WESTFIELD – The members of the City Council voted unanimously last night to return two Columbia Greenway appropriation requests to committee without further action.
The members choked on the source of the appropriation, not on the size of that funding request which was less than $20,000.
The council’s Finance Committee brought out two appropriation requests, 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.
The funding was requested to finance the taking of two parcels of land adjacent to the Columbia Greenway rail trail to create an access point from the rail trail to Coleman Avenue and Bliss Street. The access would be constructed along a small portion of the former railroad spur down to South Broad Street.
Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe, chairman of the Finance Committee framed the appropriation discussion at his committee meeting prior to the City Council Session.
“This is a taking of property,” Keefe said. “Do we do this with Chapter 90 funds or money from another funding source? Committee members felt that because of the condition of the city’s roads, Chapter 90 money should be used for road repairs.”
Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, a proponent of the Columbia Greenway project that is largely located in his ward, asked if deferring action of the appropriation “would stop the rail trail from progressing.
Ward 6 Councilor Christopher Crean, a Finance Committee member, said it would delay construction of the access spur, but would not affect the current work on the Columbia Greenway which is being extended from 500 feet south of Tin Bridge to East Silver Street.
At-large Councilor Dan Allie question Crean about the duration of the delay. Crean said the delay will entail identifying another funding source and approving the appropriation from that source.
Keefe said that while using Chapter 90 funding on a bikeway is allowed under state law and Department of Transportation guidelines, repairing potholes is a higher priority at this time.
At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty said he “would like to see every penny of Chapter 90 go to road repairs because we are so far behind fixing our roads.”
At-large Councilor Brian Sullivan said 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.
The council members discussed two options, sending the appropriation back to committee and letting it sit while other funding sources are investigated, or sending the appropriation back to Mayor Daniel M. Knapik for reconsideration of a funding source.
The City Council voted 11-0 to send both appropriation requests back to committee.
