Search for The Westfield News
WEATHER TONIGHT Clear and cold. Low of 2.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“Nothing
ever really sets human nature free, but self-control.” — PHYLLIS BOTTOME
www.thewestfieldnews.com MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 057
75 cents
City Fire Commission to meet tonight
Westfield City Hall (File photo by Frederick Gore)
New facilities post focus of joint meeting By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Three City Council committees are slated to meet in joint session to determine if an appropriation request will be approved to allow the hiring of a controversial facilities and maintenance director. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik submitted a $30,000 transfer last week, moving that money from the Purchasing Department to the mayor’s office to hire a new director for the newly created Department of Facilities Maintenance for the remainder of the fiscal year. The council unanimously rejected a similar appropriation, of $40,000, in January. The new Department of Facilities & Grounds was created in November, on an 8-5 council vote, to centralize building and grounds maintenance to facilitate both short and long-term capital investment, through bonding, intended to protect the recent investment of more than $25 million to repair municipal buildings and schools across the city. The maintenance director will also be responsible for establishing a consolidated facilities work order system. The council members approved a request of the Finance Committee to kept that $30,000 transfer in committee at the Feb. 23 City Council session because of a number of issues, including availability of the funding, which was in the Purchasing Department purchase of
services account. Another issue is that the position is currently in the mayor’s department. Several Council members have argued that it should be included in the Public Works Department which is being reorganized to consolidate the current Public Works, Water Resource, Parks & Recreation departments as well as the Wastewater Treatment plant. Ward 5 Councilor Robert Paul Sr., argued at the Finance Committee meeting held on Feb. 23 prior to the full council session, that the “we should put this new job inside the DPW structure.” Other councilors have argued that the facilities department and director need to be an independent, stand-alone department. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, responding to Paul’s suggestion, said that several city officials, including Dave Billips the current Water Resource and interim DPW superintendent, have argued “that the facilities (director) must be independent to work for all departments, so for now it has to be under the mayor.” The joint meeting, slated for tomorrow, will include the council’s Finance Committee, Personnel Action Committee and Legislative & Ordinance Committee to find a resolution acceptable to at least seven councilors, the number needed to approve the funding transfer.
Ice slows business, traffic on waterways By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Waterways around the Northeast are beset by ice that is more than a foot thick in some places, making life miserable for those who make their living on the water. Scott Werner of Portland said this winter has been “a horror show” for lobster fishermen like himself. The ice has prevented him from getting his boat out to fish in recent weeks, and cut into his ability to make money in the already slow winter lobstering season, he said. “I’m not going to risk it. I don’t want to break anything,” Werner said. “It’s been brutal, but what are you going to do?” Iced waterways are a problem in other Northeast locations, such as off of Boston, where a commuter ferry carrying more than 100 passengers got delayed by about 45 minutes when it was slowed down by the coastal ice pack on Feb. 20. And in New York, where the Coast Guard is cutting ice on the Hudson River so barges carrying heating oil, gasoline and jet fuel can reach destinations. The thickest part is in the area of Germantown and Hudson,
Lobster fishing boats are locked in ice at Widgery Wharf in Portland, Maine, Thursday. Portland Harbor is encountering more ice than it has in years thanks to the coldest February on record. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) north of New York City. In some spots the ice is a foot-and-a-half thick, Coast Guard officials said. “The barges traveling from New York City to Albany have the most difficult time transiting through that one area, so that’s where the Coast Guard is devoting its effort to keep clean,” Coast Guard Lt. Ken
Sauerbrunn said. It was the coldest February on record in Portland according to National Weather Service records that go back to 1940. The frigid temperatures froze more than 10 lobster fishing boats in ice off of Portland, said See Waterway, Page 5
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Westfield Fire Commission will meet tonight at 7 p.m. at City Hall to discuss two recently certified civil service lists. “On one list for paramedics, we’ve given appointments to six individuals and they’re going through a lot of processes, such as physicals and the PAT test,” said Commission Chair Albert Masciadrelli of the ‘physical aptitude test’. “The other is a basic list of emergency medical technicians, so we’re basically just going through background checks for individuals who sign up to be interviewed, and then we’ll go through the process with them.” EMT and paramedic candidates who were hired last year are still subject to Commission review, as they will receive their personnel probation period evaluation reports. “That comes from our deputies usually, just to see how they’re panning out,” said Masciadrelli of the recent hires, adding that the Commission is also going to suggest a fire chief examination, as well as another fire captain exam, for 2016. “We understand that in the next year or two, we may have a few retirements, so that will start the domino effect and rather than put on acting or provisional captains, we really would much rather appoint a full-time captain,” said Masciadrelli, adding that these exams are usually called every two years or so. “It saves money because when everyone is in an ‘acting’ positions, it just causes a lot of problems with the structure.” Masciadrelli also said that the Little River Fire Substation will be on the agenda for tonight’s meeting, the Commission’s first since the City Council voted in early February to approve two appropriations totaling $245,000 for the design of an addition to the substation, which will improve emergency response times in the city’s southeast quadrant. The approved funds are set to be divied up from the city’s free cash account and an appropriation from the Fire Department’s ambulance reserves of $122,500 and $122,500, respectively. These funds will go towards funding the architectural design and bid document preparation. In addition to updates regarding the substation, Masciadrelli said that discussions will also occur regarding longterm illness or injuries incurred by firefighters and travel plans for Chief Mary Regan to attend the Congressional Fire Service Institute in Washington D.C.
Baker prepares to release first state budget BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has his work cut out for him as he prepares to unveil his first state budget proposal. Baker has until Wednesday to file his spending plan for the 2016 fiscal year that begins July 1. Baker has already grappled with a projected $768 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year. The Legislature recently approved a plan to close an estimated $768 million shortfall for the fiscal year ending June 30. State lawmakers quickly approved his plan to close that hole through a series of cuts, a tax amnesty program, and the use of capital gains tax revenue that typically would go into the state’s rainy day fund. On Saturday, Baker announced that the 2016 fiscal year budget proposal will include a tax amnesty program to generate $100 million. The program is for taxpayers of all tax types who have not previously filed in Massachusetts (non-registrants), plus taxpayers known to DOR who have not filed and have not yet been assessed by the Department of Revenue (DOR) for failing to file. The amnesty program would run for all of fiscal year 2016. “Creating incentives for businesses to follow through and pay what they owe will help generate much needed revenue as our administration fixes the budget problems we inherited and brings filers into the system for future payments,” said Baker. “This amnesty program will help craft a fiscally responsible budget that protects taxpayers, delivers much needed services to those who need it the most while protecting local aid for our cities and towns.” The last non-filer tax amnesty program ran in 2002, and generated $176 million. But a key taxpayer watchdog group says Massachusetts’ budget shortfall could be as high as $1.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation’s projected shortfall assumes funding for programs considered discretionary, from public safety to aid to municipalities, stays level. Meanwhile, a top administration official says Baker plans to file legislation that would allow thousands of state employees to retire early, and if that doesn’t work, the state may resort to layoffs. Baker’s budget chief Kristen Lepore tells The Boston Globe the administration projects that 4,500 will take advantage of the early retirement program if it is passed by the Legislature, which would save $178 million.
First came love, then came marriage: 70 years ago By BRIAN STEELE MassLive.Com WEST SPRINGFIELD (AP) — It’s the kind of story that can give all young couples hope in trying times. Arnold Boido and Alda Tassinari met as children. Arnold grew up in Agawam and West Springfield. His family would visit Sagamore in the summertime and he would play with the neighborhood kids. As the years passed, Alda caught his eye in a whole new way.
First came love, then came marriage, and 70 years later, they are still going strong. Arnold, now 95, and Alda, 92, sat at their kitchen table and recalled their courtship with blissful smiles and frequent laughs. They reached out and touched each other’s hands as they gently chided one another about how much they’ve changed since their wedding day in 1945. Alda said she had forgotten her natural hair color until she was asked to find a picture from her youth. Arnold said his wife used to
love his full head of thick blond locks. Arnold enlisted in the Navy in 1939. When the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, he spent his leave time with Alda, and “we grew and grew and grew and grew.” But as long as the war raged, the couple were not willing to get married. That hesitance didn’t last. The first time Arnold was given a 30-day leave, they were joined for life at a small ceremony on Cape Cod. That was March 3, 1945. The war in Europe ended two months later,
but Japan had not yet surrendered and Arnold was put to work to prepare for a possible invasion. The dropping of the atomic bombs made that unnecessary. Arnold ultimately was discharged as a warrant officer and he returned home. That was the first time he and Alda were able to spend time together around the clock. And even though there were tough times as they aged, had children and grandchildren, See Love, Page 3