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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014
VOL. 83 NO.189
75 cents
City man arrested for arson By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A city man was arrested Tuesday on charges of attempted arson on a dwelling and willful ignition of an incendiary device. Nghe Van Ho, 57, formerly of Kellogg Street, Kellogg Street, was arrested by Westfield Police at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday in connection with an August 3 incident in which the Westfield Fire Department responded to a call claiming there was smoke in the basement at 34 Kellogg Street. Firefighters arrived and discovered a smoldering box in the basement and discovered a suspicious device in the box when they removed it to extinguish the fire. A joint investigation began between Westfield Police and the Fire and Investigative Unit of the state Fire Marshal’s Office, which determined that
“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” Bergen Baldwin Evans
Westfield recovers after flooding Motorists and business owners along Mainline Drive in Westfield became stranded as heavy rains hit the area yesterday. A state police trooper on the scene said the water was initially up to the front grills of both vehicles which become stranded in the roadway. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD — While communities across the U.S. are drying out after unusually heavy rains swamped highways, flooded basements and were blamed for at least four deaths, Westfield only experienced a few instances of minor flooding. “I think we’re going to have our typical street flooding, but I don’t expect any major flooding from rivers or streams,” said Westfield Emergency Management Director James Wiggs yesterday morning. Asked what the potential problems would be, Wiggs said segments of Notre Dame Street and Union Street tend to have flooding issues, but that he didn’t anticipate any traffic issues. “We’ve done some work to help the drainage there,” he said. “So any time we get heavy rain, those areas tend to puddle a little bit.” This morning, Wiggs recapped the day and was pleased with how the city’s storm drains held up.
Yesterday’s rain flooded streets and created localized flooding throughout the area. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
See Flooding, Page 5
See Arson Arrest, Page 3
Transformer explosion causes power problems By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Western Massachusetts Electric Company is still on the scene of an outage along Feeding Hills Road this afternoon. A transformer located across from Comark at 104 Feeding Hills Road blew up around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, causing residents to lose power and the library to close early. Southwick Fire Chief Richard Anderson said the explosion was loud and high. “The transformer blew itself into the woods,” he said. “Wires came down between poles on the side of the road and it was arcing and sparking.” Firefighters cleared the area to keep people away from the wires while they worked to secure the area with WMECO. Anderson said the explosion was so bright “it was like the sun came out for a few minutes.” One home on Gagnon Terrace was See Transformer, Page 3
Paving raises flood plain issues By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Conservation Commission voted Tuesday night to initiate an enforcement order for a violation of the Wetlands Protection Act by the owners of the Westfield Shops on East Main Street. That action was approved after a commission member observed paving of the entryway located between the CVS Pharmacy and
Applebee’s Restaurant in violation of city, state and federal flood plain regulations. Commissioner George Martin, who witnessed the paving work, said the problem is that the shopping center owners, Devcon Enterprises (Devcon Shops, LLC) of West Hartford had failed to mill the existing asphalt before laying the new blacktop. The commission issued enforcement actions to the Westgate Plaza and the Salvation
Army, both in the flood plain along East Silver Street, when paving was being done. In both of those incidents, the old asphalt had been ground down so that the new pavement was at the same elevation. Both the Westgate Plaza and the Salvation Army were found to be compliant with the enforcement orders. See Paving, Page 3
School start date delayed By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The first day of school for the Southwick-TollandGranville Regional School District has been bumped to Sept. 2 due to construction work. Superintendent John Barry notified parents last week of the change via phone message and a letter was posted on the district website. Opening day for grades one – 12 is Sept. 2, with preschool and kindergarten orientation the following day and kindergarten starts Sept. 4.
Barry said the last day of school has not changed and is set for June 12 if there are no snow days, and June 19 if there are five snow days. “We made some changes to professional development days and we are using Good Friday as a half-day so that it doesn’t change the last day,” said Barry. Construction on all three Southwick campus schools has forged ahead throughout the summer. While much of the project is ahead of schedule, some items set parts of the project back.
“We did not plan on having to change the calendar, but it became obvious in early August that if we did not make some changes there was the distinct possibility of a disorganized opening,” said Barry. Teachers are set to head back to their classrooms Aug. 27 and Teacher Professional Days are planned for Aug. 28 and 29. The planned open houses and staff collaboration days remain the same, and there will be no school See School, Page 3
SUPERINTENDENT DR. JOHN BARRY
City commission seeks to preserve historic cemetery By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Historical Commission will request tonight that the Community Preservation Committee allocate $30,000 to preserve and restore the Old Burying Ground where many of the city’s first settlers and founding families are interred. The Historical Commission estimates the total cost of the rehabilitation project for the cemetery, which is located off Mechanic Street, at $35,000. Many of the oldest stones have worn to the extent that all information has been erased by time and weather. The oldest legible stone is dated 1683. The Historic Commission submitted documentation, prepared by commissioner Cindy Gaylord, that indicates the significance of the Old Burying Grounds, with many of the headstones bearing family names that are recognized by residents today as the names of streets surrounding the downtown area. The cemetery is the final resting place of soldiers who served in the French and Indian War, as well as the Revolutionary and Civil wars. It holds the remains of colonial pastors, poets and senators. The Old Burying Ground records indicate that it holds 1,600 graves, but that only 1,100 remain because of weathering, ero-
sion, vandalism and breakage. The Historical Commission’s goal is to “repair, restore and preserve as many (head) stones as possible before they are lost forever.” The commission also seeks to open the historical site to the public as an education destination, related to the city’s history, for school children. The Old Burying Ground is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. The commission, with the help of stonework professionals, has identified the stones with immediate need for both preservation and restoration. “This project will benefit the residents of Westfield because it is our hope to open this site as a beautiful, serene public park, rich in the city’s history,” Gaylord stated in the application document. “It will also be used for school trips for our elementary classes, as well as secondary students. We hope that it will become a destination for visitors to our city whose ancestors are buried there.” The Community Preservation Law required that portions of the money generated through a surtax on property, with matching state funding, be used for historic preservation, recreation and housing. The Historic Commission is seeking the CPC’s approval for both the historic preservation and recreational use of the rehabilitated site as a park.
Munger Hill Elementary School fifth-grade students, leftright, Altha Fiordalice, Shannon Sullivan, Erin Olearcek, Jessica Crosby and Emily Gelinas dress in period costume for the Colonial Harvest Days in Westfield in 2012. The students acted as tour guides at the Old Burying Ground located at Mechanic Street in Westfield, which is one of the oldest cemeteries in the United States. The cemetery was established on April 27, 1668. (File photo by Frederick Gore)