WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik requested the City Council to approve $11.1 million in bonding for the second phase of the city’s energy conservation project and for reconstruction of the main runway of Barnes Regional Airport.
The council Thursday night referred both bond requests to the Finance Committee and the Legislative & Ordinance Committee for further review.
Knapik also requested the City Council to approve a $300,000 transfer from the city’s undesignated, or free cash, account to the airport purchase of service account. This would fund the city’s share of the design phase of an on-going noise mitigation project at the airport. The request was sent to the Finance Committee for review.
The $10 million bond is to fund phase 2-A of the on-going energy management services (EMS) project designed to reduce the city’s energy footprint through installation of systems that provide greater energy efficiency. That work is being managed by Siemens.
The city was awarded a $12 million Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) green energy grant to replace boilers, windows and roofs at five school buildings. The city has also initiated a $17 million energy program in conjunction with the MSBA work at school buildings and energy improvements to other municipal buildings.
The MSBA grant, which reimburses the city at a 62-percent rate, includes the installation of 13 boilers in five school buildings, as well as replacement of windows and two sections of the roof of Westfield Vocational-Technical High School, work completed this past summer.
The city hired P3 to serve as its school energy improvement project manager, a MSBA requirement, while Siemens was hired to conduct an energy audit and propose options to increase energy efficiency and reduce the municipal energy consumption through conservation and increased efficiencies.
The initial phase included school building improvements, as well other municipal buildings, including City Hall, the Police Department, the Fire Department including the Western Avenue and Southampton Road substations, and the Department of Public Works garage on South Broad Street.
The $1.1 million bond request is the city’s share of the $21 million reconstruction of the main runway (2-20) at Barnes Regional Airport. The city is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, a Division of the state Department of Transportation, to secure the funding needed to remove the existing runway and install a new structure. The city is responsible for funding 2 1/2 percent of that total.
Knapik, in his communication to the City Council, said that the city will ultimately be responsible for only $250,000 of the runway reconstruction work because of state and federal grants, but that the city needs to fund the engineering cost “up front” to move the project forward. That includes $504,000 for design work, the city’s $273,000 project share and $323,000 to augment airport maintenance.
The noise mitigation project was initiated three years ago following a noise study associated with stationing F-15 aircraft at Barnes, replacing the A-10 airframes in 2007.
The noise study identified residential areas that fell within 65 decibels and 70 decibals, sound levels above the allowed limits. The mitigation program includes purchase and demolition of homes in the 65-decibal zone, and improvements to reduce noise in houses in both the 65 and 70 zones.
Knapik said the FAA has changed its grant criterion, requiring the city to design the required work, funding eligible for FAA reimbursement later in the fiscal year. Knapik said that the city will need to make the transfer annually for the next 15 years as the noise abatement work proceeds.
