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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
VOL. 83 NO.157
www.thewestfieldnews.com
“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014
75 cents
Wielgus to city council: don’t take my land
Westfield Business Improvement District Executive Director Maureen Belliveau, foreground seated second from right, listens to the vote to disband the Westfield Business Improvement District during last night’s City Council meeting. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Council votes to terminate BID By Dan Moriarty was a long-serving member of the Planning Board prior to his Staff Writer election last November, Ward 3 Councilor Brian Hoose whose WESTFIELD – The City Council voted last night to pull the ward encompasses half of the business district, and Ward 4 plug on the Westfield Business Improvement District, ending an Councilor Mary O’Connell, a businesswoman and long-time experiment to foster business and revitalize the city’s downtown supporter of initiatives to revitalize the downtown, voted 3-0 in commercial core. June to recommend that the City Council approve the property The City Council’s vote of 9 to 2 with 1 abstention (Councilor owners’ petition to disband BID. James Adams) came as a result of a petition representing more VanHeynigen opened discussion last night, citing “the change than 50 percent of property owners in the district. in the law making membership mandatory” as the primary reaSome of the property owners seeking to disband the BID cited son for the committee’s support of disbanding BID. a lack of progress in fostering business devel“This has been a hot topic for several opment, stating that the BID was intended to weeks,” VanHeynigen said. “I think the com“This is, for me, a mittee’s recommendation speaks for itself.” augment city services, not replace them with similar services, such as downtown beautifi- very sad vote to take. At-large Councilor Dan Allie released a cation and sidewalk snow removal. statement to his fellow councilors and the press I’m going to vote to stating that BID or any successor organization The greatest incentive to those business and property owners to dissolve the BID was dissolve BID with a “should be locally controlled and managed” the action in Boston to change the rules govand not under the control of the state or any very heavy heart. erning BID participation in the other governing body. Commonwealth. BID membership, when the I hope we can move “The state changed the rules of participation organization was established in 2006, was after the fact, and gave authority to a nonforward with a voluntary. elected, non-governmental agency with the Many of the BID opponents made a decidecedent of the BID.” power to put liens on property for non-payment sion to “opt out” under the original 1994 state of dues,” Allie said, noting that there are only law which allowed businesses and property three BIDs in western Massachusetts and Mary O’Connell owners the option of not participating in the Northampton property owners are also seeking Ward 4 Councilor BID and exempted them from BID dues. to dissolve the BID in that community. The state Legislature passed a law in 2012 “I would like to propose that we dissolve the making that membership compulsory and BID in a decent and orderly manner, and draft allowing the BID to assess a fee, based on the legislation and petition the state for a waiver to value of the property, to all qualifying property owners in the allow the City of Westfield to have its own autonomous business district. The BID, which is not a government entity, also has the improvement program,” Allie said. authority to put a lien on the property of members in arrears on Other council members supported creation of a locally contheir dues. trolled organization to foster commercial development and com“It was voluntary (membership) when BID was formed in munity events. 2006,” attorney Brad Moir, whose offices and property are “This is, for me, a very sad vote to take,” Ward 4 Councilor located on Broad Street within the BID boundary, said. “The Mary O’Connell said. “I’m going to vote to dissolve BID with a 2012 amendments changed all of that. In 2013 BID voted to very heavy heart. I hope we can move forward with a decedent force all owners who opted out to join, but (the opted-out own- of the BID.” ers) did not have the right to vote because they were not memWard 3 Councilor Brian Hoose, in whose ward much of the bers.” BID district is located, said that he has talked with business and The Governmental Relations Committee, comprised of Chairman Matthew VanHeynigen, an At-large councilor who See BID, Page 3
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Alice Wielgus told the City Council that she doesn’t want the city to take her land, speaking during the public participation period at the opening of the City Council meeting last night. “I don’t want the city to take my farmland on Main Street by eminent domain,” Wielgus, who spoke directly to the City Council for the first time during the months long debate, said. “It’s been in my family for 70 years.” “I object to the city taking my land by eminent domain,” Wielgus, of Holyoke Road, said. Jean Carpenter of Barbara Street, who was identified by several council members as being Wielgus’ sister, said the city is seeking to take the farmland to build an elementary school at the intersection of Ashley and Cross streets. “We all have priorities, wants, desires,” Carpenter said. “The city has a desire to build a huge school on a small plot of land. It’s like putting a tree in a flower pot, in a neighborhood surrounded by senior citizens.” “Kids scream and yell. The seniors who live there want peace and quite,” Carpenter said. “The solution to this problem is to reduce the size of the Ashley Street school by a third.” Carpenter said the reduction is size would negate need to take land from the Cross Street playground and eliminate the need to take the Wielgus property. Carpenter also suggested building an addition at Highland School, See Wielgus Land, Page 8
Alice Wielgus expresses her concern over the city taking her land by eminent domain during the public comment section of last night’s Westfield City Council meeting. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Statewide crime ring disrupted in Westfield By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Two members of an apparent ring of retail thieves have been arraigned in Westfield District Court after members of the group plied their trade at a city store. Det. Anthony Tsatsos reports that four of five women who stole designer purses with an estimated valued of $4,000 from the T.J. Maxx store have been identified. Two were taken into custody and were arraigned in Westfield District Court. In a court document, Tsatsos states that the women are “part of a group for the Dorchester/ Roxbury area that is involved in retail theft.” He reports that the group entered the store together on the afternoon of May 21 carrying large tote bags and some also took shopping carts on their way to the display of purses where they removed many designer bags from the racks and placed them in the tote bags or
simply carried the bags away. Tsatsos reports that four of the women gathered near the exit and the fifth approached the customer service desk to distract the employee there as they left the store. The detective found that inspection of the security video from the West Springfield and Springfield T.J. Maxx stores showed the same women had stolen purses in the West Springfield store but staff at the Springfield store had deterred the women when they attempted a similar theft there. “In the span of two hours these parties completed larcenies in Westfield and W. Springfield, and attempted a third in Springfield,” Tsatsos reports. He found that the next day numerous purses and a pair of shoes, with a total value of $1,189.92, were returned to the T.J. Maxx store in Dorchester. As the people making the returns had no receipts for the items, they
were required to provide positive identification so specific individuals were linked to specific purses stolen in Westfield and “returned” in Dorchester. A short time after items which had been stolen in Westfield were returned to the Dorchester store, purses and handbags valued at $2,261.92 were stolen from the Framingham store in the chain and Framingham police arrested two women, Jamie L. King, 27, of 248 Fuller St., Dorchester, and Shannon L. King, 29, of 18 Msgr. Lyden Way, Dorchester. Both women were identified as members of the group which stole in Westfield and two of the others, although not taken into custody, were identified. Tsatsos reports that Jamie King’s criminal history includes 28 entries for offenses including distribution of a Class A drug, assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and unarmed robbery.
Shannon King’s history includes offenses such as larceny, forgery and uttering. One of the two women identified as a suspect but not found has a history of offenses including receiving stolen property, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition, possession of a Class B drug and assault and battery. The other has four open armed robbery cases in Suffolk Superior Court, Tstatso reports. Both Jamie King and Shannon King were arraigned in Westfield District Court before Judge Patricia T. Poehler yesterday on a charge of larceny of property valued more than $250 and both will return to court for a hearing Aug. 6. Jamie L. King was held in lieu of $1,000 cash bail while Shannon L. King was released on her personal recognizance.