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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“Happiness is not
having what you want, but wanting what you have.” — RABBI HYMAN JUDAH SCHACHTEL
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 86 NO. 24
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2017
City Council shakeup as councilor resigns By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—City council is expected to have a new at-large councilor this week. Current at-large city councilor, Daniel Knapik, is expected to officially resign from his elected position in the city during the city council’s meeting at city hall on Thursday. The resignation comes as part of Knapik’s condition of employment for his new position of town administrator of Yarmouth. With the loss of Knapik, allies and adversaries alike are happy for him but realize they will be losing someone whose knowledge of Westfield is unparalleled and has come to be a prized posses-
sion of the city. “His institutional knowledge will certainly be missed, his service as mayor and as city councilor, his sheer amount of history will be missed,” fellow at-large councilor Matt VanHeynigen said. Knapik has served in a number of positions in local and state-wide politics, gathering experience and knowledge that had served him along the way. He first started by being an environmental and health consultant for employers and eventually had his own business. Then in 2002, he ran for and won the ward 2 council position, which he served in until he ran against then-Westfield Mayor Michael Boulanger in 2009 and won that election, as well.
He then served as mayor until 2015 when he stepped down before his term ended, taking a position under Gov. Charlie Baker as the director of Green Communities in Massachusetts. Ward 2 councilor Ralph Figy said that the loss of Knapik will be difficult for the city, since he was one of the few “veterans,” or those with extensive Westfield political experience, left on city council. “I found [Knapik] to be a wealth of historical knowledge that came in very handy with the loss of all the veterans that didn’t run for re-election,” Figy said. “His overall historical knowledge was See Council Shakeup, Page 8
DANIEL M. KNAPIK
Westfield DPW looking to replace equipment
Youth Writing Contest Focuses on Nature By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTERN MASS. — For young people who appreciate and explore the great outdoors, a unique writing contest is seeking submissions until Feb. 15. “We developed this contest five years ago when we noticed the number of kids enjoying the outdoors was going down,” said Randy Julius, president, New England Outdoor Writers Association (NEOWA). Since he was a toddler, Julius said he has been fascinated with nature. “I had aunts and uncles who took me to the beach and instead of playing with the kids I wanted to be digging for clams with my bare hands,” he said. His early experiences at the ocean, as well as being surrounded by a family of gardeners, have led him on a lifelong journey of wanting to learn as much as he can about the earth’s habitats. Julius is a wildlife illustrator, a columnist, and an avid sportsman. His interests range from fishing, canoeing and kayaking to hunting. “Kids today have so many distractions that we are hoping with this contest that the cash award will be an incentive for them to tell us about their experiences outdoors,” said Julius. Julius said in addition to developing an interest in hunting and fishing at a young age, he photographed,
By AMY PORTER Correspondent HUNTINGTON – The Hilltown Community Ambulance Association (HCAA) has a new ambulance in its fleet – new to them, anyway. “It fell into our lap, and we scooped it up,” said Angela Mulkerin, service director and paramedic for HCAA on Monday. Mulkerin, who has been seeking to replace HCAA’s 2001 ambulance said the mechanic they use, who works full time as a mechanic for the Northampton Fire Department told her in November that Northampton had just bought a new ambulance and traded in the old one to the New England Fire Apparatus. She said their mechanic has done all the work on the vehicle. In the course of two weeks, the HCAA Board approved the funding, and on November 18 Mulkerin signed the purchase agreement, and picked it up that day for $17,500. The price was a far cry from the $220,000 Mulkerin had anticipated would be needed
See Contest, Page 8
See New Equipment, Page 8
Early Voting Award The City of Westfield received the 2016 Early Voting Challenge Silver Medal Award by the Mass Election Modernization Commission for providing substantial early voting opportunities to the voters of the Whip City. Pictured from left to right are Mayor Brian Sullivan, Senator Don Humason, City Clerk Karen Fanion, Marisa Colon, Kaitlyn Bruce, and Assistant Clerk, Donna Roy.
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) needs to replace equipment to keep one of its highest annual cost responsibilities flowing. The Westfield DPW is seeking quotes for a new dehumidifier at the city’s wastewater treatment facility at Sackett Street and is expected to close on a deal this week. The project is expected to cost about $5,000 and will help to maintain the David Billips, director of Westfield Public Works city’s wastewater treatment. “The wastewater treatment facility needs a new dehumidifier, they have to replace one that’s there that’s pretty old,” David Billips, superintendent of the DPW, said. The dehumidifier is used to keep a thickening agent used in the process of wastewater treatment from becoming too moist, thus rendering it useless in the process of producing solid waste from wastewater. The thickening agent allows the department to remove water from solid, thus reducing the weight of the solid waste. This is important in the process of wastewater treatment because waste needs to be taken away to another area by a subcontractor and the city is charged by the ton to take it away. See DPW, Page 3
New equipment for Hilltown ambulance service
WSU holds annual city-wide spelling bee ‘Words with Friends’ WESTFIELD- The sixth annual city-wide spelling bee “Words with Friends” will be held Thursday, February 2 at 6 p.m. in Dever Stage at Westfield State University. The event is for fifth grade students from the city of Westfield and is organized by The Circle K (Kiwanis) Club of Westfield State with assistance from the Westfield State Department of Academic Affairs and the Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS). “Words with Friends” was
organized by WSU Circle K executive board member Brianna Beninati ’19 and Westfield Schools VIPS director Tina Macy. This year’s sponsor is MedExpress Urgent Care Center of Westfield. More than 500 students took part in preliminary local school spelling bees at the following elementary schools: Abner Gibbs, Franklin Avenue, Highland Avenue, Munger Hill, Paper Mill, Southampton Road, and
Russell. This year’s finalists are: Serena Nicolle and Erin Popp (Abner Gibbs); Noah Gilbert and Wunnyuriti Ziblim (Franklin Avenue); Madison Koziol and Reeha Rizaan (Highland); Christina Marini and Jimmy Salzer (Munger Hill); Ashish Sharma and Aria Sotolongo (Paper Mill); Caroline Arbuzov and Grace Duffy (Russell); and Andre Arkoette and Jaden Dekastrozza (Southampton Road).
Each school sends their top two fifth grade students to finals at Westfield State where the fourteen students face off in this annual event. Each student receives an award medal and prizes are awarded to the top three spellers. A permanent plaque with names of the winners and their school is awarded to the top student’s school each year. See Spelling Bee, Page 3