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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 86 NO. 21
“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” — JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE 75 cents
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017
One teen found another still missing By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–Police report that one missing Westfield teen has been found, but another is still missing. Westfield Police reported that 16-year-old Tayshia Hoisington was found and returned to the custody of the Department of Children and
Families, but they are still searching for 16-year-old Aaron Ferrer. The two missing cases were not related but have been seen on the Westfield Detective Bureau’s Facebook page. Police could not give any further information about where Hoisington was found, but it was reported that she was missing since Dec. 16, 2016.
Police did not report any injuries to the teen. They also posted an updated status on their Facebook page saying that she has been. For Ferrer, he was last seen in Springfield, near Springfield Central High School on Jan. 20, around 3 p.m. According to Westfield Police Detective Roxanne Bradley, Ferrer is
6 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs about 350 pounds. Bradley reported that Ferrer has family in the Brooklyn, New York, area, and could be attempting to make his way there, though that is not certain at this point. If you have any information on the location of Ferrer, call the Westfield Police Department at (413)562-5411.
Photograph of Aaron Ferrer, from the Westfield Detective Bureau’s Facebook page.
Huntington Selectman resigning
Huntington Selectmen meet with members of the Board of Health on Wednesday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Huntington Select Board discusses security of bill payments By AMY PORTER Correspondent HUNTINGTON – At Wednesday’s Select Board meeting, the selectmen, including Jeffrey McKittrick, John McVeigh and Ed Renauld, spoke to the town’s tax collector, treasurer and Board of Health about how to establish a no cash policy for payments to the town. Renauld said it was a question of
security. McKittrick said they would like to avoid some of the problems others towns have had going into the future. Last month, LeeAnn Thompson, a former tax collector from the town of Blandford was indicted by a Hampden County Grand Jury for allegedly stealing $150,000 from the town from 2006 to 2011, much of it from cash payments.
“Let’s take it out of the equation,” McVeigh said. Aimee Burnham, treasurer and Andrea McKittrick, tax collector both said some people prefer to pay in cash. Burnham said if the town went to no cash, her process would not change at all. She said See Huntington, Page 3
By AMY PORTER Correspondent HUNTINGTON – Selectman John McVeigh turned in his resignation at Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, effective June 30, 2017. He is in the first year of his second term as selectman with two years remaining, leaving an opening to be filled in this year’s town election. McVeigh, who is employed by the Highland Ambulance EMS service in Goshen, said he is leaving to focus on obtaining his associate’s degree as a paramedic. McVeigh is also a captain in the Huntington Fire Department. Jeffrey McKittrick, chair of the Selectmen, said McVeigh had done a lot of work for the town. He talked about his efforts to bring back fireworks and the fundraising he has done towards that goal, including a successful bonfire last fall. McVeigh also served as point person on the restoration of Stanton Hall after a recent fire, and on refurnishing Town Hall offices and upgrading the wireless internet in both buildings. McVeigh also announced Wednesday that the town will be receiving a grant of $4,500 from Hampshire Healthy Communities to establish a River Walk on the Westfield River behind Town Hall, and that he is looking into more grants to fund that project. “I think you did a great job, John, and I hope you come back in two years,” McKittrick said. McVeigh, who was also appointed to serve on the Green Community Committee on Wednesday, said he would stay involved with the projects that he had started. “If you have a project for me, call me,” McVeigh said.
Parks and Recreation Commission seeking funding for field at Whalley Park By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – The Parks and Recreation Commission discussed an issue with field lighting on one of the baseball field’s at Whalley Park. The homerun fence around the field is too short and the Parks and Recreation Commission feels that the fence should be put farther back, closer to the light poles. A suggestion was made that a retaining wall could potentially be put in behind the lights. The reason for having the retaining wall is because there is a slight hill near the left field side of the fence that causes the fence to become uneven. The projected cost for the retaining wall could be anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000. The Parks and Recreation Commission received an email from John Goddard of R. Levesque Associates, who is the project manager for this. Making sure that the fence gets pushed back is
The Parks and Recreation Commission would like to push back the home run fence on a baseball field at Whalley Park. (WNG File Photo) important since high school games are played on that particular field. The Parks and Rec Commission wants the field to look more appealing to the high school teams and other older leagues that would be interested in playing on that field. According to the Parks and Recreation Commission, they don’t
have the money to do it at the moment but would like to get funding for the retaining wall. At the next Parks and Recreation meeting in two weeks there may be a plan set in place as to where to get the funding from and the hope is to have the situation taken care of in the near future.
Huntington Selectman John McVeigh will be resigning at the end of June to focus on other projects. (Photo by Amy Porter)