WESTFIELD – City officials are planning to seek the approval ofthe City Council later this fall for the purchase of Berkshire Bank property on the north side of Central Street.
Community Development Director Peter J. Miller said the acquisition will be a friendly transaction without the need to use its eminent domain power to take the property, comprised of a building located directly to the rear of the R Leveque Associates building on School Street, and a gravel parking lot located behind the Westfield News offices on School Street.
The friendly purchase is a key issue in the use of $200,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for the purchase because of language in the federal appropriation, approved by Congress, prohibits use of the CDBG money in property acquired by eminent domain takings.
Miller said that his department will have to have a review assessment performed and that will be a public comment period relating to the property purchase.
“It has to go to the City Council which I anticipate will happen later this fall,” Miller said.
City Advancement Officer Joseph Mitchell said the city had originally earmarked those CDBG funds for the purchase of the Riomani property on Church Street.
“There is language in the appropriation that you can’t use those funds to take lane by eminent domain if there is a commercial component,” Mitchell said. “I tried to argue that a (municipal) parking garage is not a commercial project, but was told that it’s part of a commercial project, which disqualifies that money for the Romani acquisition.”
Mitchell said that he attempted to negotiate a friendly purchase of the Romani Church Street property, “but we weren’t very close on the numbers.”
Mitchell said the Westfield Redevelopment Authority is assessing other avenues to purchase the Romani property.
Miller said the Berkshire Bank deal “is an outright purchase, which is the only reason we can use that money for that purpose.”
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said the purchase will facilitate road improvements along Central Street and the creation of an off-street parking lot. Installation of sidewalks, along the north of the street off Washington Street and west side of Central Street off School Street, were stalled at the bank’s storage building because of its proximity to the street pavement.
“The sooner this purchase is approved, the better,” Cressotti said. “If it happens before winter, we’ll be able to get a gravel parking area in there later this fall. The sidewalks are part of that issue.”
