WESTFIELD – Joe Giffune, chair of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail (FOCGRT) Board of Directors, sent out an email on Tuesday, asking supporters to come to the City Council meeting on Thursday, and to speak on behalf of the completion of the trail during public participation at the start of the meeting.
Giffune said that city engineer Mark Cressotti has been asked to defend some spending issues in his engineering budget on the Rail Trail.
“We have been trying to get in front of the City Council to present the economic benefits of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. We thought this might be a good opportunity to do it,” Giffune said.
The agenda item for the meeting reads: “City Engineer Mark Cressotti present at the request of the Council to discuss the State award for the railroad bridge project at the Great River Bridge.”
Giffune said he is very concerned when the city starts sending those signals to funding agencies. He said the bridge over the Westfield River is already a fully-funded and approved MassDOT project.
There has been pushback lately, with some City Council members asking why the railroad bridge project is being done when the trail does not continue on the other side, and calling it a “bridge to nowhere.”
Giffune said that the plan is to continue the trail beyond the bridge, and eventually connect it to Southampton and Easthampton.
Other councilors have asked why not put a bike lane over the Great River Bridge, where there is a very wide sidewalk. Giffune said while that may be a good argument, it should have been made four years ago, and would require engineering to design it. Giffune said the city is responsible for design costs, easements, and temporary easement. He said stopping the railroad bridge project now would be a true waste of money that has already been spent.
“I’m very concerned, when you start sending those signals to funding agencies,” Giffune said. “It’s so easy to say no to spending.”
Giffune said that he and Don Podolski of New Horizon Sports will focus their remarks during public participation on the economic benefits to the city of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail.
“The trail has been used at a remarkable rate. It has much higher usage than in neighboring communities. I’ve never looked at this trail as anything but an economic driver,” Giffune said.
In his email, he asked supporters of the project to show up and be heard, or just to be visible at the meeting. “Please, come to the meeting and show your support for FOCGRT and the Columbia Greenway. You don’t have to speak. Your presence speaks more than you know,” Giffune wrote.
“I think that many of us think that because this project was started, it will naturally be finished. That would make sense to many of us, but it is not the case here. We have had to fight for every phase of the project as if we were starting from scratch. We have now entered into a time where some of our neighbors, some of them, the ones we elected to represent us, are arguing against completing this project,” Giffune continued.
The presence of FOCGRT supporters at Thursday’s meeting may be a good test of the new resolve by the City Council to allow active and extended public participation at the start of City Council meetings.
At the last meeting, At-large Councilor Cindy Harris had made a motion to eliminate any extension of time beyond the 3 minutes allowed for public participation. Harris had said she made the motion, which was ultimately withdrawn due to lack of support, in order to allow all speakers to be treated fairly.
At the meeting, several councilors spoke in favor of encouraging public participation, and granting extensions of time as requested.
