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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” — GEORGE HARRISON
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 85 NO. 288
75 cents
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2016
State officials announce land grants for North Pond
Little River Road fire station update By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–While residents may feel that construction efforts in the city are never on schedule or within budget, there are at least some projects that go against that belief. One of those projects is the Westfield Fire Department Little River Road substation. “It’s on time and it’s on budget,” Westfield Fire deputy chief Eric Bishop, said. “There’s been minor issues but it’s going well,” he said. “Projects of this magnitude will always have issues but luckily there’s been nothing major.” The project had a price tag of $2.06 million, and was originally OKed in June of this year by city council. The project is set to replace the original fire station there, which was erected in 1973, and was given an initial end date of March 2017. The original building was frustrating for firefighters, EMTs and paramedics, since it had no air conditioning and needed both window and roof repair. Also, it had just one bathroom and no separate locker rooms. This may have been acceptable in 1973, but as the fire department becomes more diverse the need for separate bathrooms and locker rooms became a must. The building is currently being worked on both inside See Fire Update, Page 5
The fire apparatus inside the vehicle bay of the new station
Active discussion at Monday’s L&O Committee. (Photo by Amy Porter)
L&O sends smoking ban on all city property to City Council By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Monday, the Legislative & Ordinance Committee unanimously approved a smoking ban on all city owned, operated or leased outdoor city properties to go before the City Council on Thursday for a vote. The matter was sent back to committee due to an error on the agenda at the last City Council meeting. The ordinance began with a request from the Senior Center board to ban smoking on its property. During the discussion, Council on Aging director Tina Gorman said her concern was what would happen to the Senior Center request if the council votes down the ban, which she thought was possible following the discussion at the last meeting. Gorman said the Council on Aging is essentially a social service organization. “We’re not a social club. We’re there to provide services and programs,” she said, adding that a lot of her clientele are physically compromised, and should be able to walk into a healthy environment. Gorman also added that the Council on Aging receives many grants from organizations whose mission is to promote health for senior citizens. “My biggest concern for this committee is if the Council decides not to go with a total city
Legislative & Ordinance Committee members William Onyski, Ralph J. Figy and Mary O’Connell. (Photo by Amy Porter) ban, I don’t want the Senior Center to get lost in the shuffle,” Gorman said. L&O Chair Ralph J. Figy assured Gorman that if the citywide ordinance is voted down, he would propose a separate ban for the Council on Aging property. “I do see the Senior Center as a distinct and different entity as city-wide property,” said At-large Councilor Cindy C. Harris, who was present at the meeting. She added it would be difficult for several of the councilors to implement a city-wide ban. “My feeling is at the state level, they outlawed smoking on all school properties,” Figy said,
adding that he was looking for efficiency and consistency across the city. L&O member and Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell noted that streets and sidewalks are not included in the ordinance. At-large Councilor Dan Allie asked if city parks would be included in the ban, which was answered in the affirmative. “It is still a legal product. There is the law of unintended consequences,” Allie said. The L&O Committee also voted 3-0 to support a change in title of office to a combined See L&O, Page 3
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – Since this past summer, numerous efforts through several avenues have been in effect to help preserve North Pond. As an estimated $5 million is the amount that has to be raised in order to fully preserve North Pond, the town of Southwick received a great amount of help from their friends at the state house. Matt Beaton, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, along with Secretary George Peterson, for Fish and Wildlife, were both able to announce land grants going towards the body of water on Congamond Lake. As the official event took place on South Longyard Rd. near the entrance to North Pond, Beaton stood at the podium and made it official that his office along with Gov. Baker, were able to secure a $400,000 land grant towards North Pond. Peterson then made it a surprise to many that his office was able to put together $1 million towards preserving the land. The combined effort to help total $1.4 million was important for state officials to secure. “It really shined as an opportunity for us to jump in and do our part,” Beaton told the crowd. “We’re looking forward to helping out wherever we can,” said Peterson. Both Beaton and Peterson have had the chance to get familiar with the land in Southwick. A couple months ago, Beaton took a boat tour of North Pond with fellow Save North Pond supporters and local officials. Peterson announced a grant program months back that could potentially protect the wildlife management area in Southwick. Southwick residents who created Save North Pond, were beyond thankful for the grant money awarded by Gov. Baker’s office. “I’m thrilled,” said John Whalley. “Those are big chunks.” “Those were targets for us right from the very beginning,” said Dave Gunn. “It’s nice to have it totally official.” Franklin Land Trust, a non-profit organization that helps protect land throughout Massachusetts, had representatives present at the event. Helping Save North Pond conducting several fundraisers in order to have more money secured towards the $5 million goal, Franklin Land Trust was happy to See North Pond, Page 3
Community expresses their feelings on Granville Village School
Danielle Sullivan expresses her opinion on the options brought by NESDEC. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – A public forum was held in the auditorium of the Southwick Regional High School on Monday night which had several people throughout the community in attendance. The public forum was centered on the school feasibility study that New England School Development Council (NESDEC) put together. NESDEC was hired by the school committee in order to do the study on the district. NESDEC consultants John Kennedy and Anna Cross presented their study to the crowd. After going through their presentation, NESDEC then displayed their two options that they have created for Granville Village School, one of the four schools in the district. The first option would involve closing Granville Village School entirely and reassigning the building to a completely different use. Keeping everything the way it is would be the second option. Once Kennedy and Cross finished discussing all of the advantages and challenges for each option, the rest of the
evening was left for people in the audience to voice their opinion. As over 15 people in the crowd spoke, they had a variety of concerns about the possibility of having Granville Village School closed. If the school was closed, a major challenge that NESDEC had in their presentation is the fact that the travel time for students living in Granville would increase. Meg Putnam, a resident and parent from Granville, expressed her concern about that particular issue. “The students of Granville didn’t choose to live in Granville, their families did,” said Putnam. Ted Sussman, who was on a past school building committee, brought up his issue with the impact class sizes would have on the children from Granville if they had to go to school in Southwick. Sussman believed that if the school closes, more students will be in each class at the schools in Southwick. It is an outcome that he doesn’t want to see happen. “The two things we can give our kids are space and time,” said Sussman. Jean Reopel, currently a teacher at the
Southwick Regional High School, spoke out about what kind of impact there would be if the school closed. Reopel agrees that it would lead to much more crowded classrooms throughout the district. “The student’s needs have changed,” said Reopel. “I need less kids in the classroom, I need to teach every student.” Sussman believes the students in Granville currently have the proper education and it should remain that way. “We have good teachers, we have good facilities,” said Sussman. “Let’s try to make the best use of them.” Almost a handful of the people that spoke up were at least 2nd generation of their family who have lived in Granville and have gone through Granville Village School and through the rest of the school system. Colleen Giroux, who has a young daughter early into her time in the school system, said she wants to see her daughter have the same experience she did. “It’s really exciting to see her going through Granville,” said Giroux. See Granville School, Page 3