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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 237
Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Edgar Allan Poe
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014
75 cents
Trustees agree to reopen presidential search
Gazebo taking shape Almost hidden by the structure, a student in the Construction Technology Department at Westfield Vocational-Technical High School works to attach the roof of the new gazebo at Park Square to the walls of the structure. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
Westfield Woman’s Club celebrates 100th By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Much has changed in the city of Westfield over the past 100 years but there have been a few constants, like the the Westfield Woman’s Club. The organization boasts over 200 members and has assisted, contributed and donated time and resources to a wide array of causes near and dear to the hearts of the membership body, many of whom have been involved for years. “I’ve been with the Woman’s Club since the ’70s and it’s a great organization. It’s wonderful,” said Club President Lillian Hebert, who served as the organization’s treasurer in the ’80s. “Years ago, it was so different – it was very formal, you had to dress up with the hat and the gloves and it was very cliquey.” Today, the Women’s Club has shed much of that arcane formality, but still maintains a considerable community presence. “We have all varieties of people
By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Yesterday, the board of trustees at Westfield State University decided to resume the search for the school’s next president. Trustees Steven Marcus and Tirrell Hill were selected to serve as chair and vice chair of the board’s presidential search committee on April 10, but the search was put off while the board awaited the findings of Inspector General Glenn Cunha’s investigation into the spending scandal that led to the retirement of former university president Dr. Evan S. Dobelle. The report was released on July 31. Board Chair Elizabeth Scheibel said last night that she, Marcus and board Finance Committee Chair Kevin Queenin spoke with various campus leaders at the behest of Interim University President Dr. Elizabeth Preston, regarding their thoughts on the search. Interim Vice President Dr. Kimberly Tobin, Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Carlton Pickron, Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Marsha Marotta and Vice President of
Advancement and University Relations Kenneth Lemanski, along with union leadership on campus, all weighed in. “I have to say, it was an excellent suggestion,” said Scheibel of Preston’s request. “It was very enlightening and helpful and it clearly guided me in what I think we ought to be doing.” “It was a joy to communicate with our vice presidents and to feel their enthusiasm about our university and where they feel they should be going,” said Marcus. “Their hearts are filled with love for this university – they’re committed people and they want the best for this university. For me, it was an opportunity to focus in on where the real stuff is.” Marcus said that campus leadership is “ready to gear up for this presidential search” and wants make sure the search committee chooses a wise leader. “I think we are ready to move forward. We have a process where the first step is to engage a search firm,” said Scheibel. “There is an RFP (request for See Search, Page 3
Driveway bylaws will be put to fall TM voters Left to right, past presidents Priscilla Gover, Mary Boscher, Connie Smith, Helen Mahler, Sue Labucki, Josie Herrick and Lesley Phipps. (Photo by Don Wielgus)
here. Everybody gets along good. We’re all workers,” said Hebert. “We’ve added a lot of new programs but we’re still carrying on the traditions that we started 100 years ago.” “We’re still working with the community for the community and the
people in Westfield have accepted us,” she said. “We used to hear a lot of flak – ‘we don’t want to join the Women’s Club, it’s too stuffy’ – but we’ve lost that and we love that.” See Woman’s Club, Page 3
By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – A common driveway bylaw will be put to voters at the special Town Meeting this fall. The meeting, which has not yet been set, will include a warrant for a common driveway bylaw, as well as a general driveway bylaw. This week, the Southwick Planning Board held a public hearing on the common driveway bylaw and one resident, Marcus Phelps, raised several concerns, including the lack of allowing a common driveway to provide access to an estate lot.
Vice Chairperson Roz Terry said that was an issue the common driveway subcommittee wrestled with throughout its discussions. “In the end, the committee decided against it because an estate lot already needs a special permit,” Terry said. She added that the committee did not want to bog down an estate lot with even more permits and restrictions. Phelps also asked to replace a word under the general requirements. “Under Section E, General See Bylaws, Page 3
Town liquor license policy to be updated By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen made several decisions this week regarding liquor licenses. Among them was the acceptance of change of hours for Saunders Package Store and Oak and Keg Package Store under Form 43. The new hours reflect the state law allowing package stores to open at 10 a.m. on Sundays. The board also approved a new officer/director and transfer of stock for Patricia Scuderi of Scuderi Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a The Cove, The Cove, located at 90 Point Grove Road, consists of a first floor and lower level. The first floor consists of one kitchen, one banquet room, one outside patio, one lounge,
three bathrooms, one coat room and three exits/entrances. The lower level consists of two banquet rooms, one bar, three storage rooms and two exits/entrances. The first floor is 5,814 square feet and the ower level is 5,394 square feet, with an outside patio of 4,154 square feet and a second level being 3,833 square-feet. The board this week also reviewed the town’s Club Liquor License policy with Det. Sgt. Robert Landis of the Southwick Police Department. The current regulations have been in place since 1996 and did not include TIPS training requirements, which are now part of every license renewal. See Liquor License, Page 3
Marcus Phelps, right, of Southwick, reads a letter of concerns to members of the Southwick Planning Board on Tuesday. Phelps read several concerns regarding a newly proposed residential common driveway bylaw. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Pedestrian, bicycling improvements targeted By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A special committee created to enhance alternative transportation in the city initiated a broad discussion yesterday of a sustainable transportation plan which could translate into an element of the city’s master plan. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Advisory Committee was formed by the Planning Board “to promote, enhance, and restore physical, social, political and economic environment in which bicycling, walking, and alternate transportation are valued as essential for a clean, safe, healthy and vital community.” The committee membership includes city officials, as well as residents. The Friends of the Columbia Greenway, the Westfield Senior Center and the Westfield Police Department were all represented. This initial meeting was a scoping out session as members attempted to determine the directions in which their efforts should lie with so many possible vectors of interest. Don Podolski of a number of bicycling organizations at the local, state, regional and national levels, opened a discussion on ways to make Westfield “more bike-friendly” by improving bike security.
“We don’t have adequate (bike security) facilities downtown,” Podolski said. “Right now if you want to go into a store or restaurant you have to secure your bicycle to a tree or lamp pole.” Principal Planner Jay Vinskey said that the Planning Board plans to add a bicycle racks requirement to future commercial special permits as a condition of that use and that the city will add secure racks as an element of the Gaslight District Improvement project. Joe Giffune said that the Columbia Greenway will be much more than a facility used for recreation. “We’ll be seeing a lot more bicycle traffic (downtown) with the opening of the new section,” Giffune said. “It will become more utilitarian as people use bicycles to do their business and we’re not ready for that. We’re going to see a big impact downtown as people start using bikes to get things done.” Planning Board member Peter Fiordalice said his concern with that increase in bicycle traffic is people, both bicyclists and motorists, knowing the laws, which were amended several years ago, pertaining to the rules of the road. “It’s going to take a long time to get that message out, to change the mindset that Westfield is a bicycling community,”
Fiordalice said. George Hart said that the city needs to implement a broad education plan for all constituencies using the roads, pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists, an educational program which could be as diverse as painting lanes on the pavement, to outreach through schools, social and religious networks. Podolski said that currently state law prohibits riding bicycles on the sidewalks in a “commercial area” while the city’s ordinance is a prohibition against riding on any sidewalk in the city. “I’d like to amend that by age of the rider and location of the sidewalk,” Podolski. City Engineer Mark Cressotti agreed that in rural areas of the city bicyclists should be allowed to use sidewalks because many rural roads are narrow and winding which limits the sight line of both bicyclists and motorists, but added that for downtown that approach will create a bicycle-pedestrian conflict. Vinskey said that some of the recommendations coming from the committee will require ordinance changes recommended by the Planning Board and approved by the City Council. The committee members identified law enforcement as a key element in making the city pedestrian and bicycle friendly for all the
Andrea Prukalski, of Westfield, and her children, Joey and Sophie, enjoy a ride through Stanley Park this summer. (Photo by Frederick Gore) constituencies using the city’s roadways. “In bicycleafriendly communities, enforcement is one of the six areas of focus,” Podolski said. A priority of the committee will be to solicit public input through meetings and perhaps a website. The groups schedule includes a “public input event” to be slated for Nov. 13 as part of the public hearing on the Columbia Greenway northern section, which is the railroad bridge across the Westfield River. The state Department of Transportation will conduct that public hearing which Cressotti plans to piggyback on to seek input on the sustainable transportation program.