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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” Victor Hugo
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 247
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2014
75 cents
Area medical centers prep for Ebola virus By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A hearing was held in Boston last Thursday by the joint Committee of Public Health examining how prepared the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is for a potential outbreak of the Ebola virus. The highly infectious virus that has ravaged several nations in west Africa this year has made its way to the United States, with one man dying of the condition in Dallas and one of the nurses who treated him falling ill, as well. While hospitals are doing their best to reassure the public despite a recent suspected case in Braintree, groups such as the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), a labor union representing frontline nurses in over 70 percent of the state’s hospitals, haven’t been as optimistic. “What nurses have to say, universally and across the state, is that we’re not ready,” said MNA Director of Public Communications David Schildmeier last week. “(Nurses) don’t feel safe. They don’t feel there is a plan in place. They don’t feel there has been enough training or that the protective equipment is going to keep them safe.” “If a nurse at 3 a.m. on an evening shift at a hospital doesn’t feel like she knows what to do or has the equipment to respond, then we’re not ready,” he said. “There may be some nurses who are trained but all hospitals don’t have enough people trained or enough materials and there is no legitimate plan.” Though the virus was first identified in 1976 and has broken out in sub-Saharan Africa several times since then, arrival in the U.S. is of grave concern to Schildmeier. “It is deadly. We’ve had SARS and things like that, but it has a 70 percent mortality rate and there is no vaccine,” he said, likening the condition to HIV/AIDS. “That was the last time we were confronted with something that was like a death sentence and this is close to that. You can’t be safe enough.” Schildmeier said that the state’s hopitals are also starting to see the union’s point of view. “Because of all the noise we’ve been making and the cases in Dallas, we do see a change, that they are starting to wake up and get serious,” he said. “So let’s do it right while we don’t have a case or a crisis.” “We’ve called for meetings to sit down, bring our experts in and show the state-of-the-art for care,” Schildmeier said. Benjamin Craft, director of public affairs and community relations for Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, believes that his hospital – the only Level I Trauma Center in western Massachusetts – is as prepared for a potential case as they can be. “We are in very regular contact with the state Department of Health, which is one of the coordinators of our state healthcare system response,” said Craft. “So we are well -connected to the preparations for any potential Ebola cases.” “We have been meeting and making plans for several weeks and the process is to assess the situation, make plans and roll it out in the form of education as is appropriate throughout the organization,” he added. “Everyday we’re making progress in rolling out notifications, training, educational materials. That is something we continue to work on and make as much training as available as possible.” Craft stated that if a potential Ebola case were to arrive at Baystate, not everyone in the hospital would be caring for that patient. “In fact, a very small number of folks would be caring for that patient. One of the tricks in the rolling out of education and training is figuring out who are the most important folks to reach in terms of preparedness,” he said. While a local hospital like Noble Hospital or Holyoke Medical Center could receive a patient with Ebola-like symptoms, Baystate is the only hospital in the region with the capabilities to treat the virus. “The process of communication and transfer between local hospitals and Baystate is quite well established and the relationships are strong,” said Craft. “We are the only academic medical center out
The Westfield School Committee approved the decision to enter into negotiations with the town of Russell to send students from Juniper Park Elementary School to Russell’s vacant town elementary school (pictured) last night. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
Committee approves Russell school option By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – An ad-hoc committee entrusted with finding a home for the students of Juniper Park Elementary School for the 2015-2016 school year laid their first, second and third choices out for the full School Committee last night. The School Committee unanimously approved the ad-hoc group’s first choice – moving the school’s students into the vacant Russell Elementary School which sits 6.1 miles from Juniper Park’s Western Avenue address. The city of Westfield is set to vacate Juniper Park in June 2015 at the termination of the lease for that property with the state. The building will then go to neighboring
Westfield State University, who will then begin converting it into a center for the arts. Ad-hoc chairman Ramon Diaz endorsed the Russell option and thanked the parents of Juniper Park students who were instrumental in selecting Russell over the second and third options of renting and placing modular classroom units at the Greater Westfield Boys & Girls Club or South Middle School. “I was able to go on a tour of the school and it is fully functional. It’s a great school,” said Diaz. “From what we saw, it was clean for a school that hasn’t been occupied for a couple of years. It’s got the amount of classrooms we need, with a gymnasium and a cafeteria set up.” Diaz also cited the low annual costs for
moving students into the Russell Elementary, which the ad-hoc estimated would cost the district $260,000 per year over three years, far less than the estimated $765,000 and $1.1 million it would cost at the Boys & Girls Club and South Middle over that same timeframe, respectively. Startup costs for Russell were also lower in comparison to options two and three, which would run $1.6 million and $2.6 million at the Boys & Girls Club and South Middle, respectively, according to Diaz. Regarding concerns previously held by parents about the emergency services to the school, Diaz stated that the town of Huntington’s ambulance company would respond to any medical emergencies at the See Juniper Park Students, Page 3
Council approves treatment plant bond By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council approved the first reading of a bond requested to replace energy-inefficient equipment at the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant last week after elements of the bond were eliminated. The Council’s Finance Committee had initiated its review of the original $1,850,000 bond request with Water Resource Department Superintendent Dave Billips prior to the council’s Oct. 2 session and had requested that several energy management items be removed because the committee felt they could be accomplished within the city government structure. Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr., a Finance Committee member and former member of the Municipal Light Board, suggested that the installation of the energy management systems could be accom-
plished with assistance by the Westfield Gas & Electric Department, which has become the state model for municipal utility energy conservation programs. Billips submitted a reviewed bond request of $1,477,000 which will be used to replace over-sized Turblex Blowers used in the sewerage plant treatment process to aerate effluent in the treatment tanks. Billips said the blowers were installed as part of the last plant expansion by the construction contractor and are too large for the city’s facility. The present Turblex Blowers have a resale value of about $500,00o, income which will be applied toward the bond. Billips said that the energy conservation estimate of a 30 percent reduction in electrical consumption, provided by Siemens, is conservative and that replacement of
Technology used to combat invasive plant By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Conservation Coordinator Karen Leigh is preparing to do battle next spring against a foe which spreads quickly so she called upon the University OF Massachusetts Center for Public Policy and the Environmental Conservation Department for assistance. The foe is the Water Chestnut plant, which is a non-native, invasive species. The rapidly growing plant was reported to the city’s Conservation Department by a fisherman who recognized the threat posed by the aquatic plant whose dense mat blocks sunlight and changes the subsurface water environment. Leigh called upon the university to help provide intelligence needed to launch an assault of volunteers in kayaks to hand pick the invasive plant. Leigh asked UMass to help provide that information through an experimental aerial asset. Professor Charles Schweik, PhD., of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, and Environmental Conservation graduate student Anthony Volpini provided aerial photographs of the Brickyard pond to the west of Root Road with a vehicle that caught the eye of early morning motorists, a five-footdiameter red helium balloon. Schweik had contacted the Air Traffic Control at Barnes Regional Airport because of the proximity of the Brickyard to the airport and was allowed to launch the balloon, but was given a 300-foot ceiling because of air traffic.
See Ebola Prep, Page 6
See Technology, Page 3
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See Bond, Page 3
DAVID BILLIPS Interim Public Works Director
Cesan walks out of board meeting By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Selectwoman Tracy Cesan abruptly left the Board of Selectmen meeting last night following what she said was an invasion of her privacy. Chairman Russell Fox brought up an issue that was discussed in a previous executive session regarding a complaint made against Cesan from a town employee alleging she behaved improperly and made Tracy a disparaging remark about the employee. Cesan The matter was turned over to town counsel for investigation and a report was made. “He concluded that there is a poor working relationship and a disparaging remark was made,” said Fox. He then said a written apology from the Board of Selectmen should be sent to the employee. Cesan protested and said she would not be apologizing for something she did not do. She also questioned the investigation from town counsel, saying it was “predetermined, predestined, not accurate, and flawed.” “You will have to look at legally forcing me to apologize for something I didn’t do,” she said. See Cesan, Page 3