Westfield City Hall
WESTFIELD –In the second to last meeting of the year, the City Council moved quickly on Thursday to approve items on the agenda, mostly financial appropriations and resolutions from City Hall, some requiring action before year’s end.
Items approved for immediate consideration and passed included a grant of $1,790 to the Westfield Police Department for traffic enforcement and equipment, part of the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over initiative.
Also approved was an appropriation of $17,000 to remove asbestos and demolish the residence at 8 Lewis Street. Mayor Brian P. Sullivan, in presenting the item during his briefing, said the city now owns the building after a long process. He said the building is infested with animals, and has a major hole in the roof.
“This is a project I’ve been working on for over 3 years to get this building secure and taken down,” said Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy, calling the building an “eyesore.”
Figy also asked for immediate consideration to accept a sanitary sewer easement associated with the Southampton Road sewer project, which the Mayor said cost the city $1, and would allow them to clean up the area where the sewer had been put in. The motion passed unanimously, as did all the matters before the Council Thursday.
Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr. asked to send several appropriations from the Community Preservation account to the Finance Committee. All of the appropriations had previously been approved by the Community Preservation Committee. These included $136,000 for the Hangar II Restoration and $135,000 for accessibility improvements to the Westfield Women’s Club Building, both of which have already been approved by the City Council, but needed one more vote. The Council had not yet voted on the CPA approved funding of $250,000 for the Hotel Bismarck Façade, which was held up this year while the deed restriction was approved by the bank which held the mortgage.
During his briefing, Sullivan said the approval had been secured from the bank due to a request from Finance Committee chair Paul. “We’ve been in the situation before where banks did not subordinate their interests. This will be a practice from now on,” Paul said.
A new proposed fee schedule for the Building Department was sent to the Finance Committee, which contain the first fee increases since 2008. “Even with the fee increase, we’re still in the middle as far as our neighbors,” Sullivan explained.
“We’re appreciative that (Superintendent of Buildings) Carissa Lisee did that. We asked each department to look at their fee structures,” Paul said, speaking for the Finance Committee.
Another item which passed for immediate consideration was a resolution supporting the 2017 grant application by the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Parkland Acquisitions program for handicap accessibility improvements to the Hampton Ponds playground. The cost of upgrading the playground will be just over $408,000. The grant will be for more than $285,000, leaving the city with approximately $122,000 to match. $52,000 of the match will come from the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities account from fees paid for parking in handicap spaces. The remainder (approx. 70,000) is in the plans for the Community Development Block Grant for 2018, according to City Planner Jay Vinskey, who also said in order to get the state grant, the Council needed to vote on the resolution before the end of the year. The Council vote, which was a commitment to matching the funds, passed unanimously.
Also approved was the appointment of Walter Tatro to the Off-Street Parking Commission through February, 2018, to replace Bernard Puza who resigned.
A 3-0 vote from the Legislative & Ordinance Committee to reduce the City Council salary by $500 beginning January 1 to bring the ordinance into compliance was questioned by At-Large Councilor Dave Flaherty, who said the amount of the reduction should be $1,000. Figy said the change in the amount had come out of the auditor and treasurer’s office through the Legal Department. After some confusion, the matter was transferred to the Finance Committee’s Dec. 21 meeting, the last on the calendar for 2017.
An amendment of an ordinance to allow the Fire Department to hold meetings in the Little River Road Fire Station Community Room passed on its first reading, and was moved to a second reading. Also passing its first reading was a zoning amendment for exterior lighting, to strengthen the protections for abutters and the environment. Figy said the amendment set standards that hadn’t existed before.
Figy also said he had posted the Superintendent’s Report. He noted in particular that a $495,000 grant had been awarded for the use of Hangar II by Aviation Maintenance Tech students at the Westfield Technical Academy. Figy said Hangar II has already been approved for use by the FAA. Figy also said that WTA will be running another community job training program for machinists.
Ward 3 Councilor Andrew K. Surprise brought forward a motion on behalf of Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell , who was not able to attend the meeting, to rename Highland Park to the Barbara Swords Park, in recognition of Swords 22 years of service as a City Councilor. The motion was sent to City properties.
Council President Brent B. Bean, II said he and O’Connell were among the few remaining councilors who had worked with Barbara Swords. He said he supported the renaming when it returns from committee.
