At-Large City Councilor and City Council President John J. Beltrandi, III
WESTFIELD – Meeting details and agendas have now been set for two meetings on Tuesday regarding the $13 million water bond; a joint sub-committee meeting of Zoning, Planning and Development and Legislative and Ordinance, followed by a Special City Council Meeting of the Whole.
The joint sub-committee meeting of ZPD and L&O will meet at 5 p.m. in City Council chambers, Room 207 in City Hall. There will be no public participation to start either meeting.
The first item on the sub-committee agenda will be committee and panel discussions on the $13 million water bond authorization. Discussions will be focused on the following three categories: the quality of water at Wells 7 and 8; analysis of options for alternative sources of cleaner water; how the proposed solution for Wells 7 and 8 was developed, and how the filtration facility should work.
Many related questions are listed under each of the three categories. The full agenda may be viewed online at www.cityofwestfield.org.
At-large City Councilor David Flaherty
Dave Flaherty, chair of ZPD, said he has invited Department of Public Works Director David Billips, Systems Engineer Heather Stayton and retired Water Commissioner Woody Darling to the meeting, as well as representatives from the Department of Environmental Protection, Tighe & Bond, who did a feasibility study two years ago on the Holyoke Interconnect; CDM, who does the bench scale testing for the city, and the Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Committee (BAPAC) to answer the questions.
The only other item on the agenda is motion(s) of committee(s). This item is included on this agenda, and also on the Special City Council Meeting of the Whole. City Council President John J. Beltrandi, III said that these agenda items were included on the agenda to allow for discussion on motions, if any, made in the sub-committee meeting.
The Special City Council meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. The first item on the agenda is $13 million water bond authorization. The second and only other item on the agenda is motions related to the $13 million water bond authorization. Any motions made in the sub-committee may therefore be brought to the Special City Council meeting due to the placement of this item on the agenda.
Beltrandi said a first reading by title only, or effectively a first vote on the bond could be taken on Tuesday at the Special City Council meeting.
Flaherty agreed that a first reading could be taken if all the questions are answered to the satisfaction of the councilors. However, he said there will be other chances to hold the first reading; at a Special City Council meeting expected to be convened on May 30 for a budget hearing; and also at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting on June 7.
Flaherty said he doesn’t think the administration should try to flip one of the five councilors that voted against the bond; but rather to get all five to give their unanimous support. “We all want clean water, reliable service, and best costs,” Flaherty said.
