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WEATHER TONIGHT Mainly clear. Low of 24.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 66
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Traffic Commission, which is an advisory board to the City Council, is considering a request from the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities to establish dedicated on-street handicap parking in the city CORE district. The Americans with Disabilities Act not only mandates handicapped parking facilities in off-street lots, but it dictates the number and placement of those spaces, as well as associated facilities such as access isles. “The design requirement of parking lots facilities is very clear,” Traffic Commissioner Brian Boldini, who has been researching the issue, said, “but ADA regulations are pretty silent for the design of on-street handicapped parking. Would an access isle be required?” “It would be a no-brainer if we had angle-in parking because you could designate a space with an access isle,” Boldini said. “Would it open the city to liability if we are inviting people with handicap placards to park on the street? I’m not opposed to doing it, but I want to do it right, not just come up with some design on our own.” Madeline Nicoletti of the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities said that most cities have on-street handicap parking and that Jeffrey L. Dougan, assistant director for community service of the Massachusetts Office on Disability, recently provided that agency’s recommendation which calls for 5 percent on on-street parking spaces be reserved for citizens with disabilities. Dougan, who attended the Commission for Citizen with Disabilities meeting earlier this week, recommended those spaces be located near
75 cents
March is Red Cross month
Ocean State denied liquor license By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen unanimously denied a request for a license to sell wine and beer at Ocean State Job Lot last night. The retailer made the request last month and the vote was tabled twice while the board waited for an opinon from Police Chief David Ricardi after Ocean State Attorney Mary O’Neil responded to several concerns raised by Ricardi. Selectwoman Tracy Cesan said she had difficulty making her decision. “I think they made a great presentation and have been responsible and diligent to comply with regulations, but I was struggling,” Cesan said. Cesan said last week she understood the protests from other alcohol sellers in town and the concerns of Ricardi, though O’Neil answered all of those concerns. Selectman Joseph Deedy was clear from the first meeting on the topic that he believed there were enough liquor establishments in town. Chairman Russell Fox said yesterday that he agreed. “I think the needs of the town are being adequately met,” said Fox, adding there are “far too many” package stores now. Cesan said she was in agreement. She hoped the board would be of that opinion in
Atty. Mary O’Neil the future “regardless of who comes in.” O’Neil arrived to the meeting after the board vote and was informed of the decision at the end of the meeting. When she asked if she was able to ask questions, Fox said he would not allow it because the hearing was closed last week and the vote was already recorded. O’Neil wondered if Ricardi was present and told the board he had responded to her favorably. Cesan said there was an additional email correspondence from Ricardi holding his position against the license that could be forwarded to O’Neil. Ocean State had hoped to sell private label wine and malt beverages in a 100 square-foot section of the store.
Velis’ residency questioned
See Residency, Page 3
By David Kennedy Westfield News intern WESTFIELD – March is Red Cross Month and, in keeping with tradition, will be celebrated with the 22nd Annual Testimonial Auction on May 2 at the Tekoa Country Club, this year honoring host and hostess Steve and Sue Oleksak. The Greater Westfield Chapter of the American Red Cross will be setting up numerous events in commemoration of Red Cross Month. Foremost among these is the annual auction and dinner. “It’s always a great night,” said Richard Rubin, director of the Red Cross’s local division. “It’s by far our largest fundraiser of the year.” The dinner always has a See Red Cross, Page 3
Sue and Steve Oleksak
See Parking, Page 5
By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – As the race for the 4th Hampden District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives nears election day on April 1, a new controversy has arisen, claiming that city attorney John Velis, the Democratic nominee for the seat, is misleading city voters. An anonymous packet with a coversheet asking “Why is John Velis claiming to have been born and raised in Westfield?” has been circulating around the district, with JOHN VELIS pictures from Longmeadow High School’s 1995 yearbook, which shows a picture of the LHS freshman basketball team with Velis seated in the back row. Another sheet in the packet states three addresses in Longmeadow where Velis’ family resided, on 18 Ellington Street, 103 Meadowbrook Road, and 118 Farmington Avenue, with a photocopies of deeds from 1983 for a James and Susan Velis, previously of 53 Briarcliff Drive in Westfield, to the Ellington Street property in the Springfield suburb, and a 1996 for property on 5 Bates Street in Westfield, which the packet said could be found via the
everything young again except man.”
— Jean Paul Richter
THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2014
On-street handicap parking considered
“Spring makes
Worthington home rule bill debated
most with 1.3 million gallons. Other states are struggling, too. The cold weather has pushed back the start of the season in neighboring Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York and elsewhere. “Basically there’s been a delay,” said Joyce Ripley, owner of Granville’s Maple Corner Farm. “We just have to wait for the weather. It all depends on the temperature”. For optimum sap harvesting temperatures at night should be ideally around 25°F – 28°F and then sunny during the day, around 40°F. Pomeroy Sugar House in Westfield just starting boiling a week ago, almost a month behind schedule. “It has been just way too cold,” said owner Randy Pomeroy. “It’s the middle of the season and we’re just starting out.” This delay has also shortened the window farmers have to produce,typically only five to six weeks. “The five to six week window ends when the holes drilled in the trees heal over,” Pomeroy said. “Then the season is done.”
By Peter Francis Staff Writer HUNTINGTON – State Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D-Pittsfield) was at Stanton Hall last night, to hear his constituents’ thoughts and to share any new developments on the Town of Worthington’s home rule petition to leave the Gateway Regional School District. Approximately 40 people filled the hall, including SENATOR Gateway Regional BENJAMIN Superintendent Dr. David DOWNING Hopson, School Committee Chair Gretchen Eliason, and several other members of the Gateway School Committee, along with residents from all seven of the towns that have comprised the Gateway Regional District for the past half-century. The Huntington Selectboard, composed of Chair Aimee Burnham, John McVeigh, and Jeffrey McKittrick, and the town’s counsel, Attorney James Lampke of Hingham, presided over the meeting, and it was Burnham who posed most of the early questions to Downing after he gave his update of the situation. “The status is unchanged since December 19 of last year when the bill was referred to the Senate Committee of Bills in the Third Reading,” said Downing, who serves as Chair of that Committee. “We are continuing to go through information, comments from the public, and ideas that the towns have had.” Downing brought up one such idea, a proposal from the Blandford Selectboard to look for an additional appropriation to mitigate the $630,000 shortfall for the district to forgive it’s debts, which he believes the Massachusetts School Building
See Maple Season, Page 3
See Home Rule, Page 3
Matt Ripley, of the Maple Corner Farm, in Granville, checks the sap lines. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
Temperatures delay maple season By Hannah Y. Meader WHS Intern WESTFIELD – Despite the arrival of spring today, the temperatures remain chilly, not only prolonging the winter blues, but also putting a slow freeze on the maple season. Maple season starts at the end of February in a typical year but temperatures have been too low for the sap to drip out and this winter has had more snowfall and lower temperatures than normal. Many farms have yet to start tapping their trees, said Winton Pitcoff, coordinator for the Massachusetts Maple Production Association. “It’s too soon to say whether the late start will affect the overall maple season, which ends in April.” “We could still have a very good season,” Pitcoff said. “There have been many seasons where it didn’t start until late into March.” Drastically fluctuating weather would be bad news, he said. A gradual warm-up is best for maple sugar production. Last year, Massachusetts produced about 63,000 gallons of syrup, ranking ninth in maple production nationwide. Vermont produced the
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