Newly elected City Council President John J. Beltrandi, III. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD –Under Communications from the Mayor on Thursday’s City Council agenda, budget items include immediate consideration of a gift of $57 to the Animal Shelter from Lori Charette for paint and paint supplies; a transfer within the Veteran’s Department of $6,500 from purchase of services to part-time hourly, and a transfer of $3,000 within the Airport Department from the Capital Project account to the Overtime account.
A resolution to approve the new voting machines is requested. City Council President John J. Beltrandi, III said some of the new voting machines have arrived, and are in storage. City Clerk Karen J. Fanion started working two years ago on replacing the city’s voting machines for the 2020 presidential election. Fanion had said parts were no longer available for the machines currently being used, which were produced in 2007.
Mayor Brian P. Sullivan will also be submitting an order to establish a special account for Planning Board consultant fees.
Another resolution authorizes the Superintendent of Schools to submit a State of Interest (SOI) with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for an accelerated repair project at Westfield High School for the replacement of the gym roof, main doors, locker rooms, boiler room and pool areas and the replacement of entry doors to secure access to the school.
This is an accelerated repair SOI to the MSBA for the high school, which had issues with the roof leaking last year, and has had another leak incident this year, according to Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski. This request to the MSBA is in addition to the elementary school project and does not replace it, he said.
At-large Councilor Nicholas J. Morganelli, Jr. liaison to the Parks and Recreation Commission, will report on the Park and Rec meeting of Feb. 12.
A G.L. Disclosure for Christopher Bard, Chief Mechanic in the Fire Department to also serve as an announcer for the School Athletic Department. Beltrandi said any time a city employee gets involved in other activities in the city, a disclosure is required by Mass General Law.
The Finance Committee will report on items from the subcommittee meeting of Wednesday, Feb. 14, including the motion of Councilors Andrew K. Surprise and Dave Flaherty to establish a Special Purpose Stabilization Fund dedicated to repair and maintenance of city-owned roads and sidewalks, to be funded by the Local Option Meals Tax and Room Occupancy Tax. The matter was held in the Finance Committee until a meeting could be held with the Legal Department and the Department of Revenue to determine whether action solely by the legislative branch is effective without any action by the Mayor which Surprise had said he would attend.
The Legislation and Ordinance Committee (L&O) will be sending to the Council the motion by At-Large Councilors Brent B. Bean, II and Council President John J. Beltrandi, III to move the start time of the regularly scheduled City Council meetings from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The motion comes from L&O with a 1-1 negative recommendation.
Beltrandi, who is one of the sponsors of the motion, said he didn’t see any reason not to move the meeting earlier, “unless there’s an absolute reason that it can’t,” he added.
The Personnel Action Committee will submit the appointment of Douglas A. Morash as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, Ward 6, replacing Renee Wroth.
The City Council will also make their final vote to delete the city’s sex offender ordinance from the Code of Ordinances.
“I don’t think anybody’s happy about it. Sometimes our hands are tied, and we can’t do anything about it,” Beltrandi said.
In response to the local action, there is a new motion on Thursday’s agenda by Councilors Figy and Harris for a resolution from the City Council to Senator Don Humason and Representative John Velis strongly supporting any and all efforts to review and strengthen the State’s Sex Offender Registry.
Another motion from Councilors Flaherty, Paul, Beltrandi and Figy requests a review and recommendations for compensation of the Mayor, to refer to Long Range Finance.
Beltrandi, who is a co-sponsor, said this would be the beginning of the discussion. “We’re trying to see what the surrounding communities’ pay scale is to align ourselves better,” Beltrandi said, adding that moving forward, the Council will need to start looking at long-term costs of when people retire, and ways to be creative. “There are only two places you can cut, personnel or services,” he said, adding, “Everything is on the table.”
Regarding the final motion of Councilors Emmershy, Morganelli, Surprise, and Flaherty requesting a review of city trash services (curbside pick-up, bulk pick-up, recycling and Twiss Street drop-off), Beltrandi believes the motion may be in response to recent difficulties with trash pickup.
“It was a perfect storm. Anything that could have gone wrong did,” Beltrandi said. “It was unfortunate, but things happen,” he added.
