Well, it is now finally September and we will soon be in the autumn season. As many of you have heard, the state is grappling with both a return of the West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. According to the State Department of Public Health, Westfield is in the High Risk Category (see map @) http://westnile.ashtonweb.com/index.asp
That means that precautions should be taken. Those precautions can be found at http://www.cityofwestfield.org/?p=7877
With September comes the start of the new school year, The Eastern States Exposition (The Big E), and Westfield’s Colonial Harvest Day. Westfield schools opened on schedule this year on August 29 without the threat of a tropical storm Irene, or one by any other name. We also had a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Westfield Elementary School on Ashley Street. Third graders from both Abner Gibbs and Franklin Avenue elementary schools participated in the ceremony complete with miniature shovels. These students will be the first graduates of the new school. The mornings are darker now so please drive safely as our students are walking to school and bus stops.
The shorter days also mean fall is around the corner as is The Big E. “A Salute to Westfield” Day is scheduled for Thursday, September 27. This year we will be walking in the Westfield Parade in honor of Officer Jose Torres and his family. Students will be receiving their Big E passes at school and we hope to have a great turn out.
Westfield will carry on our own tradition of ushering in Fall with the annual Colonial Harvest Day, sponsored by The Westfield Business Improvement District and Westfield on Weekends. This all day event is scheduled for Saturday, September 29 from 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. For a complete list of events visit the newly revamped Westfield on Weekends website: http://westfieldonweekends.com/
With the arrival of fall, we will see some road paving begin. I have notified the Massachusetts Department of Transportation we would like to use our Chapter 90 funding on the following projects:
Milling and Overlays of roadways: $654,000
Final Design of Route 187 (Feeding Hills Section) so that reconstruction can begin in 2013: $150,000
Elm Street Sidewalk and Water Main Reconstruction Design Work: $56,000
Columbia Greenway-South, Part 2 Construction for Spring 2013: $250,000
The following roads will be milled and repaved this fall:
Elm Street between Park Square and the Great River Bridge: $195,784.25
Thomas Street: $36,381.40
Chapel Street: $38,297.10
Monroe Street: $16,360.45
The following roads have been programmed for an overlay. Paving will occur between this Fall and next Spring.
Exchange Street ($11,440.00); Clinton Avenue ($19,915.00); East Mountain Road ($100,000 – Year 3 of a 4 year effort to overlay the entire length); Falcon Drive ($88,868.00); Day Avenue ($36,000); Noble Avenue ($36,000); Westfield Industrial Park ($15,000); Union Street ($40,000); Falley Drive Hill and Shaker Road intersection ($20,000.00) – This list represents price estimates by our paving contractor and actual costs will not be known until each street is completed. The actual costs will determine to what extent we can complete this list.
As you know, we completed phase 1 of the Columbia Greenway South earlier this year. We recently received notification from the state that we will have another 2 million dollars available for construction in the Spring of 2013. There are certain costs we are required to contribute too, and therefore $250,000 of our state funding has been reserved for that purpose. It is expected that phase 2 will continue the trail to a point from the Tin Bridge to a point short of East Silver Street.
Additional funding is also needed to complete the design for phase one of the three phase route 187 project. We have secured funding to start construction next year so in order to accept the funding the design work will need to be completed. And lastly, the Elm Street Connector project will be completed by the end of September.
I can also report that the Senior Center Building Committee recently had its first meeting with our selected architectural team. This is an exciting project and the meeting held this past week, kicks of the next phase of our goal to build a new facility. I will keep you updated as to our progress in the future.
I just recently received notification from MADOT on the Pochassic Street Bridge Project…here’s the latest…the contractor should be on-site within the next two weeks to begin with the Historic Arch repair. We’ve been told that the Construction Agreement between CSX and MASSDOT should be finalized very soon. Once that is signed, work should begin. Noticeable site activity is expected in October.
We have published another edition of “around the Whip City.” So please check that out at http://www.cityofwestfield.org/?page_id=2297. Don’t forget to watch my TV show… “It’s Your City.” It is on Channel 15 on Sundays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. It can also be seen anytime at http://vimeo.com/channels/201443. We featured a number of business on the show since I last wrote the Message, so be sure to check them out. We will soon be taping another edition of “Working in Westfield.” “Working” airs on Channel 15 on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., Thursdays at 9:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. It can also be seen anytime at http://www.cityofwestfield.org/?page_id=6049.
As always if you have any questions call or email me at 413.572.6201 or [email protected].
Respectfully,
Dan Knapik, Mayor
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of the Westfield News.
