Westfield City Hall
WESTFIELD – A Special City Council meeting will be held on Thursday with a short agenda and no public participation. At the meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Mayor Brian P. Sullivan will present the budget for fiscal year 2019 for the City of Westfield.
Mayor Sullivan said he will be presenting “a balanced budget as required by law. A budget that reflects our needs.” He said there are increases in some areas, amounting to 2 to 2 ½ percent “as we stand now.”
“That’s where we stand now. We’ll manage it every day, and see where we can make cuts later in the year,” Sullivan added, adding that his goal will be to reduce the increase before taxes are set, as they did last year.
City Council President John J. Beltrandi, III, said, “Realistically, there’s a 2 ½ percent increase.” He said the Mayor will present the budget, and will open it up for a discussion with the councilors.
Also on the agenda are several “housekeeping” items, according to Beltrandi. One is an appropriation of $41,000 to the City Clerk’s department, to cover the cost of the nine remaining ImageCast voting machines.
A second item is requesting acceptance of an in-lieu-of-taxes contribution from Westfield Gas and Electric of $559,497 for fiscal year 2019, to be paid monthly in the amount of $46,625 beginning on or after July 1, 2018.
Finally, the Zoning, Planning and Development sub-committee will schedule a Public Hearing for proposed zoning changes for retail sales of marijuana, and refer the item to the Planning Board.
What is not on the agenda, after a third amendment, is the $13 million water filtration bond, because three of the councilors are not able to attend the newly scheduled special meeting, according to Beltrandi.
Sullivan said there is a timing issue with the bond, as bids were received in early May for the water filtration plant for Wells 7 and 8, and were extended until the end of June. He said if the bond gets a first reading at the regularly scheduled council meeting on June 7, and a second reading in June, they might meet that deadline.
“It will be running right up against it,” the Mayor said.
