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WEATHER TONIGHT Increasing clouds. Low of 10.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
— Agnes de Mille
www.thewestfieldnews.com THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014
VOL. 83 NO. 7
“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. ... ”
75 cents
MLB restructures following election
entered into when they formed the regional school null and void?” asked one Huntington man. “And if it does, then what prevents other communities who have the same problems Worthington does from withdrawing and going through the same process?” The biggest wedges driven between Worthington and the district were the closing of the R.H. Conwell Elementary School, which has since reopened as an alternative education center, and an alleged disparity between the number of Worthington pupils and their portion of the district’s bill, were touched upon by members of the assembly. “I recall very well in the early years (of the district), there were people who felt badly about losing their local schools,” said former
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Municipal Light Board reorganized last night following the election of Ray Rivera as the Ward 2 representative and the departure of Bob Paul, who will now serve as the Ward 5 representative on the City Council. Paul had been the Ward 2 MLB representative, but lost that seat, which he had held for six years, not to an election opponent, but to the fact that the City Council changed the ward line following the federal 2010 census. That redistricting moved Paul out of Ward 2 into Ward 5. The current Ward 5 MLB representative, Tom Flaherty, was elected to serve as the board president for 2014 by a 5-0 vote. Jane C. Wensley and Kevin Kelleher were absent, Wensley due to the death of her husband earlier this week. Flaherty requested the board to select a Vice Chairman for the 2014 year and when none of the members present volunteered nominated Kelleher for that post, a nomination which was supported by a 5-0 vote. The members then discussed subcommittee assignments, making changes to reflect the election of Rivera and the departure of Paul. The MLB maintains four standing subcommittees: Finance, Rates, Human Resources and Technology. Flaherty said this morning that members have diverse backgrounds which accommodate their appointment to various subcommittees. “Each member is working hard to know what is going on in the energy markets,” Flaherty said. “We are all also ratepayers. We set policy with the goal to be as competitive as possible Ed Roman, Flaherty and Robert Sacco will serve on the Finance Subcommittee; Francis Liptak, Wensley, Flaherty and Rivera on the Rates Subcommittee; Kelleher, Flaherty and Wensley on the Human Resources Committee: Sacco, Liptak and
See Worthington Withdrawal, Page 3
See MLB, Page 3
The Russell H. Conwell School was one of three elementary schools that closed in June 2010 as part of the Gateway Regional School District regionalization. The small Worthington school reopened in September 2010 with the help of Staind frontman Aaron Lewis and his wife Vanessa, who spearheaded the now privately funded school. The other two schools that closed in 2010 were the Blandford Elementary School and the Russell Elementary School. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Towns weigh in on Worthington withdrawal By Peter Francis Staff Writer HUNTINGTON – As the Town of Worthington pursues the process to withdraw from the Gateway Regional School District, residents of the other six Gateway communities came to Huntington’s Stanton Hall last night to discuss next steps. Over 50 residents from Blandford, Chester, Middlefield, Montgomery, and Russell and Huntington attend the meeting to voice their frustrations and concerns over Worthington’s attempt to break away, and to bring forth ideas of how to potentially resolve the situation. “The purpose of this meeting is not to debate Worthington’s proposal to withdraw, nor is it a forum to speak against the residents of Worthington,” cautioned Huntington town
moderator Peter Jacques at the start of the meeting. “(The purpose) is to discuss actions that other Gateway communities and towns can take in order to try to prevent or try to mitigate the impact of that withdrawal.” The Chair of Huntington’s Selectboard, Amy Burnham, said that while she doubted a consensus would be reached by the communities at the end of the night, that wasn’t the purpose for the meeting. “Together, with open dialogue, perhaps we can come up with how to layer a defense to go forward to protect our towns collaboratively,” she said. After Burnham opened the floor to comment, residents unleashed their personal opinions with vigor. “If the legislature lets them (Worthington) withdraw, does that render the contract they
Sanders delayed, accidents minor
Study to review Granville’s emergency needs
By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Sanding operations in the city were delayed after the bone chilling cold engulfed the city and the nation Monday evening because the city’s DPW workers had already been stressed by recent storms. No serious motor vehicle crashes appear to have resulted from the city’s icy roadways before the fatigued city workers went back out to spread sand on the icy roadways. The wet and slushy conditions which prevailed Monday afternoon turned into treacherously icy roadways in the evening when temperatures dropped precipitously and, when Officer Richard Mazza contacted DPW supervisor Ed Wielgus at 6 p.m. to request that sander trucks start operating, Wielgus found that six employees he called declined the work. James Mulvenna, the superintendent of the department, points out that “They had been out since seven o’clock the night before” and had been working steadily cleaning up the snow and keeping the roadways open since the snow started falling Thursday evening. Mulvenna said that although the department has nine plow and sander trucks “four or five (workers) is generally enough” to keep the roadways treated. Workers “came in about eight (o’clock) and stayed out until one” he said and went on the say that the employees then “came back in about seven” o’clock Tuesday morning to resume their efforts to keep the roadways clear of ice and snow. Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik acknowledged before
By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer GRANVILLE – Volunteers continue to staff fire departments in small municipalities around the country, and while retention is a problem for many of these small towns, that is not necessarily the case in Granville. Fire Chief Scott Loomis – also a volunteer – said Granville has a dedicated group of volunteer firefighters and EMTs. Keeping them is not the issue – it’s attracting more that is a problem. “The volunteers we have are in it for the long haul, but we need more,” said Loomis. “We have about eight to 10 active members, plus a few other members who are not as active.” Loomis said he has placed ads in the town’s Country Caller, but attracting new volunteers is difficult because times have changed. Southwick Fire Chief Richard Anderson agrees and has said many times that the volunteer pool has changed. People used to be farmers, he said, and if they were needed to help put out a fire in the past, they could be on scene in minutes. Today, most people have fulltime jobs in other communities and cannot respond to tones quickly, especially during the day. To combat that issue, Anderson has urged the town to increase its full-time paid daytime staff and now has Southwick Fire Inspector Ralph Vecchio places a “Help Wanted” sign See Emergency Needs, Page 3 in front of the Southwick Fire Department . (File photo by Frederick Gore)
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See Sanders, Page 3