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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO.144
SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2014
Pond patrol to deploy weekends By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Although it took more than a decade, city police will bring the rule of law to the high seas – or at least to the placid waters of the Hampton Ponds – when the department’s new patrol boat, The Patti Andras, makes its inaugural cruise on Pequot Pond over the Fourth of July weekend. Police Chief John Camerota said that the residents of the ponds neighborhood have been crying out for enforcement on the waters of the ponds where jet skis and other speedy watercraft, often unregistered, have reportedly operated recklessly with impunity for years. He said the effort to acquire a patrol boat “actually started about then years ago and it kinda fell off the radar screen” but the requests for law enforcement on the water continued. The chief said that the idea became a real possibility when a ponds family upgraded its boat “and they gave us the deal of the century that we couldn’t refuse. “Plus, I was very lucky to have three Coast Guard veterans” on the force who are willing to train the officers who will staff the boat, named for the late Patti Andras, a prominent resident whose contributions to the city included service as a police commissioner, when it is deployed on summer weekends from the Fourth of July until Labor Day. He said that he took his plan to the See Boat Patrol, Page 5
Training officers Seth Florek and Jared Rowe supervise as Westfield Police Officer Jeffrey M. Vigneualt pilots ‘The Patti Andras’ back to the Hampton Ponds boat launch after a training cruise on Pequot Pond. The Patti Andras will be used to patrol the ponds on weekends this summer. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
— Richard Le Gallienne
75 cents
Council defers spending requests Westfield School Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion, left, was the keynote speaker during the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce Breakfast at The Ranch, Friday. The breakfast was attended by 120 members and Robert Brown, of First Niagara, served as chief greeter. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Scallion touts schools at Chamber Breakfast By Peter Francis Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – At the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce’s summer breakfast at The Ranch Golf Course, the city of Westfield’s top education official was on hand to update the Chamber. Westfield School Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion served as the event’s guest speaker and spoke to the assembled members about the progress being made in the city’s schools adjusting to the Common Core standards, and how the Chamber can help support them. “I hope you don’t believe all the spin you hear in the news about education today. The Common Core has been a very good thing for our schools,” Scallion said while saluting the efforts of her educators. “We have redefined the basics and it’s been very challenging, because we’ve asked them to redefine their entire curriculum, and that is a lot of work.” Scallion said her teachers are urged to maintain their creativity while reconfiguring their plans for their students. “When building a house, you don’t start with the wallpaper, you don’t start with the lawn, you start with the dirty work – you dig the foundation, you pour the concrete, it’s messy, hard work.” she said, before touching on the district’s partnership with the Bay State Reading Institute (BSRI). “It (BSRI) first began at the Highland School, and our students in kindergarten through third grade
are now showing in DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills), a national literacy test, tremendous success.” Scallion also referenced the work being done at Franklin Avenue School, an institution she feels flies a bit under the radar when the discussion of academic progress comes up. “They were our highest performing early literacy students,” she said. “Franklin doesn’t get the shoutout for academic success very often, but the reason you don’t see longstanding achievement there is because they have the highest mobility rate of any of our schools. We had more kids moving in and out of Franklin than anywhere.” She added that nearly 90 percent of Franklin Avenue kindergarteners and first graders are showing the highest proficiency in literacy, calling it “tremendous” and “worthy of a huge shoutout” for the school’s teachers. Scallion is firmly behind the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems (MCAS) test over the controversial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam. “It would be my choice to stay in the MCAS for a couple of years so we can continue to compare apples to apples,” she said. “I want to see our successes for a few more years so our teachers can experience their success and hard work.” See Superintendent, Page 8
Southwick Town Beach to open this week By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Southwick’s Town Beach is ready for fun in the summer sun. Set to open June 25, the beach will be open 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Parks and Recreation Commission was finalizing plans for opening day this week and said the concession stand would be stocked and ready to serve burgers, hot dogs, tuna melts, BLTs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, candy, chips and beverages. For those who wish to bring their own food, Town Beach has picnic tables and grills in the shade. This year, the ladies restroom/changing room was updated and is now compliant with the Americans with
“It is only on paper that one moralizes — just where one shouldn’t.”
Disabilities Act guidelines, as is the beach. A ramp was built last year that leads from the entrance right to the water. Commissioners said the grounds were cleaned and prepped for opening this week and staff was hired, including lifeguards who are on duty all open hours. Commission Chairman Kelly Magni said the beach provides the community with a place to cool off with their family. “It’s an affordable way for families to spend a day together,” he said. Cost for a resident to visit the beach for a day is $2. Out of town and out of state visitor fee is $3, with the cost for children age 7-13 is $1, Seniors age 62 and older, children 6 and under, active military are all free. The Town Beach is located at The Southwick Town Beach opens for the season Wednesday, June 25 at 9:30 a.m. (Photo by Hope E. Tremblay) 14 Beach Road.
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council Thursday night deferred action on a number of financial appropriations requested by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik seeking immediate considerations. The first item under communication from the mayor was an immediate consideration of a resolution to authorize Knapik to negotiate a nine-year lease for 6,000 square-feet of school administrative office space. The city entered into a three-year agreement in July of 2012 to lease 6,000 square feet at the Hampton Ponds Plaza, with the option to extend annually for a total of five years. The cost of that lease is $2,750 a month, with a total of $99,000 if the full five year option package is exercised. The Hampton Ponds Plaza, on North Road, provides 6,000 square feet of space to accommodate 25 work spaces and a conference room. The City Council sent the resolution request to its City Properties Committee and the Legislative & Ordinance Committee for further review. The City Council has to vote to suspend its rules to act on an immediate consideration request. Under those rules three quarters, or 10 of the 13 members have to approve suspending the rules blocks a vote on the immediate consideration request. Immediate action is usually allowed to approve state and federal grants and other funding, such as gifts to specific municipal agencies, which do not require a local match. At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty said that he would vote against suspending the rules for immediate consideration, and when the lease resolution is eventually put on the council floor, will vote against that, as well. Flaherty said that school funding would be better spent in other areas rather than leasing an elaborate administrative space. DAVID “Nine-year leases are FLAHERTY extremely rare, and immediate consideration is also suppose to be rare,” Flaherty said. “There is no reason for taking it as immediate consideration. I’m opposed to this immediate consideration, I’m opposed to this lease.” The City Council is required to approve any leases longer than three years. Financial matters typically require at least two meetings, a rule that can be waived in an emergency situation. The Legislative & Ordinance Committee brought out a five-year lease later in the meeting requested by the Technology Department which is consolidating management of copier agreements. IT Manager Lenore Bernashe appeared before the L&O prior to the City Council session to explain why her department was leasing 15 copiers. Bernashe said many city hall departments have their own lease agreements, agreements being consolidated and managed by the Technology Department. The five-year lease will cost $16,205.66 a year, slightly more than the current lease agreements but Bernashe said the new agreement reduces the cost per copy by between an estimated $3,000 and $4,000 a year. The council approved the first reading of the copier lease. The second reading and final passage will occur at the July 7, 2014 session. The City Council also declined to act on five other requests for immediate consideration, all transfers within the Fire Department’s Ambulance Revolving Account. Flaherty requested that all five items be sent See Spending, Page 3