I would like to thank Patrick Berry, owner of the Westfield News Group for his invitation to the City Council members to submit articles to the newspaper. He has proposed a weekly rotating schedule and this should allow you to be informed on the issues that affect Westfield.
I would also like to thank the voters for electing me to the City Council. It is a high honor to once again have an opportunity to represent the citizens of Westfield in elected office. Congratulations to Mayor Sullivan on his election. A new administration, filled with new energy has an opportunity to make great progress.
The Council President, Brent Bean, has assigned me to the following committees of the Council: Business Development, City Properties, Government Relations and Chairman of the License Committee.
An exciting development is occurring now on Elm Street. The Flahive Building, recently purchased by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA), has been demolished. Construction of the new PVTA facility should begin in mid May 2016, with a finish proposed for mid winter 2017. This is certainly good news. Additionally, on the agenda for the upcoming city council meeting will be funding sufficient to purchase the remaining parcels and demolish the remaining building on the redevelopment site. In the fall of 1986, JJ Newberry’s burned downed and this was the start of a 30 year journey that I am glad to say, we now have an end in site and a better tomorrow. This has certainly been a challenging project with a number of ups and downs and there is still a long way to go, but to control all the land on the site such that we can solicit redevelopment proposals over the next 18-24 months certainly is an exciting development.
I was glad to read in the news, Mayor Sullivan’s upcoming agenda for the city. Multi-year projects like the Gas Light District and North Elm/Clay Hill should conclude this year. And with the completion of the Clay Hill project, a process to improve the transportation corridors of Route 20, 10 and 202 begun in the mid 1990’s with the Jug Handle Project will finally conclude. In the coming decade, there will be some additional work needed along Route 10 near the turnpike entrance and up to North Road and along Route 20 by Wal-Mart, but the biggest and most challenging projects will have all been completed over the last 20 years.
April will also be an important month for the Ashley Street School Project. On April 5, there will be a hearing in Springfield, on the city council vote relative to the Ponders Hollow land transfer. On April 14th at 9:30 we are scheduled for an Appeals Court hearing in Boston on the applicability of Article 97 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1972, Massachusetts voters approved Article 97, granting people the right to a clean environment and authorizing the Commonwealth to acquire conservation easements. Article 97 was intended to be a legislative ‘check’ to ensure that lands acquired for conservation purposes were not converted to other inconsistent uses. In the simplest of readings, it is the city’s position that the parcels that make up the “Cross Street Playground” were assembled through tax title activities and not for conservation. The city came into possession of the properties because the previous owner(s) did not pay their taxes. The opponents believe that it is protected open space subject to Article 97. The curious point to this entire argument though, is that even if the opponents prevail in their appeal, by their own acknowledgement, it would be remedied by a 2/3 vote of the MA legislature as provided in the MA Constitution.
Additionally in March, the City Council ratified an agreement with the Town of West Springfield for participation in a “Carbon Credit Bank.” This innovative agreement, was proposed to me when I was mayor by former Mayor Edward Sullivan of West Springfield. It is a three city agreement with Holyoke as well such that all three communities, will receive payments for participating in a Carbon Credit Program. Our watershed property, encompassing nearly 3000 acres of land has been “evaluated” for its ability to offset carbon by the size and number of our trees on the property. Holyoke contributed approximately 6500 acres and West Springfield approximately 2200 acres of property. Essentially, the city over the next 10 years is projected to receive approximately $530,000 dollars for “our size and number of trees.” These agreements are rather novel, but they are attractive to developers that need to obtain carbon credits for projects that cause a net carbon gain, by accessing the “Bank” they can buy offset credits. As our trees grow, so does the value in the carbon credit program. There are no restrictions for any logging activities that a community may undertake, and as these areas for all three cities are watershed protection areas they will not be subject to development pressures. So in the end, we get paid for our trees to grow.
The last item I would like to weigh in on this month is the debate on mayoral and council four-year terms. Real simple, I believe that a four year term has only one positive attribute…to entrench incumbents. There is no better affirmation in our democracy than to stand in front of the voters every two years for election. Do a good job, more than likely you’ll get reelected, do a poor job and more than likely the voters will, as the saying goes….send you to your retirement due to ill health….they got sick of you.
I’ll close my column this month with some congratulations. First, a huge congratulation to Mr. Stefan Czaperowski for being appointed as our next Superintendent of Schools. Without a doubt, that is the most important job in government… and I would like to thank the School Committee, the staff and the volunteers that participated in the process. In the end they had three excellent choices. A congratulations to Mrs. Jennifer Willard for her appointment as the next Superintendent of the Southwick-Tolland-Granville School District. Two home grown administrators earn selections on the same day for the top job in each community. Great Job.
I would also like to thank Dr. Scallion. One of our “asks” of the Superintendent when she came to town, was to foster an atmosphere and develop a path forward for professional development in administration. One of the long time criticisms of our district has been that it didn’t have a way to identify and develop the next generation of leaders. The best organizations have a system in place to identify and mentor their next generation of leaders. Over her time in Westfield, unlike in years past, we now have Westfield employees earning experience such that they can compete and achieve appointments in administrative positions in Westfield and throughout the state. That was never more evident than the night of the Superintendent selections.
Congratulations to State Representative John Velis for being the recipient of the Walter J. Zarichak Hampden County American Legion Legislative Award earlier this month. Representative Velis has been relentless in his advocacy for veterans causes and this award is recognition for his efforts.
Mark you calendar… Little League Opening Day is April 16.
Regards;
Dan Knapik, City Council At-Large
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
