Westfield – Residents from the Joseph Avenue and Paper Mill area showed up to a public information meeting at Paper Mill Elementary on the proposed sewer and road improvements in the area.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti presented an overview of the project, with plans laid out on the tables for residents to study. The $2.5 million project will lay sewer pipe for city hookup, as well as improve storm drainage and redo portions of the road. Most of the residents in the area now have septic systems.
Westfield resident Chris Chabin studies plans following the information session on Wednesday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Also present at the meeting were Ward 6 Councilor William Onyski, and At-Large Councilor Stephen Dondley, the liaison to engineering.
The project will be funded by a $3 million bond that will go through the Legislative & Ordinance Committee and on to the City Council Thursday evening. Cressotti said it will take 1 ½ months before the money is available, and that not a lot of work would be done before the winter. He said residents could expect a year and a half disturbance. The project will be going out to bid this summer.
Cressotti said sewer pipe and road construction will be going on at the
Questions and answers continue following session (Photo by Amy Porter)
same time. Environmental Engineer William J. Lengyel of CDM Smith, designing engineers for the project, said the work would move slowly, opening 100 feet of trenches a day, and reclosing them. He said they will also put in lateral pipes to the property line of each residence along the route, which includes Joseph Avenue, a portion of Paper Mill Road from Mockingbird Avenue to the school entrance, Grandview Drive and Amy Drive to the cul de sac.
Cressotti said sewer entrance will be voluntary at present. Residents whose septic systems are in good order will not be required to hook up to the sewer system immediately, but the city will not permit another septic system in the area.
Asked about the cost of hookup, Cressotti said the sewer entrance fee is $550. Beyond that, residents must hire a contractor to find out the best way to hook up with the laterals. The cost of hookup will be another $3,000 to $5,000. In homes where gravity to the sewer line won’t work, a packaged pumping station is available for another $5,000. He noted the cost of replacing a septic system is $35,000.
Cressotti said the placement of the laterals is somewhat flexible, and that during the construction might be an opportunity to get them positioned more advantageously for hookup. He said as the contractor is mobilizing, a notice will be put on doors regarding the laterals, which would be the time to contact the city. Cressotti said the city is anticipating seven years to hook the sewers up to all the areas that aren’t connected. He added that most people wait until their septic system fails.
Questions and answers continue following the session. (Photo by Amy Porter)
At the end of the project, Lengyel said they will remill and repave the roads. They will also completely reclaim a portion of Paper Mill, which he called in “rough shape” from the end of the pavement to the school. In addition, they will fix the drainage at the intersection of Paper Mill and Joseph Avenue.
Cressotti said they are also talking about adding crosswalks and additional sidewalks at that same intersection, which currently has a four-way stop. Some residents suggested also adding sidewalks and a crosswalk from Walker Avenue across the street to the playground at the school. Cressotti said the engineers would take another look at it.
Several residents expressed concern about the truck traffic on Paper Mill, and the speed of vehicles on the road. Onyski offered to go with residents and present their concerns to the Traffic Commission, after Cressotti said he did not know how they could inhibit truck traffic on the right of way. He said previous studies had found 3% of traffic from multi-axle trucks, but significant traffic from trucks with two axles and six wheels.
Regarding traffic speed, Cressotti said the Westfield Police Department had done an assessment, and found out of 1,000 cars per day, only five were speeding. Most of the approximately 40 residents in the room reacted with disbelief to the results of the study.
Following the presentation, residents gathered around the plans, and continued the discussion. Chris Chabin, who was studying the plans, said while he lives in another area of the city, he had come to gather information for his in-laws who have lived in the neighborhood for 55 years. An assistant city engineer in Chicopee, Chabin said Cressotti answered all his questions at the session. He said his in-laws told him there has been talk of sewers in the neighborhood for decades.
“I think it’s very good that something’s happening,” said James Cassidy of Joseph Avenue. He said his septic system was replaced 11 years ago, so he’ll probably wait, but he said he would like to be involved in where the sewer will hook up to his property.
