WEATHER TONIGHT Few Clouds. Low of 27.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
VOL. 85 NO. 295
“No nation ever had an
army large enough to guarantee it against attack in time of peace or insure it victory in time of war.” — PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE
75 cents
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2016
Fire Dept funds voted on at special town meeting Several town officials were present for the meeting in order to go over the articles that were proposed to voters. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Votes taken at special town meeting By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – The town of Southwick held a special town meeting at the Southwick Regional School auditorium on Tuesday night. The meeting consisted of seven different articles that were drafted by town counsel. All citizens residing in Southwick, who registered to vote for the meeting, were able to vote on all of the articles. The highlight of the meeting involved the Congamond Rd. sewer project. Called Article I, it was “to see if the town will appropriate $950,000 or any other amount to pay costs of designing and constructing sewers in the Congamond Rd. area.” Select Board Chairman Russ Fox started off Article I by making a motion to take no action on Article I. According to Fox, he and the Select Board met earlier on Tuesday and felt that it would be best to seek and continue more options for funding and other alternatives. Doug Moglin, the Vice-Chairman of the Select Board, backed up Fox’s statement. “I think what we don’t want to do is come back with the same article,” said Moglin. “We’re going to come back to this, we’re going to reformulate this.” The article was then called to a vote and was carried by a majority vote that there would be no action taken at this time. Following the Congamond Rd. sewer topic, the rest of the articles were all either carried by a majority vote or voted unanimously. Having Article 2 passed, allowed the town to appropriate and transfer available funds for a total of $53,520.00. The funds included several operating accounts from the town of Southwick. Article 3 will allow the sum of $5,000 from the town of Southwick to be transferred to the Southwick Fire Department. The $5,000 will be used for their Apparatus Study that Chief Russ Anderson is spearheading. The next article would change part of the bylaw for the town’s business restricted zone. As there were five different sections regarding the business restricted zone, the main changes were allowing mixed use for businesses and as well as the design standards that will help the homes within the zone keep that New England feel. The mixed use could allow a small business owner to have his or her business on one floor while the other floor could be used for someone’s living space. Planning Board Chairman Roz Terry addressed the crowd regarding the importance of the mixed use. “This was not allowed under the current zoning,” said Terry. “We worked hard to find a way for that tool.” Article 5 was based on deleting the current definition of the agricultural sign in town in its entirety and replacing it. The new sign would be a free-standing sign that would advertise farm businesses agricultural products, agricultural recreation, and commercial recreation. See Town Meeting, Page 8
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – At the special town meeting on Tuesday night held at the Southwick Regional School auditorium, seven different articles were voted on by people living in Southwick who registered to vote for the meeting. The vote to appropriate and transfer a fund of $5,000 from the town to the Southwick Fire Department for the Apparatus Study was voted in favor unanimously on Tuesday. The fire department was previously awarded a $10,000 grant from the MIIA (Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association) before being awarded the $5,000 at the town meeting. The grant money goes towards a fleet assessment study of the fire department’s apparatus that Chief Russ Anderson wants to carry out. “It’s a great award to get so we can help diminish the costs of the fleet,” said Anderson. Currently, the Southwick Fire Department has a fleet of 10 vehicles that range from four to 27 years old. According to Chief Anderson, the study will review the age of the equipment, mechanical condition, repair history, operational usage, and other issues like call volume and staffing. There seems to be a good value in conducting the fleet study. “It helps get us a future forecast for the apparatus we need to replace,” said Anderson. If there are any further questions regarding the study, Chief Anderson can be reached at 413-569-6363.
SOUTHWICK FIRE CHIEF RUSS ANDERSON
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The city’s planning board listened to the residents last night and denied outdoor light usage at Roots Athletic Center. The planning board voted nearly unanimously, with one dissenting vote, to deny the amendment proposed by Roots for the outdoor lights. The denial means that the lights will now be off and will not be allowed to be used, pending the decision being filed in the coming days. Roots will be able to appeal the decision if they so choose. “I am happy that the residents got up there and made their requests because they know what kind of issues this is creating for them,” Ward 1 councilor Mary Ann Babinski, said. “And I’m happy that the planning board listened and made a vote on it last night instead of continuing this again.” The lighting issue, which had dozens of residents turning out repeatedly at planning board meetings to discuss, had previously been continued on at least three occasions, and even drew visits to the affected homes in the area by the planning board. Jay Vinskey, principal planner for Westfield, said that the board decided to vote on the lighting issue because of its severity but See Roots Vote, Page 8
See Ghost Bike, Page 3
See New Math, Page 3
By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – A robbery took place at Key Bank located at 664 College Highway at approximately 12:07 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. According to Southwick Police Lieutenant Kevin Bishop, the supposed suspect is a white male. At this time, the amount of money that was taken hasn’t been determined yet. No weapon was shown by the suspect and there is no description of the vehicle he was driving yet. Bishop also stated that local This is the supposed suspect schools in the area were notified of the robbery at Key Bank and told to go into a lockdown. The on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo lockdown was then lifted at some from the Southwick Police point shortly after on Tuesday Department) afternoon. Southwick Detective Sergeant Robert Landis is the lead investigator for the incident. The Massachusetts State Police Investigative Unit has been contacted and they have sent out investigators as well as the crime scene unit to help assist with the investigation. Bishop and the rest of the Southwick Police Department are urging anyone that has information on this incident to contact the Southwick Police at 413-569-5348.
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By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD–John Kurty’s wife Rita could set a clock to his bike rides. She knew he would leave for one hour every day, riding the same route near Westfield State University. This is the sort of thing you learn about someone after 57 years of marriage. And this activity was important to John, who dedicated most of his life to physical activity and education. In addition to being a husband and a father to a son and a daughter, John was a coach for soccer, golf and volleyball teams at Westfield State University, as well as an instructor of physical education at the University until 1988. He was even inducted as the first coach into the Westfield State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994. And so on Nov. 2, 2012, it was expected to be no different. It was 2 p.m. and it was time for his hour-long trek. So, John got his bike ready and went to the door.
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – At the state of the district presentation to the School Committee Monday evening, Susan Dargie, director of curriculum and instruction for Westfield Public Schools, said the district has been focusing for the past five years on new curriculum for English language arts and SUSAN DARGIE math, and will now be Director of curriculum shifting its focus to other and instruction for areas, including STEM Westfield Public Schools (science, technology, engineering and math), health and social studies. Speaking about the “new math” curriculum last week, Dargie said it was introduced five years ago in the elementary schools, and three years ago in the middle school. The curriculum was a departure from the traditional way of teaching math and at first caused some confusion among parents. “We get it (questions) from elementary school parents that are trying to help their children with their homework. They want to be able to understand it,” Dargie said. She encourages parents to connect with the teachers, and use resources available on the district websites. The district has also offered family nights, to discuss the changes with parents. The new curriculum, which is enVisionMATH for the elementary school and Big Ideas for the middle
Ghost bike shows dangers that still exist in city for cyclists
Roots vote made by planning board
Bank robbery under investigation by Southwick Police
‘New math’ discussed by district
The ghost bike set up by John’s son, Jack Kurty.
The outdoor lighting is seen to be reflecting off another neighboring house at night. (Photo from Heidi Leonard)
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