The Westfield News mistakenly informed readers that Twiss St. accepts brush. This information is incorrect. The Twiss St. transfer station only accepts grass clippings and leaves, as there is no equipment available at the site for the chipping of brush and branches. If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact the Westfield Health Department. We apologize for the confusion.
Good morning. This call is in regards to the new school that will be located on Cross Street. We realize that the school department’s support facility is located in Hampton Ponds Plaza. Did they make a renovation to incorporate those facilities into the new school so the offices will be there in the school or is it long-term at Hampton Ponds? Could someone answer that question for me? Thank you. The Westfield School Department’s administrative functions cannot be housed in buildings or sections of buildings paid for with MSBA funds. The School Department has a five-year lease at the Hampton Ponds Plaza. The School Department’s administrative functions will not be housed at the new Ashley Street School in the future, when that lease expires.
I am just wondering about this whole Ashley Street School project. So here are the facts as I know them: (1) Project is estimated to cost $33 million. (2) The state or federal government will kick in up to $23 million and (3) The general contractor was selected at a bid of $25 million. That is what I know and have a few questions I hope can get answered: 1. Why is it going to cost $8 million to finish the school after the contractors are done? Or does this provide cushion for cost overruns? 2. Will this be going to a vote? If it has already, I apologize for asking this question. I know that Southwick put their school project out to vote. 3. Doing some rough math, let’s say the government kicks in the maximum of $23 million (which I highly doubt), that leaves the city to foot the remaining $12 million. What kind of tax increase will I see because of this? Please keep in mind I am still not too pleased after they raised taxes almost 4 percent previously. The cost of the new Ashley Street School is approximately 26 million dollars, though the city won approval from the MSBA for $35,931,394. Bids from the general contractors came in at three million dollars under the estimate. Since the Westfield City Council has voted the bond authorization for this project, there is no need for a debt exclusion vote like there was in Southwick.
After searching for some lightweight blankets in our local Bon-Ton, T.J.Maxx, and Ocean State store, I became very upset after noticing that 99 percent of the bedding sold in these stores were made in China. The cost was another issue. I for one am very disappointed that we no longer have choices from where we wish to purchase items from. I would love to see more American made items, but the cost are way out there for the middle class person, if you can even find them. The other issue is with the quality of the items from China. My opinion is its very poor quality. It’s not just bedding items; most of what these stores listed above sell comes from China. I for one feel it’s time to stop buying goods from China. How did this happen? Take a look for yourself the next time you are in one of these stores in Westfield, most of what you will pick up comes from China.
While I do enjoy the new downtown and the new businesses, I must state that I am appalled by one of the new store’s manner in conducting their business and I will have to find a new groomer. A neighbor and I were discussing this business when she told me she asked the young lady about her experience because she was so young. Come to find out, the information she advertised is not truthful; it is greatly exaggerated. Now I can understand if you don’t have many years of experience, but there is nothing wrong with that. Your work speaks for itself and I was happy with her work. However, misleading the public to gain clientele is wrong. This business came up again, though not the original talk of the conversation. At a local grinder shop, a gentleman was hanging up business cards for another grooming facility and an employee, a young woman, went up after he left and threw the cards away. I only recently found out that this was a family member of the owner of the grooming shop. This doesn’t speak well of her and I cannot support a business that behaves in this manner. This business has now lost two customers. In light of the recent grooming mishaps, I truly hope she reconsiders her marketing strategies and is transparent about her education and skills. Good luck to you.
Southwick: Concerning Whalley Park. I read the article in The Westfield News the other day and I’m glad to see its moving forward slowly and cautiously. But I am very concerned that the Southwick Rec. Center, which has no affiliation with the town, is going to be using this park for free and our money will be paying for the maintenance for their usage. I don’t agree with this. If Southwick Rec. Center is going to use Whalley Park, they should have to pay a maintenance fee. Like the article said, they are making an awful lot of money off our children in this town.
I wish I could e-mail but my computer got eaten by a virus that hit Western Mass about three weeks ago while I was away on vacation. I’m wondering if there is anyone else out there that is experiencing problems with their computer. Being that I’m not a computer geek, I’m a computer novice, I’ve taken it for repairs three times and it keeps reoccurring. If anyone out there has any information, please let me know and just call into the PulseLine. I’d also like to say that I agree with the person who called in about people in Westfield not using their directionals anymore. It’s scary. I’m just grateful to be a citizen of Westfield. I love the change in the city and I’m proud of the work that we’ve done to make it a better place to live and it’s nice to have a place to make a comment on it. Last but not least, if someone at the newspaper could do a story on the health care bill about the federal sales tax on the sale of real estate. I’m just curious how that’s going to affect the average individual as of December 31. Thanks for everything you do at the paper, I love it and I look forward to reading it today. Take care. Re: your question on the health care bill, taxes and real estate. It’s pretty complicated, and the best we can do is to steer you to this web link for clarification: http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp
Hi. I’m calling in regards to Wednesday’s PulseLine. I agree 100 percent about the Regional Card Member Services calling about our credit cards. I know it’s driving everybody up the wall. How do we stop them…? Secondly, I did call the week before asking about the PulseLine number but I am not the rude person who was asking about the Lost & Found and all that other stuff. Now about the speed bumps. I don’t understand it. The speed bumps should be before the crosswalk so you don’t hit the person crossing the road. If you’re slowing down as you hit the person, it doesn’t make sense. These are my thoughts for the day. Bye-bye.
I think one of your PulseLine callers was referring to the “robo” calls that come from a woman named Rachael from Card Member Services. You can hit “1” for other options to speak to a representative who will allegedly lower your credit card interest rates. I did some research and this is nothing but a scam originating from out of the country but it has many call centers, most of which are located in the Los Angeles area. There are literally hundreds of thousands of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission about these “robo” calls. Let your PulseLine readers be aware and to not deal with these people. Thanks.
I can’t believe all the new curbing and miles of new sidewalks I see as I drive through Southwick. Who’s going to shovel them when it snows? Are the poor people who didn’t have a sidewalk before going to have to get out there and shovel so they don’t get a fine?
Good morning. I’m calling about the intersection at Union Street and East Main Street. As you get to the light to take a left to West Springfield or a right to go to the shopping center, it’s a two lane road and on Union Street you’ll find that 90 percent of the people have a tendency to linger to the left and not leave an opening for those taking a right hand turn. I wish the DPW would consider utilizing the two lanes that go onto East Main Street; one being a left hand turn and one being a right hand turn. I think the right hand turn is being cheated on because people tend to stay in the middle. That’s my suggestion for the Public Works Department. I hope they will follow through and make it so much easier to get to the Westfield Shops and Home Depot. Thank you. Have a pleasant day.
If you receive a call from 253-236-2504 it’s a survey company hired by Comcast. They call daily and their favorite time is from 8:45 to 8:49 p.m. Of course, I’m sleeping. So, now, what do I do? Every call I receive I call Comcast at 1-800-Comcast and I let them know, in no uncertain terms, what I think of this. They’ve gotten three calls from me so far. I did this with the Diabetes Association since I was getting up to three calls a day from them. The calls stopped. I say, fight fire with fire.
The Westfield Public Schools system is one of the most unprofessional organizations that I have ever dealt with. When I went to the HR dept. I was treated very poorly. The woman who was supposed to help us just handed us a folder of papers needed for the job, quickly explained how to fill them out and sent us on our way. I started the job not knowing the salery or if my CORI even checked out ok. I was lead to believe that I was going to start the job at a higher rate than I originally thought. I had to meet with the principal and ask her what my salary would be. She then called HR and they faxed over my salary on a piece of paper… I never even signed a contract! After I found out that I was only going to be making $8.85 an hour I decided I needed to go elsewhere. The goal of the HR Office is to recruit and retain a highly qualified staff and provide quality customer service. The grant that enabled the Westfield School Department to hire kindergarten assistants established qualifications that are required and are not aligned with our current employee contract. Until we complete negotiations on behalf of the kindergarten assistants, we are bound by the current contract. The Westfield School Department would like an opportunity to discuss your experience, so please give us a call at (413) 572-6403.
Hello, PulseLine. First-time caller here and I would just like to say that you have an outstanding paper. I mostly get the paper for the sports section. You guys have a great section full of kids sports, youth football, youth baseball, everything. Keep up the good work. Thank you.
As I entered a local store I noticed a family ahead of me. This family was from out-of-town. You may ask how I know that and the answer is simple… The children were in school uniforms. We complimented the parents and children on how nice the kids looked. This family was from Holyoke. Way to go with school uniforms, Holyoke! Westfield needs to wake up and start using school uniforms next year or even after winter break. Westfield does have a dress code but does not enforce it. Many kids go to school dressed as though they were at the beach in the warmer weather and in pajamas in the cooler months. Wake up, Westfield, and start using school uniforms. It is cost effective. Thank you.
