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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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DPW close to awarding bid for school sewer project
See Sewer Project, Page 7
The sewer system and pump station would connect to the entire school campus. (WNG File Photo)
is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self.” — WHITNEY YOUNG
75 cents
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 2017
VOL. 86 NO. 143
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – DPW Director Randy Brown announced this week that he is in the process of awarding a contract to JL Raymaakers and Sons for the school district sewer project. Brown said that JL Raymaaker and Sons was the lowest bidder at roughly $1.1 million. The school sewer project consists of installing a pump station and a sewer system for the entire school campus. The project came to fruition when the school district was issued an administrative consent order in March of 2014, which was sent by Mass DEP (Department of Environmental Protection). The administrative consent order informed the school district that they were not in compliance with the wastewater discharge regulations that had been set forth by the state. Having a septic system at the time, the district was told by Mass DEP that they would need to build sewers throughout the school buildings around campus. Given a deadline to connect the sewer system by December of 2018, the school district began to discuss how they could secure funds for the sewers. According to Stephen Presnal, the district’s business manager, they discovered an opportunity for funding when the town of Southwick’s proposed sewer project failed at annual town meeting in May of 2015. The school district was able to develop a plan with town officials in order to reach the December 2018 deadline and comply with Mass DEP. The agreement was that the district would be funding the project while the town is managing the design and construction contract for the build of the sewer line and pump station. Presnal said that the district has already provided up to $100,000 for design costs. With the total amount of the entire sewer connection being
“The truth is that there
More changes coming to Westfield water?
Mayor Brian P. Sullivan reads a proclamation of Henry Bannish’s service to the city at a reception at the school in his honor last Friday. (Photo by Rob Ollari)
Teacher retiring after 49 years in education By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – After 49 years in education, 47 in Westfield, Henry Bannish is retiring at the end of this school year. Bannish, who began in Westfield as an English teacher at South Middle School after teaching at Cathedral High in Springfield for one year, spent most of his career as a school adjustment counselor for the Westfield Technical Academy. He said on Wednesday that he could have kept going for another 20 years. “What will I miss most -the students and the faculty. They have given me more than I have given them. They kept me young. I had to keep up with them,” Bannish said. Talking about his role as an adjustment counselor, Bannish said students come to him with social and emotional struggles. His approach with the students is straight on. “They come here for four years. Their job is to grow up, take responsibility, and get their name(s) on a diploma.” He would let them know, if they want this, they really have to work on it. “Look in the mirror, it’s you,” he would say, asking them how they would like to be treated, as an adult or a child. He said their
response was always, as an adult. He would tell them you need a license to drive a car, and you need to practice for four years to be a responsible adult. He would also tell them, “I don’t want to speak to a child. Surprisingly, they like that,” Bannish said. Bannish would use the example of his grandmother who came to this country from Poland at the age of 14 by herself. She got married at 15, and the family moved from Hatfield to Westfield, buying a farm near the Southampton border. She had 18 children, 14 of whom survived. In his family, Henry is the oldest of 10 children. After graduating from St. Mary’s High School, he was the first to go to college, at St. Xavier in Nova Scotia. He also had two brothers graduate from Harvard. His brother Mitch served as an assistant principal at Westfield High School for a long time, and his sister is married to federal judge Mark Mastroianni.
Bannish said when his grandmother died in 1993, she had 100 descendants. “I think about this all the time,” he said, about how she had the strength to come here at 14 alone, and never went back to see her family. “I share that story with students I talk to. I just don’t like the childish behavior of high school students. Childhood is over when they come here,” Bannish said. He said he has a similar message for parents who come in to speak to him. He said parents come in and try to put the blame on teachers and administrators for their student’s struggles. “I tell them it’s their job to send them to school ready to learn. I want them to take it seriously,” Bannish said. At one time he even had his own bus, and went around Westfield picking up kids who weren’t in school. He said after a while, the kids would have coffee ready for him when See Bannish, Page 5
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—Another change may be coming to the Westfield’s water standards—this time in wastewater— and officials are trying to stay ahead of it before it becomes a problem. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be putting a nitrogen limit on wastewater plants that discharge into the Connecticut River and eventually run to Long Island Sound, which is suffering from low-oxygen conditions, according to Jeff Gamelli, Westfield’s deputy superintendent of wastewater. If this happens, depending on how far the limit drops, Westfield and other communities could be funding millions of dollars for upgrades, or otherwise devising unique solutions within their wastewater treatment, according to Gamelli. “They’ve been working from Long Island Sound up. Connecticut is already on board,” Gamelli said. “Connecticut’s been successful. We’re trying to mirror them and get a preliminary jump on it,” he added. Gamelli said that what may occur is a total nitrogen limit, which Westfield’s wastewater—or water resource recovery, as Gamelli calls it—does not currently have. The limit would work by reducing the amount of allowable “total nitrogen effluent limit” that the wastewater plants can offload into water. Gamelli said that there have been no numbers that have been settled on nor definitive timetable, but some numbers have been tentatively discussed. “We don’t know what the limit will be but we believe there will be one,” he said. “There will be more information in December from the EPA.” The limit is due to an issue with hypoxic, or lowoxygen, conditions that are occurring on Long Island Sound, with high nitrogen levels being a cause, Gamelli said. From the EPA website, too much nitrogen and phosphorus can create an environment where algae grows faster than the ecosystem can handle. “Significant increases in algae harm water quality, food resources and habitats, and decrease the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive,” according to the webpage EPA “Nutrient Pollution.” In addition, this can also be harmful to humans, per the page. To solve, treatment plants can opt to upgrade their facilities, which Gamelli said Chicopee was given an estimated cost of $80 million to $115 million for this option. Also worth noting: According to Gamelli, in 2014 Chicopee’s nitrogen level in wastewater was 9 mg/L; Westfield’s was 10 mg/L. This is not the only option for municipalities, though. They can also figure out within their own plants what they can do to modify and meet limits—which is what See Westfield Water, Page 7
A view of a portion of the Westfield wasterwater treatment facility on Neck Road in Westfield.
City seeks public input on open space and recreation By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The city is looking for public input for the development of an open space and recreation plan, which leads Westfield to opportunities for a variety of state grants. The Open Space and Planning Committee, who is heading the effort along with a District Local Technical Assistance Grant from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, is requesting ideas from residents to help guide them in the formation of the open space and recreational plan that will be replacing the city’s current one.
They will be holding two public sessions for residents, one on Wednesday June 21, at North Middle School on Southampton Road, and another on Thursday June 22, at South Middle School on West Silver Street; both will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. In addition, residents can log onto the Westfield website and find a survey to assist in the idea phase. “From a planning perspective, it’s important to take a look at the community. We don’t really have a master plan so this is the closest we get to that,” Jay Vinskey, city planner for Westfield, said. “This is a rare opportunity for the com-
munity to get together and decide a direction and vision going forward.” The open space and recreation plan allows municipalities to apply for various grants in the state but they have a certain timespan for which they are eligible for grants. Vinskey said that the city’s current one is coming up on its expiration, which is seven years. Regarding what suggestions are being solicited, Vinskey said that the city is seeking a variety of input. “We are hoping to get a large response,” See Public Input, Page 5 Children and adults stay cool during the grand opening of Chapman Park in July 2012. (WNG file photo)