WESTFIELD – The City Council, in an emergency vote, suspended city ordinances Thursday night because of the impending temporary closure of City Hall at 59 Court Street.
The building will be vacated by Tuesday, empty of employees, files and furniture, to allow contractors unfettered access to the historic building as a spectrum of new facilities, including electrical, electronic and environmental, are upgraded, a process that will require workers to enter walls and ceilings.
The Zoning Board of Appeals will be the last board to use the building at its scheduled public hearing Wednesday night at 7 p.m. to hear three petitions submitted by citizens seeking relief from zoning requirements. That meeting will be held in Room 201 which will be devoid of furniture – no tables, no chairs.
The City Council had to declare an emergency situation to allow it to vote to suspend the requirements under the Administration Section of the City’s Code of ordinances, specifically 2-36 and 2-256.
Section 2, paragraph 36 reads:
Sec. 2-36. – Regular council meetings.
(a) The regular meetings of the city council shall be held at the council chamber in the municipal building on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Council meetings shall begin no earlier than 7:00 p.m. During the months of July and August, one regular meeting per month shall be held, on the first Thursday of July and on the third Thursday of August.
(b) When any such Thursday shall fall on a holiday, the regular meeting shall be held on the following Monday at 7:00 p.m. (Code 1971, § 2-37; Ord. No. 1035, § 2-37, 4-5-90; Ord. No. 1421, 5-17-06; Ord. No. 1486, 10-22-08)
While Section 2, paragraph 256 reads:
Sec. 2-256. – Municipal board meetings.
(a) All meetings of boards, commissions and committees shall be held in the municipal building (city hall).
(b) All regular scheduled meetings of such boards, commissions and committees shall begin no earlier than 5:00 p.m. Special meetings of such boards, commissions and committees may be called at any time allowed by law.
(c) The council on aging may hold regularly scheduled meetings during the afternoon hours.
(d) The Westfield Barnes Airport Commission meetings shall be held at the airport administration building located at the airport.
(e)The Commission for Citizens with Disabilities may meet at 4:00 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month. (Code 1971, § 2-39; Ord. No. 848, 9-3-81; Ord. No. 1421, 5-17-06; Ord. No. 1452, 10-9-07; Ord. No. 1466, 11-26-07; Ord. No. 1485, 10-22-08; Ord. No. 1540, 2-3-11)
The unanimous vote allows the City Council and the various boards and commission to conduct meetings at other locations “until the Superintendent of Buildings (Jon Flagg) shall notify the Mayor and City Clerk that the building (City Hall) is once again accessible and available for public meetings.”
The renovation work is expected to be completed in six months.
The Council was able to make the emergency vote because, under the City Charter, it can act outside of normal process if it deems there is a threat “to the health and safety of the general public,” Council Pro Tempore President Christopher Keefe said.
Keefe acted in that capacity because Council President Brian Sullivan was out of the city Thursday night.
The City Council also approved a motion to authorize Sullivan to “work with the Mayor and City Clerk” to determine meeting locations.
Originally the city planned to move meetings to the upper campus of Westfield Vocational Technical High School, the building that was the former site of Westfield High School, but that plan was abandoned because it was deemed that the building was not suitable to support meetings.
The present location, which is still subject to change, will be the South Middle School on West Silver Street. One councilor asked if the building is equipped to continue live broadcasts of local access channels of the City Council, School Committee and Planning Board.
Keefe said those meetings will be recorded for later broadcast, but the facilities do no support live broadcasts of those meetings.
