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WEATHER TONIGHT Mainly clear. Low of 54.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
— Truman Capote
MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2014
VOL. 83 NO.199
75 cents
Eyesore property law proposed
CLEPO case moving forward By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SUFFIELD – The Congamond Lakes Environmental Protection Organization (CLEPO) is moving forward quickly with its appeal against the Suffield, Conn. Zoning and Planning Commission over its decision to allow a mining operation near the lakes. Christine Pepka. a CLEPO member, said there are several concerns over the decision, mainly that the current and former chairman of the commission are stakeholders in the mining company, Lake Roads Materials, LLC, and both men were part of the decision to shut down the last company that mined there 10 years ago. Pepka said the commission neglected to impose requirements on Lake Roads Materials required to conduct such an operation. “There was no required environmental impact study and no required traffic study,” said Pepka. The residential neighborhood is also home to a stretch of the Great Brook acquifer, which supplies water to area communities such as Southwick, Westfield, and West Springfield. The CLEPO web site states that “the excavation company is permitted to dig down to within 4′ of the aquifer. It will take only one diesel truck spilling fuel to create immense damage to the water supply and the lakes. Silica dust will pollute the air surrounding the mining pit. Silica is a known carcinogen and will adversely affect the entire community. The proposed spraying of water to keep the dust down is ineffectual according to experts. The constant noise from the trucks will also negatively impact the community.” Pepka said the company was also granted permission to operate outside the town’s noise ordinance. “The plans call for 30 to 70 truckloads of sand to be removed from the sand pit six days per week, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays,” said Pepka. “We are taxed as a resort community here, and this is really going to destroy that resort lifestyle.” CLEPO members met with the Citizens Restoring Congamond over the weekend to update that group. Pepko said the CLEPO is happy that a judge has agreed to add the appeal to a special land use docket. “Under a normal court docket, you get different judges, but he’s going to be our sole judge and will know the case,” said Pepka. “It’s a great success that he picked this case.” A status hearing is set for Aug. 27 with the judge and attorneys from CLEPO and the town. UNtil a court decision is made, Lake Roads Materials is allowed to begin working. Pepka said its her understanding that the bulk of their costs are upfront to move Lake Road. The dirt road is right where the company plans to excavate and must be relocated in order to begin taking sand and gravel from the area. “We have heard they plan to begin soon so our attorney is trying to get things done soon,” Pepka said. To cover legal costs, the CLEPO is having a Walk for Congamond fundraiser Sept. 28. “The proceeds will be matched up to $5,000 by Citizens Restoring Congamond, and will help us with legal costs,” said Pepka. CLEPO.org offers information on the group, as well as links to meeting minutes and more.
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
A bench vandalized by the violent removal of the armrest and part of a leg waits for repair, again, in the gazebo at Grandmother’s Garden. (Photo ©2014 Carl E. Hartdegen)
Grandmothers Garden vandalized, again By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Friends of Grandmothers Garden who support the beautifully flowered park on Smith Avenue must get discouraged when work they do – which shouldn’t have needed to be done in the first place – gets undone within weeks. A friend of the garden came to the station Friday to report that three benches in the gazebo at the park had been damaged. The complainant said that the ends of the benches, which he estimated to be worth about $500 each, had been vandalized by kicking off the end of the bench which forms the armrest and part of the leg of the bench.
He also said that he had recently repaired similar damage. The man told the responding officer, Steven Carrington, that a report had been filed Aug. 8 to document vandalism to the same benches. He said that he had recently repaired that damage but had been told by another friend of the garden on Thursday that the benches were vandalized again. The complaint said that the other man told him that the benches were intact when he visited the park about 11 a.m. but he found that they had again been damaged when he returned to the garden about 6 p.m. The complainant estimated the cost of the damage to be about $150 per bench.
Students honored with WSU scholarships WESTFIELD – The Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE) at Westfield State University has awarded the Summer 2014 Supporting Our Schools Scholarship to Amy Martinez of Holyoke, Master of Arts in English (5-8 & 8-12 Initial licensure), and Ryan Merceri of Ludlow, post-baccalaureate in history (8-12 Initial licensure). The goal of DGCE’s Supporting Our Schools Scholarship is to recognize and reward the accomplishments of individuals intending to become teachers and school guidance counselors. As recognition for their academic work and commitment to education, each student receives $2,000 to be used towards their education at Westfield State University. These students will also be recognized at the annual DGCE Academic Achievement Ceremony in spring 2015. The Supporting Our Schools
Scholarship was established in the spring of 2014 and is awarded three times per year. “The Division of Graduate and Continuing Education is pleased to recognize and support Amy and Ryan as they work towards earning their teacher licensure,” said Jessica Tansey, acting director, Program Development and Outreach. “This scholarship also honors our history as a teaching institution and reinforces our commitment to recruiting, preparing, and supporting new teachers and counselors for Massachusetts’s schools.” The next round of scholarship applications is due by December 1. Interested individuals can find out more information by visiting http:// www.gobacknow.com/index.php/supporting-our-schools-scholarship/, or by contacting the DGCE at (413) 5728020 or DGCEadmissions@westfield. ma.edu.
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A City Council member presented an ordinance that would require property owners, including mortgage banks, to maintain vacant homes in the city. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Fig presented a motion “to establish a city ordinance pertaining to acceptable property maintenance” at the City Council’s meeting Thursday. The motion was referred to the council’s Legislative & Ordinance committee. Figy said the ordinance was requested by several city departments, including the Building, Health and Police departments to deal with situation in which residents just abandon property under foreclosure. “I’m presenting this motion on behalf of several city departments and Community Policing to require proper maintenance of property, particularly lawn care,” Figy said. “There are several unattended properties under bank control that are in severe disrepair,” Figy said. “Some of those abandoned properties have swimming pools with water in them and covers.” The swimming pools on those abandoned property are a threat to neighborhood children and animals. Figy said the problem was brought to his attention by Community Police Officer
JOSEPH A. ROUSE
Harry Sienkiewicz, Zoning Enforcement Officer Anthony Paroline of the Building Department, and Stephen Cipriani, Code Enforcement Officer of the Health Department. Health Director Joe Rouse reported to the Board of Health a year ago that there were 13 abandoned properties in the city that have become not only eyesores, but an environment which shelters wildlife that may carry disease, such as rabies, and which pose a potential human health risk. “These properties are mostly in foreclosure,” Rouse said in September. “So they’re vacant and not being maintained. They’re all pretty much in the same condition because of a lack of landscaping and exterior maintenance.” Typically the property owner is notified by city inspectors to bring the neglected property into compliance with building and health requirements, but property in foreclosure may be owned by an out-of-state bank. “Sometimes it’s hard to determine who owns the property because the banks flip them so much,” Rouse said. The Health Department is working in coordination with the Law Department to determine ownership and how to contact those owners. See Eyesore, Page 3
RALPH FIGY
Man charged with killing wife WESTFIELD (AP) — An Ohio man charged with killing his wife and daughter almost two decades ago faces arraignment in one of those slayings. Robert Honsch is scheduled to be arraigned on a murder charge today in Massachusetts in connection with the death of his wife, Marcia Honsch. The body of 53-year-old Marcia Honsch was found in October 1995 near an entrance to Tolland State Forest. She had been shot in the head. At about the same time, his daughter, 17-year-old Elizabeth Honsch, was found dead behind a New Britain, Connecticut, strip mall. The family lived in New York at the time. Robert Honsch was arrested in July living on Ohio under an assumed name. He had remarried. It could not immediately be determined if he had a lawyer in Massachusetts.
State court to hear eyewitness identify cases By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer BOSTON (AP) — Zachary Sevigny was slashed with a box cutter by a stranger outside a convenience store in 2011. Neither Sevigny nor his friend identified Jeremy Gomes as the attacker when shown his picture in a police photo array. But a week later, they saw Gomes inside a Pittsfield gas station and told police he was the culprit. Gomes was found guilty of the attack, but his lawyer is challenging his conviction based on what he says were unreliable eyewitness identifications. The case is one of four cases seeking changes in the way eyewitness
identification testimony is presented to juries and set to be heard by the highest court in Massachusetts next month. Defense attorneys are pushing the court to adopt stronger instructions to advise jurors that eyewitness identifications are not always reliable. Specifically, they want judges to tell juries that human memory is easily influenced and not like a video recording. They also want juries to be warned that witnesses who appear highly confident about their identification are not therefore necessarily reliable. And they want juries told that the failure to identify a suspect in an identification procedure — such as See Eyewitness, Page 5