WESTFIELD – The Finance Committee will recommend the approval of the appropriation of a bond premium to the full City Council next Thursday to fund repairs to the Westfield Police Headquarters on Washington Street and improvements to Bullens Field.
Purchasing Director Tammy Tefft appeared before the committee to explain the two appropriations, which total $543,642.34.
“This funding is part of the bond premium from the $50 million bond the city sold and it has to be used only for bondable capital projects,” Tefft said. “Any money not expended goes back into the bond premium and can only be used for other bondable capital projects.”
Tefft said $279,029 of the total will be used to replace the concrete deck of the police headquarters security bay. The bay, a sally port system, is designed to allow cruisers transporting persons under arrest, to enter an outer bay with a garage door. After the cruiser is inside the outer door is closed and the prisoner brought thru a second door into the department’s booking area.
Tefft said that she included a larger than normal contingency allotment in the funding request because there is electrical wiring embedded in the concrete slab which has to be removed. Tefft said it is unclear if that wiring is obsolete and does not need to be replaced, or is connected to the present electrical and communication systems, in which case it will have to be replaced.
The project includes installation of two I-beams to support the new slab that will be installed. Also included is renovation of the women’s locker room which was closed because concrete chunks were spalling off the bottom of the slab and creating a hazardous condition.
Tefft said that $264,613.34 is being allocated to making improvements to Bullens Field. The majority of that funding will be used to bring the entryway of the field into compliance with the federal and state Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
Tefft said the southwest corner of the parking lot, adjacent to the upper Westfield Vocational Technical High School campus, along the rear of the Bullens’ grandstand and closest to King Street Extension,will be regraded to accommodate handicapped access to the sidewalk leading down to the gate area.
Inside the gate a new ramping systems will be installed, as well as handrails on both the new ramp and existing steps, and that the current ticket both will be moved from the west side of the steps to the east side. The relocation of the ticket booth will require the removal of a large tree now located between the steps and the grandstand.
Tefft said that $50,000 needed to repair the backstop of the ballfield was removed from the bond premium request and will be included in a $4 million bond request submitted to the council at the May 7 session by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik for rehabilitation and constriction of municipal outdoor recreational and athletic facilities.
The Finance Committee voted 2-0 to give that funding request a positive recommendation at the May 18 City Council session.
