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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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VOL. 86 NO. 40
Local municipalities benefit from chapter 90 funding
Construction workers participate in road repairs in Westfield. (WNG file photo)
Karl Stinehart, the Chief Administrative Officer for the town of Southwick, knows what the needs are for the funds. “It helps address the issues that have been identified,” said Stinehart. According to DPW Director Randy Brown, the town usually See Chapter 90 Funding, Page 7
Projects on South Loomis Street in the past two years are examples of Chapter 90 funding. (WNG File Photo)
Cultural Council gearing up for upcoming art exhibition By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – At Thursday’s monthly Cultural Council meeting, the members discussed the upcoming 18th Annual Arts Exhibition that the council runs for the town of Southwick. Taking place in the town hall auditorium, the show will be April 29 and April 30 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on each day. The exhibition allows the community and surrounding areas, to look at several pieces of work done by local artists and others across New England. There were over 1,000 people that attended the exhibition last year. The majority of the artists are local, from towns
“Loretta’s Garden” is one of the works of Don Desmond that was on display at the 16th Annual Southwick Fine Art Show and Sale.
“Berries in the Bucket” by Barbara Huntoon was a prior display at the Southwick Fine Art Exhibition at Southwick Town Hall.
like Westfield, Agawam, Southwick, Suffield, and Granby. According to the press release on the art exhibition sent out by Ellen Miles, artists can display fine arts, sculpture, poetry, and photography. Before any art is showcased at the
— GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL
75 cents
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2017
By DAN DESROCHERS and GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent WESTFIELD/SOUTHWICK/BOSTON – Gov. Charlie Baker announced this week that the state would seek $200 million in chapter 90 funds to help with transportation infrastructure projects throughout the state. Included in those getting funding are Westfield and Southwick, who each have several road construction projects that public officials hope can be done with the funding. However, officials from Westfield and Southwick are not certain how much funding will be available to them, and may have to wait a couple months before they know. “We won’t have the funds until July, but hopefully before then we’ll have a list for priority streets,” Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan said. The priority streets Sullivan mentioned are streets that he and the city’s engineering department will determine in the coming months that are in need of construction work and improvement. Sullivan said that any money the city receives will go toward efforts to improve roadways, which he said was both a campaign promise of his and a request of residents. “Chapter 90 money will be used strictly on roads, milling and repaving, just strictly used for road projects,” he said. Sullivan is unsure how much money will come to Westfield but he does hope that it at least matches, if not extends, beyond the total the city received last year. According to Mark Cressotti, Westfield’s city engineer, cities typically see about $1.22 million per fiscal year in chapter 90 funding. The $200 million that the Baker-Polito administration is seeking in Chapter 90 funds is nothing new to Southwick. Typically, the funds the Southwick DPW gets is put towards any municipal bridge, road, and reconstruction projects.
“Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.”
exhibition, the cultural council goes through a process in order to decide which artists will be able to put their work on display. The Cultural Council says that See Exhibition, Page 7
O’Connell starts process to convert private ways to public streets By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell presented a motion co-signed by Councilors Mary Ann Babinski, William Onyski, John J. Beltrandi, III and Council president Brent B. Bean, II to submit a resolution to the Senate and House of Representatives for Home Rule Petition to authorize the City of Westfield to categorize all current private ways as public streets. O’Connell said the purpose of the petition is to provide an alternative to the system currently in place to transfer private ways to public ways. “Even if all this is accomplished, the city will still have to have a public hearing on each street and proceed with a layout,” O’Connell said. She said the resolution also doesn’t automatically obligate the city for MARY maintenance of all the roads. She O’CONNELL asked to move the matter to the Legislative & Ordinance Committee. The resolution further states that acceptance as a public way will only become final after the layout has been approved by the City Council following a public hearing, and the order of the layout has been filed by the city clerk, and the city already holds land or easements for the purposes of the public way. At-Large Councilor David Flaherty thanked O’Connell and all the other councilors for bringing the resolution forward. “It’s a way to fast track putting our private ways on the public list,” Flaherty said. He said more public roads could generate more Chapter 90 funds from the state. Onyski said there are currently 72 streets in Ward 6 that are private ways. “We are trying to do what we can to speed up the process,” he said. At-large Councilor Dan Allie suggested that if it would speed up the process, why not make this a unanimous effort by the City Council. “This is not a panacea. It’s not perfect,” Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy said. “Once we accept these as legal ways, they are our responsibility,” he added. Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr. gave the example of a cul-de-sac with 22 homes on it. He said the city would have to contact all of the deed owners to make the change, which he referred to as a “nightmare.” Ward 3 Councilor Andrew K. Surprise said he agreed with FIgy. “I don’t know if we want every street in the city. I think we want to curate this list,” Surprise said. O’Connell said that the city is currently plowing these streets. “While this is in L&O, if you see clearly a street that should not be a public way, let us know,” she asked. Bean said that the City Council has asked the Law Department in the past to make a plan for public ways. “It really tied our hands. It didn’t allow for a lot of infilling on developments,” Bean said. He also said this won’t allow for a rapid response, but the positives of the resolution outweigh the negatives. The resolution was sent to the L&O Committee.
Police want businesses to be on lookout for counterfeit bills Centurions in Kim Avery’s kindergarten class wearily celebrate 100 days of school.
Southampton Road (finally) celebrates 100th day of school By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Southampton Road elementary school celebrated its 100th day of school on Thursday, after postponing several times due to the weather. Principal Kathleen O’Donnell said the school celebrates the event every year. “Every year, the kindergartners dress as centenarians. Everything that’s done is with the number 100 in mind. Other classes bring in collections of 100, read 100 words, count 100 items, and write 100 numbers,” O’Donnell said. “It took a long time to get to this day because of the snow days, which See Southampton, Page 7
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–The city’s police department is urging businesses to be careful when accepting $100 bills, after police claim that a group may be attempting to pass counterfeit $100 bills at stores. Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe reported that allegedly a fraudulent $100 bill was found in a store’s cash drawer this past week. Police reportedly had a description of suspects, in addition to a vehicle that they may have been in, but no arrests were made. McCabe believes that this may be tied to other similar crimes in the greater Westfield area but noted that this may be the only occurrence in Westfield. “We believe there is a group attempting to pass counterfeit $100 bills,” McCabe said. “They are purchasing small items and then taking the change.” McCabe urged businesses to be vigilant about making sure that the paper money they receive is not
counterfeit. There are a number of security features on bills issued by the US Federal Reserve, but McCabe suggests that businesses should focus on the security band that is to the left of the portrait on the front of the bill running vertically. According to uscurrency. gov, the band should be visible if you backlight the bill, and will have “USA” and the number “100” on it as well, alternating on both sides of the strip.832 Other security features, accord-
ing to uscurrency.gov, include a watermark of Benjamin Franklin to the right of the portrait, colorshifting ink on the “100” in the corner of the bill, a 3-D security ribbon that runs to the right of the portrait that alternate both bells and a “100” when you move the bill side-to-side, among other features. For a complete list of features, you can visit the uscurrency.gov website and find them for $100 bills, as well as other currency.