WESTFIELD – The City Council will continue its discussion tonight of two appropriations and an order for taking land to construct an access ramp from Coleman Avenue to the Columbia Greenway.
The council declined to act on the appropriation of $19,600 to purchase two parcels of land to construct an access ramp to the rail trail which is being extended this year from south of Little River to East Silver Street.
The land acquisition will connect the rail trail to Coleman Avenue and Bliss Street near the South Middle School campus which includes youth-oriented facilities. The access would be constructed along a small portion of the former railroad spur down to South Broad Street.
The council’s Finance Committee brought out two appropriation requests at the March 20 session, one for $2,100 and the second for $17,500, with a recommendation to take no action. Both of the appropriations came from the same source, the Engineering Department’s Chapter 90 account.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik has resubmitted the appropriation request, but from a different funding source, the city’s free cash reserve account, instead of the Engineering Department’s Chapter 90 account.
The council members, who voted to send the appropriation request back to Knapik for reconsideration, opposed the use of the Chapter 90 funding because of the deteriorated condition of city streets.
At-large Councilor Brian Sullivan said at the March 20 meeting that while council members opposed the funding source of the appropriation request, none of the members expressed opposition to the Columbia Greenway project or the access spur.
Sullivan said the issue is that the Engineering Department, which presented the appropriation request, “does not have access to free cash” or other funding sources. Sullivan noted that only the Mayor can make a request to appropriate free cash and that request requires the affirmative vote of nine City Council members.
Knapik is requesting immediate action of the appropriations because the contractor is currently working to extend the rail trail across Tin Bridge and toward East Silver Street. The construction project is expected to be completed by this fall.
Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe, chairman of the Finance Committee, said that while the council members may choose to approve the two appropriations, it will take a minimum of two sessions to approve the land takings because of public notification requirements.
“We’ve already had the debate on the appropriations and asked the Mayor for a different funding source, so if the council members are in agreement, we could take that vote,” Keefe said. “But the order of taking will have to be done at two meetings because of notification requirements for land takings.”
