A, would give the community “the best bang for the buck.” “The best part, is there are not betterment fees,” Patria said. A plan including potentially high betterment fees to all residents in the area of the new sewer lines was voted down at the Spring Town Meeting. Patria said instead of a betterment fee charged to all, a connection fee would be charged to residents only if and when they hook up to the sewer. “It’s a pretty good plan,” Patria said. Cost to install this plan, which is part of Phase II of the sewer system, is about $2.4 million, approximately $1 million of this would be paid by the school department. Department of Public Works Director Randy Brown said there was also an opportunity to have 25-percent of costs through a grant. Selectman Russell Fox was concerned that there was no definite connection fee and real cost yet. “We need to go to Town Meeting and say ‘This is what it costs’,” he said. Fox was also concerned about equity because Phase I of the sewer plan charged a betterment fee, so everyone had to pay for the line even if they were not connecting. With this plan, residents would not pay unless they connected. Residents can choose to connect, however, if their septic system fails, the law states they must connect. The Board this week authorized Brown to apply for a grant and agreed they would like to have actual costs, if possible, before placing an article on the Town Meeting warrant.
The Westfield News will run our masthead in pink, in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
A large wooden signpost is all that remains on the former Ricky's 49er Lounge site on North Road where a new Dunkin Donuts could be built. (WNG file photo)
Dunkin Donuts project moving toward decision By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Members of the planning Board continued to tweak traffic movements for the Dunkin Donut project proposed for construction at the corner of North Road and Old County Road this week and anticipate voting on the special permit petition at their Oct. 20, 2015 session. The primary focus of discussion has been the movement of motor vehicles into and through the site, leading to a number of changes to the proposed site plan presented by Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates for the Sardinha family, who hold the Westfield franchise for Dunkin Donuts. Levesque said several changes have been made to the site plan following the Sept. 15 discussion and that stacking lanes within the site have been extended and curb cuts on both North Road and Old County Road modified as requested by the board members.
The access from Old Country Road will have one dedicated entry point near the intersection of North Road and one dedicate exit allowing both left and right turning movements onto Old County Road. Board members were divided on the limits for the North Road entry and exit, with several members wanting to prohibit left turns from the eastbound lane of North Road into the site and left turns from the site onto the eastbound lane of North Road. The reason for that concern is the volume of traffic at that intersection and the speed at which motorists travel that section of road, which is a curve. One concern is that vegetation along the side of the road would prevent motorists approaching the intersection to see the vehicles stopped at the traffic light and in the area of the store. “The left turn out of the site onto North Road looks like a potential problem,” Jane Magarian said.
The members supported a right turn into the site and a right turn out for the North Road curb cut, eliminating movements requiring cars to cross a lane of traffic. Levesque said the left turn movement from North Road into the store site is to accommodate motorists turning right of East Mountain Road which is directly across the intersection from Old County Road. Levesque said the configuration of the building has been modified to provide greater stacking of vehicle while customers are waiting to place or get orders. Vehicle stacking was another concern of the board because of concern that if adequate stacking was not provided within the site, vehicles would back up onto North Road waiting to get into the store site. Levesque said the modified plan has stacking space for 22 vehicles and also provides stacking lanes for vehicles exiting the site.
Lottery exploring fantasy sports options By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — The state’s treasurer says she’s exploring whether the Massachusetts Lottery should enter the lucrative online world of fantasy sports leagues. Democratic Treasurer Deb Goldberg said Wednesday she is trying to understand how online fantasy sports websites operate but is concerned their rocketing popularity could threaten the lottery. “It’s really my responsibility as head of the lottery commission to be thinking about what is the competitive environment that we’re operating in,” Goldberg said in her Statehouse office.
Goldberg said she was largely unaware of online fantasy sports games until she attended a recent Boston Red Sox game and saw ads for the fantasy sports website DraftKings, which is based in Boston. She said she’s in the early stages of studying the issue. “We are literally researching how does this operate, who does this reach, what is it,” She said. “Even the definition isn’t clear.” Daily fantasy sports participants put together virtual teams based on real players and compete for points based on the players’ statistics. Paid contests cost as little as $1 to enter, but some See Lottery, Page 3
Bill would add up to a dozen charter schools in state each year By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Legislation unveiled Thursday would let the state add up to a dozen new or expanded charter schools each year outside the existing cap on the schools in Massachusetts. Gov. Charlie Baker said his bill would focus the new growth in districts that are performing in the bottom 25 percent of districts statewide. The bill would also let the schools give preference to high-need and low-income students, as well as students learning the English Language and those with learning disabilities. Baker, a long-time supporter of charter schools, said the legislation will help give every child the opportunity to a highquality education regardless of their location or background. The new or expanded schools he is proposing would not count against the current charter school cap of
120 schools. About 80 charter schools currently operate in Massachusetts. Opponents said the proposal — which echoes the language of a proposed 2016 ballot question — in theory could allow the state to add new charter schools each year until no district public schools remain. Massachusetts Teachers Association President Barbara Madeloni said Baker’s bill would help create a two-tiered education system, one truly public and the other private, but financed with public dollars. “The truly public system will always welcome all students. The private system will continue to find ways to underserve those with the most needs and then use inflated claims of success to grab an everlarger share of public education funding,” Madeloni said in a written statement. Baker made the announcement Thursday at the Brooke Charter School in
Boston. “People have asked me many times, what’s the right number of charter schools? I don’t know the answer to that, but we have 37,000 families who simply want for their kids what everybody else wants and for the most part gets here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for theirs — which is a shot at a great education and an opportunity on which to build a great future,” Baker said. More than 37,000 students were placed on waiting lists for charter schools for the 2015-16 school year. The possibility of a 2016 ballot question that would also allow the state to add 12 new charters schools outside the existing cap could help strengthen Baker’s hand in any negotiations with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate on his bill. See Charter Schools, Page 3
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Community Development Department is sponsoring music events this fall, hoping to focus community attention on “underutilized” spaces in the city’s downtown core area. Community Development Director Peter J. Miller Jr., said this morning that events have been slated for October and November with funding provided to the city by MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development and finance agency. “We received a $5,000 grant from MassDevelopment focused on making people think differently about spaces in the downtown that are underutilized, especially in gateway cities like Westfield,” Miller said. “The goal is to find way to utilize those gritty spaces, places that are over looked in the downtown,” Miller said. “We issued a request for proposals and received four responses. We’ve providing mini grant of $1,000 to three of the respondents this year. There wasn’t enough time to put the fourth proposal together this fall.’ The grant is geared to enhance those overlooked urban spaces through art and performances. The events will be held at the vacant lot on Elm Street next to Mina’s Wine and Spirits store, a space utilized this summer by Crepe’s Tea House which set up business next to the sidewalk along Elm Street. The series opens on Oct. 17 with a jazz concert by Joe Whalen’s Jazz Band, followed on Nov. 7 with a concert by the Lexi Weege Band and Friends. The third event will be done in conjunction with Westfield On Weekends (WOW) Small Business Saturday Spectacular on Nov. 28. Miller said that many of the “gritty” spaces downtown are city owned and are now the focus of construction as part of the Gaslight District renovation. “Those public spaces were not available because of constriction and because they’re being used for parking,” Miller said. Miller said the remaining $2,000 will be used for enhancements, such as landscaping, at the lot being used for the concerts this fall.
Southampton man in serious condition after Easthampton motorcycle accident By REBECCA EVERETT @GazetteRebecca Daily Hampshire Gazette SPRINGFIELD — The 66-year-old motorcyclist injured in an accident in Easthampton on Wednesday was listed in serious condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield Thursday, according to a hospital spokesman. Easthampton Police Capt. Robert Alberti said John Surgen, of 39 Rattle Hill Road, was driving the motorcycle that was involved in a collision with a car on Route 10 near Lyman Street just after 4 p.m. The car was driven by Mary Lauffer of Easthampton, Alberti said. She was treated and released from Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton following the accident, according to a hospital spokeswoman. First Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven E. Gagne said Wednesday that the motorcyclist had significant injuries to his legs and ribs but was able to talk at the hospital. Gagne said the motorcycle was in the other car’s lane when the accident occurred. The cause of the accident is under investigation by officer Edward Murray, the department’s accident reconstruction specialist, Alberti said. A witness told the Gazette Wednesday that the car had pulled onto Route 10 from Lyman Street heading south before the collision with the northbound motorcycle. Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.
Police at the scene of a crash involving a car and a motorcycle on Route 10 in Easthampton Wednesday. (Photo by Greg Saulmon)