Here we are at the midpoint of December and the Dickens Days festivities are in full swing. I would like to thank WOW and the BID for doing all they do for us this time of year to make Westfield a special place. I must say Downtown looks great.
I would like to thank all the residents that came out in support of the Christmas Tree and Holiday Lighting event and the Lantern Light Parade, as well as the recent second annual Latkes and Lights event. Remember to keep supporting your downtown merchants throughout the Holiday season and all through the year. A successful downtown is up to us, the citizens of Westfield. I spend a lot of time with our merchants and can tell you firsthand how hard they work every day, trying to keep the dream alive of owning and operating a successful business in downtown today. My December edition of “It’s Your City” features a number of downtown stores and what they have waiting for you this year. There is a great shopping promotion going on, so for details and for information on what’s happening check out the Business Improvement District’s website: http://www.thedistrictwestfield.com/
And of course, the folks at Westfield on Weekends, all volunteers by the way, work very hard to ensure that our downtown continues to be the center of our arts and cultural activities… check out all the WOW activities at their site: http://westfieldonweekends.com/
On December 7, we held our annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony. We had a great day and a great turnout for the event. And most importantly we have a new permanent home for our “Rock of Pearl Harbor.” Thank you to Walter Zarichak who selected the location and oversaw the restoration of the “Rock.” And thank you to American Legion Post 124 for being our annual host. And I would like to thank the members of American Legion Post 454 for hosting the annual Pearl Harbor Day Dinner. Mr. Robert Greenleaf, our last living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was the guest of honor. As always, the dinner and the company was excellent.
Earlier this week, we were honored to host the arrival of “Wreaths Across America.” Stanley Park, was the official Westfield destination for the caravan as it made its way down to Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Robert McKean, the executive director of Stanley Park, did as always, an outstanding job, pulling together the event. The Worcester Family, the originators of “Wreaths” and the entire group from Columbia Falls, Maine, were impressed with our community response. Our school children from across the city made their way to the travel route along with hundreds of citizens to greet the caravan and let me tell you, the entire group remarked how Westfield had the best reception they have seen on the route over the years… Nice Job everyone. For more information check out their web site: http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/
This past Wednesday night at the South Middle School, we hosted a public meeting on the emerging proposal for revitalization of the Elm Street parcel generally referred to as the JJ Newberry’s site. I would like to thank our city advancement officer, Mr. Jeffery Daley for all his hard work over the last year coordinating this project. It has been nearly a two year process with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority from the time we engaged them to the point of having a concept to share with the public. Over the next 12-18 months, we expect a lot of activity in preparation for the future development to occur at the site. In the coming days, the meeting will be rebroadcast on channel 15 and be available on the city’s website on demand. Thank you to Mr. Mark St. Jean for spending the night with us and taping the event. Over 100 hundred citizens took the time out of their busy lives to hear and see what the future might bring. Thanks for coming out. There are many more steps along the way where we will be gathering additional input from the citizens and we will share with you all the upcoming benchmarks as the project moves forward… and the Westfield News will carry all the details as they develop.
As you may have seen since the spring…your city hall has been covered in scaffolding. The work done to date included removal of the old and deteriorated slate roof, installation of a new slate roof, gutters and downspouts, removal of the old deteriorated mortar in the brick joints and the replacement of the mortar and rebuilding of the severely deteriorated chimneys. Now we will be entering the last phase of the exterior renovation, window replacement. Our windows, made in the USA, by the same company that made the windows for the Old High School building (now the upper campus of Voc-Tech) have arrived this week. Next week, we will begin in earnest, the effort to remove the old windows and install the new, energy efficient windows. This process is complicated by the fact that asbestos material in the form of window glazing and caulking will need to be removed by an asbestos abatement contractor prior to the installation of the new units. There are approximately 210 windows that need to be replaced. Complicated by the presence of asbestos, will add additional time to remove and replace each unit. Additional complications to the project include the weather and the accessibility of the windows. This would be a difficult job in good weather but due to manufacturing delays, we are at least 60 days overdue with the delivery. However, the work must press on. Additionally extensive use of arial and scissor lifts to install the windows will be needed. The contractor is estimating 23 days from December 17. As there are approximately 85 employees reporting to work in city hall every day, you can imagine that logistically this promises to be complicated. Already, I have relocated our Engineering Department staff to the Water Resources Department headquarters on Sackett Street.
Additional staff at times will have to vacate their offices for short periods of times. Inevitably though, we are faced with a building closure in order to work in offices that have the largest numbers of windows. A decision to close the building to employees and staff had to be made and this will occur from noon time December 24, with a reopening scheduled for 8 a.m. January 2, 2013. There were a few significant factors to consider in this decision. That week generally tends to be a week where many employees (not just city employees) take time off to be with their families. Additionally, the schedule worked well for the contractor to work extended days. And certainly, in each department, we will make arrangements for limited business to be transacted as needed. This will cause an inconvenience for some, but detailed information will be provided on our website as to how you can contact various departments.
Another change you’ll notice… is our website. This week we rolled out a new website that is loaded with features that will enhance your ability to interact with your government 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the coming months the website will support online bill pay for some of our departments, with a goal by the end of next year to be able to pay all your bills to the city online. Additional features will include an online work order request feature, to be available for water resources department requests first, followed by public works requests in a few months. I’m pretty excited about this move, because modernizing our city’s technology features so that it could accommodate more interactivity with our citizens electronically was a goal of mine three years as I ran for election. And, with a lot of upgrades and hard work by a lot of folks, we have arrived. I hope you take advantage of and enjoy this new opportunity.
Congratulations to the Westfield School of Music ( http://westfieldmusicschool.webs.com/) and Around the Corner Salon (at 34 School Street) for their recent grand openings. Check them out… two more new women business owners changing the face of downtown. Good work ladies. And a special congratulations to the Tobacco Barn (http://tobaccobarnwestfield.com/) and Mina’s Wine and Spirits (http://minaswineandspirits.com/) on their recent grand reopening. Prob and Mina have been operating the Tobacco Barn on Elm Street for over 32 years – now that’s something to be proud of.
And how about a special shout out to Mr. Brian Falcetti and his construction technology seniors from the Voke-Tech, who, literally, saved the day, as they arrived like the cavalry in Southwick and built two new giant reindeer to replace the display that was destroyed by a true “Grinch” that went wild with a chainsaw one night in Southwick. Let’s hope that Grinch gets some Christmas Spirit and becomes an upstanding citizen in the future. These are the kids we have in Westfield that make us so proud… nice work.
And here at city hall we say good bye to our 28 year treasurer, Greg Kallfa. I have had the pleasure of working with Greg over the last eleven years. But it is the last three as mayor that I truly will treasure. He is the gold standard for city employees and for a city treasurer. Best wishes and many years in your retirement my friend… and if in your retirement travels you come across a Hostess product… I hope you’ll remember your friends at city hall.
We have just published another edition of “around the Whip City.” So please check that out at http://www.cityofwestfield.org/?page_id=2297
And for this holiday season I retooled our Christmas Sampler edition of “It’s Your City.” Instead of our usual feature of two stores per episode, we super-sized it this year to give you a broad glimpse of all the shopping opportunities downtown. And for future editions, because the demand has been so strong for stores to appear on the show, we will roll out for most episodes a three store format in 2013. It can be seen 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.
And of course, make sure you check out the latest edition of “Working in Westfield” hosted by Jeff Daley. We are featuring Columbia Manufacturing. This long time business has a great Westfield story to tell so you won’t want to miss it. (http://www.columbiamfginc.com/) “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.
And lastly if you are interested in seeing the contents of the Ashley Street School time capsule, I have made arrangement with the Athenaeum to have them put on display. You’ll want to check it out, it’s a nice glimpse back in time to 1898.
As always if you have any questions call or email me at 413.572.6201 or [email protected].
To you and your family… Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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.
