Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, left, and Michael L. Roeder faced off during a Mayoral Candidate Forum sponsored by The Westfield News Group and the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce staged at the Westfield Vocational-Technical High School auditorium. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
MAYOR DANIEL M. KNAPIK
WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik will be sworn into office for the third time Monday, Jan. 6 in a ceremony to be held in the South Middle School at 9:30 a.m.
Knapik won his third term in a hotly contested race against a challenger new to city politics, Michael L. Roeder, LTC, US Army retired. Knapik’s margin of victory was only 333 out of the 9,048 ballots cast by the eligible 23,882 voters in the city. The 37.89 percent voter turnout was the highest for a mayoral contest since 2007 when 41 percent of voters turned out for the mayoral contest between Brent B. Bean II and Col. Michael Boulanger, the former commander of the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, who won that election.
“It was a little closer than I wanted it to be,” Knapik said shortly after his victory was confirmed. “This city has been through more change in the past four years then in the previous 40 and change is always difficult.”
Knapik said that his priorities during the next two years are the construction of a new senior center, the Ashley Street elementary school and a science and technology wing at Westfield High School, as well as economic development in the city’s core district.
Knapik will continue an aggressive agenda of infrastructure improvements over his next two years of his third term in office, including two reconstruction projects in two of the city’s older areas and Western Avenue which is currently in the design and engineering phase.
One project is the Gaslight District Improvement which is located in the area between Elm Street on the east, and Washington Street on the west, Franklin Street on the north and Court Street on the south.
The new elementary school proposed for Ashley and Cross streets.
The Gaslight Project would improve the infrastructure and streets, while enhancing pedestrian movement in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods abutting Elm Street. Existing underground utilities would be replaced and overhead utilities will be buried to support further commercial and residential development in the neighborhood.
A new street will be constructed through the Arnold Street municipal parking lot at an offset with Summer Street and the cut through between Church and School streets. Sidewalks will be installed with pump-outs to increase pedestrian safety.
A key focus of the Gaslight Project will be to improve and enhance pedestrian movement between the municipal parking facilities and the city’s downtown commercial and entertainment district. The off-street parking facilities in both the Arnold Street and Franklin Street municipal parking lots will be reconfigured. Those reconfigurations will also support the Elm Street commercial and transportation projects and the eventual construction of a multistory parking garage.
Westfield City Engineer Mark Cressotti, right, answers questions during a slide presentation at an informational meeting on proposed roadway improvement projects along Western Avenue and Court Street. More than 200 residents attended the meeting at Highland Elementary School. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
The Gaslight District project also includes construction of small, urban pocket parks, green oases in a jungle of concrete and asphalt. One proposed park will be constructed in an existing parking area off Church Street, behind the former School Street Bistro Restaurant, while another is planned in the Arnold Street parking lot along the new access road. The parks will have artifacts of historic significance, now in storage at various city departments.
The other major neighborhood improvement project is the Old Town project in the neighborhoods located off Main Street and includes installation of larger capacity underground utilities, such as water lines and storm drain mains, as well as road and sidewalk improvements.
Tighe & Bond has been retained to perform the design and engineering work in the target area which includes East Silver, State, Cross Ashley, George, Frederick, Noble, Cycle and Exchange streets. Also included in the project are Cleveland, Parkside and Lozier avenues, Lindbergh Boulevard and Old Town Fordway.
The Western Avenue reconstruction project has been the subject of three public meetings to address traffic volume, speed and congestion, especially at the intersection of Lloyds Hill Road, but there has been no clear consensus among residents or the street and adjoining neighborhoods
The project has been divided into phases, with the first phase to focus on the section of Western Avenue between Lloyds Hill and Laura Drive.
Knapik will be working with a dramatically different City Council as only four of the six incumbent At-large councilors were returned to office. Those four are James R. Adams, Brent B. Bean II, Brian Sullivan, who finished 1,2 and 3 respectively, and David A. Flaherty who found enough voter support to finish seventh. The new members of the At-large council contingent are Cindy Harris, who finished fourth, Dan Allie who finished fifth and Matthew T. VanHeynigen who finished sixth.
The Ward Councilors are Christopher Keefe of Ward 1, Ralph Figy of Ward 2, Brian Hoose of Ward 3, Mary O’Connell of Ward 4, Bob Paul of Ward 5 and Chris Crean of Ward 6.
