The state has agreed to extend the lease for the Juniper Park Elementary School while the city continues to deal with issues related to construction of a new elementary school at the intersection of Ashley and Cross streets. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The state has agreed to extend the lease for the Juniper Park Elementary School while the city continues to deal with Article 97 issues related to construction of a new elementary school at the intersection of Ashley and Cross streets.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Friday that he has notified the general contractor, Fontaine Brothers of Springfield, that construction will be further delayed while the Article 97 issue passed through several agencies.
Knapik said that he met with Fontaine to review the cost of storing two construction trailers and portable toilets on the Ashley Street site after a resident complained that the site was becoming an eyesore.
“We decided that we would be able to save a few dollars in rent,” Knapik said.
A landscaper came in to remove weeds and clean up the site, Knapik said.
The Article 97 issue, raised by Cross Street residents, deals with the fact that a section of the playground, used by the Westfield Little League, is being incorporated into the 96-000-square-foot school project.
Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina Page issued the temporary restraining order in early September of 2012 after a motion, filed by several residents of Ashley and Cross streets, contended that the city is violating state and federal law by using part of the Cross Street playground for the school project.
The cost of the project was originally estimated to cost $36 million, but has been reduced to $24 million because the prime and subcontractor bids came in below estimates. The city will be responsible for a third of that amount or about $8 million.
City officials have submitted citizen comments and municipal responses to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) as part of the Article 97 conversion of the Cross Street playground that will be incorporated into the campus of the Ashley Street School project.
The comment and response report was reviewed by the EOEEA, and submitted to the National Park Service for its review. When the report is accepted by the federal agency, the city will be authorized to proceed with the playground conversion, clearing the way for the school construction project and the eventual creation of new playground facilities at the alternative location.
“We are actually expecting approval from the NPS shortly as we have been in regular contact with them on our application,” Knapik said Friday. “Everything the National Park Service has ask for, we’ve provided.”
Earlier this week the National Park Service requested information on the city’s last conversion project dating back to the 1990 construction of Paper Mill School when a section of the Paper Mill Playground was used for construction. The city took until 2004 to complete the conversion when a piece of land at Highland School was transferred to the Park and Recreation Department.
The Park Service requested that signs be erected to designate the property is now under P&R control.
“We’re taking care of that. The signs are being made to comply with the National Park Service requirement,” Knapik said.
The city will then petition the state legislature to approve the conversion to land that the city is seeking to acquire, a process that will take another year, before construction can begin.
