Search for The Westfield News
WEATHER TONIGHT Partly cloudy. Low of 19
The Westfield News
“Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.”
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
— CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY
www.thewestfieldnews.com MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 016
75 cents
Councilors seek joint sewer meeting
municipalities, and our offices with additional information on the timeline for the current pre-filing phase.” It also urges the company “to extend that timeline to ensure that New Hampshire’s residents have a full and equal opportunity to understand, assess, and comment on this project before any decisions are made finalizing the project or its route.” While communities in Franklin County and New Hampshire are protesting the proposed pipeline, natural gas pipelines have actually been running through the state for decades, with the Tennessee Gas Pipeline arriving in the mid-20th Century. Corporations such as Kinder Morgan have been able to make inroads through the Bay State in recent years, taking over 600 miles of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, over half of the Commonwealth’s 1,235 miles of natural gas pipelines, even establishing an office in Agawam and a compressing station in Southwick. According to Kinder Morgan
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Finance and Legislative & Ordinance committees plan to conduct a joint meeting to discuss an increase to sewer fees, to consider motions relative to sewer service and revenue. The Finance Committee initiated that discussion at its Jan. 15 meeting, held prior to the regular City Council session when Finance Chairman Brent B. Bean II said he was “trying to get caught up” with the issue after serving as council president, who typically do not sit on committees. DAVID Wa t e r Resource BILLIPS Superintendent Dave Billips suggested a joint meeting to share information about the cost of operating the city’s wastewater treatment plan and the revenue, paid by residents with sewer service, to operate the plant. “This is not a five-minute discussion,” Billips said. “It can be an introduction, but it’s not something that we can hash out on one Finance (Committee) meeting. “It’s election season,” Billips said. “You know you have to do this. You also know that it is true that this is unpopular. Bean said that Billips should work with the city’s consultant, the engineering firm of Tighe & Bond, on a presentation and that councilors “will take care of the politics.” “This has been going on for 12 years,” Billips said. “I asked for a 23 percent increase and got 8 percent from the council.” Bean said he is trying to gauge a consensus among City Council members because of the political nature of increasing municipal fees during an election year. Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr., who is also on the Finance Committee, said that sewer fees should not be increased until the city takes other steps to increase revenue for the wastewater treatment plant. “There is no revenue because people are not hooked up. That’s why I want to put ROBERT (an availability) fees into PAUL motion,” Paul said. “Why should people have to pay a sewer fee for people who are on a sewer line, but who are not hooked up?”
See Kinder Morgan, Page 3
See Sewer Meeting, Page 3
Meadowbrook Antiques opens Westfield Mayor Daniel Knapik, fourth from left, cuts a ceremonial ribbon in front of Meadowbrook Antiques located at 635 Montgomery Road in the Wyben section of Westfield Friday. The store is owned by former Huntington residents Timothy and Susan Crane, left of Knapik. Hours of operation are presently Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Joining in the ceremony are a host of friends, family members, and state and local officials. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Kinder Morgan pipeline long a Southwick fixture By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – A hot-button issue in western Mass. recently has been the proposed implementation of a natural gas pipeline through Franklin County. The proposed line would also run through numerous towns in New Hampshire en route to the Middlesex County town of Dracut, a northern suburb of Lowell. New Hampshire’s congressional delegation has begun calling for an open and transparent process before a final decision is made about the 300-mile proposed pipeline which Texas-based corporation Kinder Morgan wants to construct, about 70 miles of which would run through southern New Hampshire and about 90 percent of which would be along an existing power line corridor. In letters dated last Wednesday to Kinder Morgan and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte and Reps. Frank Guinta and Annie Kuster requested that New Hampshire residents have ample opportunity to express
JOSEPH J. RUSSELL DEEDY FOX their views. These letters note that Kinder Morgan filed its latest proposal Dec. 8, which shifts much of the pipeline out of northern Massachusetts into a number of southern New Hampshire towns, from Winchester near the Vermont border, to Salem on the Merrimack River. In these letters, the delegation requests “that Kinder Morgan provide the public, municipal officials in potentially affected
Freezing rain makes for slick travel locally cles on Interstate 76 outside Philadelphia killed one person, and two others died in a crash involving multiple vehicles on nearby Interstate 476, police said. In northeastern Pennsylvania, a man was killed after his car overturned on an icy road and he was thrown from it and hit by a commercial vehicle. In Connecticut, police cited slippery conditions in a crash that killed an 88-year-old woman who struck a utility pole in New Haven. “This is the worst type of winter precipitation to combat, because it can freeze instantly and it doesn’t need to be the whole pavement for vehicles crossing it to have problems,” Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Eugene Blaum said. The National Weather Service
warned last night that temperatures were expected to drop below freezing in areas from northern Maryland into Philadelphia and up through northern New Jersey. Any remaining moisture on roadways and sidewalks could re-freeze, and drivers were urged to use caution until conditions improve. Temperatures were expected to hit the 40s by midday today in the area. Kaitlyn Maier grew up in upstate New York but said that didn’t prepare her for the icy conditions she encountered trying to get from her home in Philadelphia to her niece’s baptism. “I’ve driven through snow a lot, and this isn’t like anything I’ve ever driven in,” Maier told The See Slick Travel, Page 3
Vehicles navigate deep waters on North Elm St. early last night as freezing rain, sleet pelted the region. (Photo by James Johnson-Corwin)
New you, starting now!
EXPERT FITNESS
WESTFIELD — While there have been no reports of any accidents in the city of Westfield this morning, residents are being urged by the Westfield Police Department to stay home if they can today. “If you must go outside, exercise caution and common sense,” said Officer Michael Bradley this morning, adding that the city’s Department of Public Works has been notified of the conditions. “If you step outside and it’s slippery under your feet, chances are the roads will be slick, too,” he said. Rain “flash-freezing” on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze under feet and tires across much of the northeast yesterday, causing crashes that claimed at least five lives. A crash involving 30 to 50 vehi-
EXPERT FITNESS Join Now For Only Join Now For Only
$
1 DOWN !
Monthly EFT*
Monthly CLUB HOURS: Mon-Fri 5am-9pm • Sat-Sun 7am-3pm
EFT
1 Week FREE PASS
Name: ____________________________________
$
1 DOWN !
Staff Name: _______________________________ Start: ______________ End: _________________
Offer valid thru Jan. 31, 2015. First time visitors only. Must be 18 years or older.
609 East Main St. Westfield, MA • 413-568-2200 • expertfitnesshc.com • facebook.com/expertfitness *See the club for details -Other membership options available