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The Westfield News
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why we call it the present.”
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 84 NO. 221
— JOAN RIVERS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
75 cents
Southwick Inn block party hours extended By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen gave its stamp of approval for a request to serve alcohol outdoors until 2 a.m. at the Southwick Inn this weekend. Normally, bars must stop serving alcohol outdoors at 10 p.m. but Manager Jennifer Whalley asked for the extension for Sept. 5 only for the Inn’s annual block party. Whalley said the block party tradition began before her family purchased the Southwick Inn. “This is my eleventh year, but it’s been going on forever,” she said. Selectmen Chairman Joseph Deedy noted there have been no incidents during the block party in the past. “There have been no violations and you have a clean bill of health so we can look at it,” Deedy said. Selectman Russell Fox asked Whalley if she expected a crowd outside after 10 p.m. “People tend to go inside when the band stops at 10, but we do get some overflow,” Whalley said. Whalley said another block party tradition has been rain, so there have not been issues with crowds outside in previous years. Fox and Selectman Douglas Moglin both agreed to try extending the oneday alcohol sale permit until 2 a.m. “This will be a test, and I have no problem with testing,” said Fox. The party starts at noon and includes drink and food specials, including steamers, smoked brisket, St Louis style ribs, pork butts, cowboy beans, coleslaw, and pasta Salad. Grilled items outside include bison burgers, hamburgers and hot dogs, and chili dog sliders.
Make-shift construction offices on the site of the former Ashley Street School in April of 2013 (WNG file photo)
Council approves contested land transfer By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council approved the controversial transfer of municipal land at Ponders Hollow Road from the Fire Department to the Park & Recreation Department by the slimmest margin Thursday night. The vote, approving the transferring the care, custody, management and control of the nearly 4.8 acres of land on Ponders Hollow Road, was 9-4. Nine affirmative votes were needed to approve the
order transferring the land and several councilors voted to support the transfer only after receiving an opinion from the Law Department. Holyoke resident Tom Smith, whose mother resides across Cross Street from the proposed school site, spoke at the Aug. 20 during the public participation segment of the City Council session, raising questions about procedure and the council’s process in transferring the Ponder Hollow Property from the Fire Department to the Park &
Recreation. The land transfer is being made to satisfy a requirement of the federal National Park Service that the city transfer property of equal or greater value to the 1.3 acres at Cross Street which were transferred to the School Department for incorporation into the school project. Smith said the city needs a recommendation from the Planning Board prior to taking final action on the transfer under city ordinance and state law.
The problem, several councilors said, including At-large Councilor Matthew T. VanHeynigen who served on the Planning Board prior to his election to the council, is that there is not a plan for the Planning Board to review. Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe made the motion to defer the vote and seek a legal opinion on the procedure of transferring the property from one city department to another. See Land Transfer, Page 3
City Council confirms disability appointment By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted unanimously to appoint Personnel Director Karin Decker to serve as a voting member of the city’s Commission for Citizens with Disabilities Thursday night. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik submitted the name of Decker to the council for its confirmation after questions were raised about his status as a voting member of the commission. Decker appeared before the council’s Personnel Action Committee Thursday night
prior to the full City Council session where she was interviewed by the committee member and other City Councilors present at that meeting. Decker, previous to her March 20, 2013 appointment in Westfield, served seven years as personnel director and American with Disabilities Act coordinator in Pittsfield. Decker currently performs the same duties here. PAC Chairwoman Cindy Harris said that participation “as a full voting member on the Citizens with Disabilities Commission is a requirement of the personnel director job description. The Law Department, in an opin-
ion written by Peter Martin, said the city has designated the personnel director as the city’s ADA coordinator.” “The personnel director, as the ADA coordinator, is required to attend the monthly (Citizen with Disabilities Commission) meetings to ensure the city meets the requirements of the state and federal ADA laws,” Harris said. Decker has refrained from voting after the legal status of her confirmation to the Citizen with Disabilities Commission was questioned. See Appointment, Page 3
ABCC targets bars selling to drunk drivers BOSTON – The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC), in conjunction with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), will crackdown on impaired driving this weekend, Treasurer Deb Goldberg announced. The 2015 national campaign, “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”, is in effect through September 7.
The ABCC will focus enforcement efforts at bars throughout the Commonwealth known to have sold alcohol to convicted drunk drivers. “This enforcement supports safer roads and highways throughout Massachusetts,” Goldberg said. “Our efforts prevent the sale of alcohol to intoxicated individuals who could place See ABCC, Page 3
WSU housing at 105 percent capacity WESTFIELD – Westfield State University’s Opening Day has arrived, and that means Westfield State’s newest class of undergraduates — first-year and transfers — is on campus. Final statistics on the Class of 2019 will not be available until after the add/drop date of September 9, but current numbers show the university is beginning the year in a strong and healthy position. The enrolled number of first time first-year students in the Class of 2019 is 1,324, which is an eight percent increase over last year. Student housing is operating at 105 percent capacity.
“The Class of 2019 comes from every corner of the Commonwealth and beyond,” said President Elizabeth H. Preston. “We are proud to have enrolled such a strong, vibrant, and talented group of young adults to Westfield State this year.” This fall, students from all 14 counties within Massachusetts will be represented on campus. Ninety three percent of first-year and transfer students are from Massachusetts – 64 percent from Eastern and Central Massachusetts and See WSU Housing, Page 3
Alzheimer’s Memory Walk Rose Mackutkiewicz, Persis Webb, and Nancy Greenwood walk in the 2015 Alzheimer’s Memory Walk. See additional photos Page 8. (Photo by Lynn F. Boscher)