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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 288
See Columbia Greenway, Page 3
long time to understand nothing.”
— Edward Dahlberg
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014
City set to bid Columbia Greenway bridge work By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – City Engineer Mark Cressotti reported to the Board of Public Works Tuesday night that the next phase of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trial construction is being broken into “elements” because of the need to award the structure work as early as possible to meet the June 30 grant deadline. The city has received a $2 million grant from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for the next phase of Columbia Greenway construction which includes installation of a new bridge and proposed construction of a 25-foot-long underpass, connecting two neighborhoods to be installed under the raised rail of the former New Haven to Northampton Railroad. “There will be a couple of pieces to the Greenway construction and a couple of contracts associated with that. The work has to be done by June,” Cressotti said. The structural elements are the bridge over East Silver Street and the underpass linking the Hedges Avenue/St. Dennis Street neighborhood with the Taylor Avenue/Ashley Street neighborhood. “We’re pushing that piece e out right now,” Cressotti said. “We’re getting into the holiday season and if we wait we won’t get the bids back until late January. We can’t wait that long because of the lead time to get the steel for the bridge.” Cressotti said the underpass will be a precast box culvert delivered in sections. The structures contractor will remove a section of the raised rail bed, install the culvert sections, then backfill and compact the rail bed so it does not settle over time. “We’ll bid out the rail trail work separately,” Cressotti said. “Some bridge contractors also do road work and some road contractors also do bridges, so we’ll have to wait and see what types of bids come in from contractors.” In other business, Cressotti informed the BPW members that the North Elm and Notre Dame streets intersection reconfiguration work will be advertised in January. “Right now we’re putting the rights of ways we’ll need together,” Cressotti said. The truck exclusion for the lower section of Notre Dame Street and adjoining neighborhoods has been given a “favorable recommendation by (state Department of Transportation) District 2 in Northampton and has been sent to Boston for further DOT review.” “Plans for the Western Avenue project have been submitted to DOT District 2 and we’re waiting for a response,” Cressotti said. “The Feeding Hills Section of Route 187 is currently underway and the next element of that project will be Little River Road,” Cressotti said. “That phase is 100 percent designed, but the DOT wants another public hearing because of the changes proposed at the Shaker Road intersection. Public hearings were held, but it’s been so long they want residents to have another opportunity to review the plans.”
“It takes a
75 cents
Runaway overtime costs threaten fire dept.
Bob Plasse WOW President
Dinner and Dickens making Westfield debut By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – An area Christmas tradition is readying for a sixth act in Westfield after running for five years in Springfield. Inspired by December dinners held around the United States that combine a performance of the timeless Charles Dickens tale “A Christmas Carol” with a victorian-style meal, Westfield On Weekends (WOW) is readying for an inaugural dinner theatre performance of the holiday classic, to be held at the Genesis House on December 19. During the five previous years, the performance has raised over $16,000 for WOW to maintain the running of an annual “Dickens Days” festival in Westfield that has drawn spectators from as far away as Binghamton, New York. This year’s performance will be running for one night only, with a limited number of tickets selling for $40. Proceeds from the show will be going to the Genesis Center and WOW. “I asked Cathy Palmer, a local playwright who works with The Westfield Theatre Group, to write us a basic script that would run about 40 minutes to an hour long,” said WOW President Bob Plasse, who plays several roles in the performance. Plasse said that he had worked with the Spirit of Springfield, a non-profit organization responsible for hosting the Bright Nights festival in Springfield’s Forest Park, where the show ran for five nights each of the past five years. Unfortunately, after the Spirit of Springfield raised ticket prices for this year’s event to $70, Plasse decided that there may be a better place closer to home where the tradition could live on.
By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The ability of the city’s fire department to maintain fire and emergency protection to the city is threatened by a shortage of able-bodied firefighters – and funds to pay overtime to the firefighters who have to cover for their absent brethren. City Fire Chief Mary Regan said yesterday in a news release, that the department’s overtime funds are in danger of being totally depleted by January. She said that she has requested $150,000 to replenish the overtime account but she Mary Regan City Fire Chief said that, even if that additional funding is provided, the overtime account will probably need an additional influx before the end of the fiscal year in July. Regan explained in a subsequent interview that the problem is due to a personnel shortage on two fronts. Not only are there six vacancies on the fire department roster, there are currently seven firefighters absent due to long-term illness or injury. With the shortage of firefighters, Regan said that she has transferred personnel between the department’s four duty groups but still has only been able to staff each group with 15 firefighters, the bare minimum. Minimum staffing does not allow any leeway for absences when firefighters use vacation time, personal days or are absent for any other reason. “If anyone doesn’t come to work, it’s overtime” she said. Regan said that the budget which went into effect in July provided for three additional positions but said that the department has not been able to fill the new slots. In addition to the three new positions waiting to be filled, See Fire Dept. Page 8
Second sting failure draws Mr. Phipps license suspension By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The owner of the Mr. Phipps package store on North Elm Street “did not dispute the facts” at a hearing before the city’s License Commission pertaining to allegations filed by the Westfield Police Departments that the store failed a second alcohol compliance sting this year. Attorney Benjamin M. Boyle, of the Bacon & Wilson law firm, said his client, George Phillips “does not want to be back here” again to answer to another violation of state law prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 21 and that he would continue to work with his staff to prevent a future reoccurrence. The Community Policing unit of the WPD conducted a sting operation consistent with guidelines set by the License Commission and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) on Sept. 11 with volunteers under the age of 21 who were instructed to provide their drivers’ license if asked by the staff of a business licensed to serve alcohol.
See Dinner & Dickens, Page 3
See Mr. Phipps, Page 3
Valley Gives effort raises millions
In May, contractors used a crane to place large steel beams on a support structure that will be part of the Columbia Greenway Project. This bridge is located off Ponders Hollow Road in Westfield. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
SPRINGFIELD, MA – Western Massachusetts-based nonprofits sent out the call and in 24 hours, 14,189 donors made 28,824 gifts for a grand total of $2,676,595 raised. In addition, a prize pool of $225,000 was distributed to the following participating nonprofits: Nonprofits in three budget categories competed for bonus grants presented to the top three slots for ‘Most Unique Donors.’ (First place $5,000, Second place $4,000 and Third place $3,000). In keeping with our 12.12 theme, nonprofits in 12th place in each category were awarded a $1,200 bonus grant. Most Unique Donors: Large Nonprofits NEW ENGLAND PUBLIC RADIO FOUNDATION INC 839 Donors DAKIN HUMANE SOCIETY 739 Donors THE FOOD BANK OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INC 696 Donors
Medium Nonprofits NEW SPIRIT, INC 641 Donors WHOLE CHILDREN 632 Donors PIONEER VALLEY SYMPHONY 384 Donors Small Nonprofits FRIENDS OF THE HILLTOWN COOPERATIVE CHARTER SCHOOL INC 437 Donors GROW FOOD NORTHAMPTON INC 342 Donors JACKSON STREET SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION INC 299 Donors First Time Participating; Most Money Raised 1st JACKSON STREET SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION INC $24,356 5th TECH FOUNDRY, INC. $23,334 10th Place SPRINGFIELD NO ONE LEAVES $6,387 The full list of nonprofits and their totals raised is available at www.valleygivesday.
org. Valley Gives was spearheaded and hosted by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Joining this effort were partners including the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, Jewish Endowment Foundation, Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, United Way of Hampshire County, United Way of Franklin County, United Way of Pioneer Valley, Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, and The Beveridge Family Foundation. Media sponsors included WWLP-22News, Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Republican/ masslive.com, Lazer 99.3, Northampton Community Television, WRSI, The Westfield Newsgroup, Lamar, The Reminder Publications and WMAS. Valley Gives is powered by Razoo, the crowdfunding platform for causes. To date, Razoo has helped Massachusetts-based organizations raise more than $52 million through secure, easy-to-use, online fundraisers.