BRENT BEAN II
WESTFIELD – The Council on Aging may get approval of its $7.5 million bond to fund the construction of a new 20,000-square-foot senior center on Noble Street before the end of the fiscal year.
The City Council is planning to meet on Monday, June 30, the last day of the 2014 fiscal year, to consider several year-end appropriations, and could take up the second reading and final passage of the senior center bond at that meeting.
The council approved the first reading of the bond (it typically take two meetings to vote on financial matters such as bonds) at the June 5 meeting, with the expectation that the second reading and final passage would occur at the June 19 council session.
TINA GORMAN
There is a state requirement that the second reading, and potentially final approval, be published at least 10 days prior to the second council session.
COA Executive Director said the bond was not published until June 11, meaning that it could not be included on the June 19 agenda, meaning that it would not be voted upon until the July 7 meeting of the City Council.
“We’ve waited two years. Two more weeks won’t make much difference,” Gorman said Monday before Mayor Daniel M. Knapik requested Councilor President Brent B. Bean II to call for a special council session to deal with several year-end financial matters. “We’re fine, our preference would have been last Thursday (June 19) but in the long-term we should be shovel-in the-ground this summer.
“I know that Eric (Forish of Forish Construction of Mainline Drive, which was awarded the construction contract) is anxious to get started,” Gorman said.
“I did request that the bond be included on the agenda if a special meeting was called before the end of the fiscal year,” Gorman said earlier this week.
Bean said yesterday that he initially scheduled the special meeting for Thursday, June 26, but that he changed the date to Monday because several members of the Finance Committee, which has to bring several issued out onto the council floor for consideration, are out of town this week on business trips.
The agenda, which will not be posted until Thursday or Friday, of the special City Council meeting requires only 24 hour public notice, and is still tentative and evolving. Several of the agenda items are still pending in the council’s Finance Committee.
The agenda, at this time, will include an appropriation request from the Technology Department for wireless devices to be installed at Westfield High School and review of three proposed contracts, two within the Fire Department and a department supervisors’ package. All four of those appropriation requests are in the Finance Committee.
There is also an appropriation request of more than $10,000 from the School Committee for work at the Westfield Vocational Technical High School and a request from Knapik to sweep any remaining funds in the Free Cash account into the city’s Stabilization account.
