WESTFIELD – City Councilor Christopher Keefe, acting as council president pro tem Thursday night, opened the Public Participation section of the City Council meeting with a warning that speakers could address any topic except those related to public hearings later in the agenda.
Keefe made that declaration because the City Council Chambers were once again packed with proponents and opponents of the proposed elementary school at the intersection of Cross and Ashley streets.
The warning was related to a hearing slated later in the agenda on the taking, by eminent domain, of the Wielgus Trust property, land the city is seeking to acquire in connection with the elementary school construction project.
The footprint of the school, specifically subsurface stormwater management, extended onto the Cross Street playground, taking about 1.37 acres of the ball fields.
Opponents of the school challenged that taking under Article 97 which provides protection for park land. The result of that challenge is that the city is under a “conversion order” for the National Park Service, which means that those facilities have to be relocated, which the city proposes to do on the Wielgus land.
The hearing is required because that land is being actively farmed under Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 79, section 5B to allow Wielgus to address the council and offer alternatives to taking of the farmland.
Keefe allowed the two related topics to be discussed in detail during public participation, a prudent option because the Wielgus family was represented by Attorney Stephen Spelman of Springfield, who declined the opportunity to speak during the hearing which was abruptly closed.
Proponents of the new school, parents from neighborhoods across the city, argued that the construction of a model school is in the best interests of the city and school children.
Resident Nicole Gravel-Blaney of Otis Street said that the city has several elementary schools with the same student capacity, between 500 and 600 students, as the proposed Ashley Street building.
“It’s not a new concept,” Gravel-Blaney said. “Communities are building regional schools because of today’s economy. I ask you to support the model school project and to do so for the students, teachers and families of Westfield.”
“I am very confident that the (school) administrators and teachers will make a community in the model school, working with concerned parents and families,” she said. “I urge all City Council members to tour the Franklin Avenue and Abner Gibbs buildings.”
“Franklin Ave. doesn’t have enough space. Instruction, especially for special needs students, is happening in corners and hallways which is disruptive,” Gravel-Blaney said. “I support the model school project and ask you to do so for the teachers, students and families of Westfield.”
Sandra Weeks of Granville Road, another proponent of the school, said the days of neighborhood schools, where students walked, are gone and that the city “needs to move on and embrace change”
Weeks said that many of the city’s schools required land to be taken through the eminent domain process.
“This fight is for the generations to come. Please listen to the people of Westfield,” Weeks said.
Several school construction opponents, including brothers Dan and Tom Smith, Holyoke residents whose family owns Cross Street property, spoke in opposition, not to the school, but the size and location of the proposed building, as well as the process that led to the project, which they termed illegal and flawed.
“Let’s do it right. Do it in the right place. Do it at the right size,” Dan Smith said.
“I’m still perplexed at why reasonable people are willing to look the other way at an improper process that has gotten us into this situation,” Tom Smith said. “New model schools are great, but the process was wrong. You should not be making it right by asking someone to sacrifice their land.”
Katherine Zavras-Bentrewicz of Llewellyn Drive said that she does not care how the city got to this point, “the fact is that we’re here. It’s time to move forward.”
Ellie Meyer, another Llewellyn Drive resident, said that her son is on an IEP (Individual Educational Plan) mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
“I want him to know that he is in a safe and secure environment,” Meyer said. “We need to build the model school. We need to do it fast.”
At-Large Councilor David A. Flaherty said that he initially voted to approve a bond intended to finance construction of the school.
“I voted for this school on that property because we were told it was a slam dunk project,” Flaherty said. “I’ve changed my position because the ends do not justify changing the rules.”
Flaherty said that arguments that the city will be blacklisted by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) are false and released the following statement.
Westfield City Council 59 Court Street Westfield, MA 01085
July 18, 2014
Dear Councilors,
I have read statements by advocates of the new school project and propaganda being distributed by the “Westfield Model School Support Group”.
They are making some pretty fantastic claims:
that if we don’t take the Wielgus Farm by eminent domain, that we’ll lose a $22 million grant and have to wait 10 years for another school project;
that if we don’t build the new school, that the MSBA will not fund the science wing project at the high school;
that if we don’t build the new school, that we’ll lose accreditation at the high school; and,
that we’ll have to pay back MSBA millions of dollars already invested in the new school project.
On Tuesday, June 17th, I submitted questions to State Treasurer Steve Grossman and MSBA Executive Director Jack McCarthy.
Today, June 18th, I received a call from Matt Donovan, the Chief Operating Office of MSBA.
Here’s the scoop:
First, MSBA evaluates all projects individually. There is no “list” that we’ll go to the end of, and there certainly is no “blacklist” that would tie us up for 10 years.
Second, the MSBA does not get involved in local property acquisition issues, and certainly does not threaten to terminate funding if any particular property is not taken by eminent domain.
Third, the High School science wing project will not be held-up based on what happens with any other Westfield project. The science wing project will be evaluated just like any other projects submitted by other school districts around the state (during periodic submission windows). There is no list. The “list” concept was the way the MSBA operated many years ago, but it’s not that way anymore.
Last, the MSBA has paid funds for the new school project. These funds may not necessarily have to be reimbursed by the city if the project fails.
Mr. Donovan was quite pleasant to talk with, and I’m sure he’d be willing to talk with anyone who has additional questions.
Sincerely, Dave Flaherty City Councilor
