Good afternoon. I’m calling concerning the solar farm project, which is going to be located on Twiss Street, and it sounds like it’s going to generate some extra dollars for the City of Westfield. I was hoping that the rent, or lease payments, was only going to be $1,000 a year. That could be a major, major, project that might develop into something huge. I would hope that the City of Westfield would make sure that there are increments like almost any business has. Increments calling for rent increase or maybe even into sales. But when you just give them a lease of $1,000 year, I don’t think that’s the appropriate way to go. Increments of some type should be discussed and at least considered. Ten or 20 years from that area could be worth $50 million dollars, you just do not know. But I don’t think you should tie your hands immensely. And by the way, I hope that the area that this solar farms project will be is on the big hump of trash that has been completely covered and the lower part which is a great, great, system to collect trash in the City of Westfield, cannot be part of it. I hope that this is the direction the City of Westfield is going. Thank you for your time.
Good afternoon. I’m calling about the outstanding participation of one store owner in the City of Westfield. Half of the City of Westfield spent $10, $12, $15 million, whatever it is around Park Square, and one particular company has taken the bull by the horns to show their appreciation for what the City of Westfield has done. That young man is the same owner of Rocky’s Hardware. He took and tore down that building, put up a brand new building and parking facility. An awesome facility – a sign that points out the area and the bus station. He has taken the right steps forward to take full advantage of what the City of Westfield, state and federal government has done for him in front of his store. Congratulations to that store owner. I’m hoping and praying that the rest of the store owner’s downtown will go in this same direction. Not tomorrow, not next year, not in three years… But now. And I’m sure there are some grants out there but at the same time a grant could be gotten a lot quicker if they start funding some money and start doing their thing. And I say within months, the rewards will be there. We need an incentive to come downtown and Rocky’s Hardware owner has done just that. Congrats to you, young man. The citizens of Westfield do appreciate what you have done.
Today I decided to take a little drive around the City of Westfield and I was amazed at what I saw. Voke School: broken window replacement, $5 or $6 million dollars; Chapman Playground (a beautiful playground): they tell me it’s a million dollar project… could be a grant; then I went by City Hall: that’s a possible $3 to 5 million dollar job; onto Washington Street and I would say that’s about $3 million dollars for housing for the college students; and a bike trail – another million dollars. A sewer or gas line on Southampton road, at least a $1 million or a $1.5 million. And then on Shaker Road they’re putting in a water line, $1 to $2 million dollars? By the way, are they putting in a new school on Cross Street? Yes, they are. Senior Citizen Center: another $1 to $2 million. By the way, what did I miss…? Oh, yeah, I did miss one thing. School Department short $1 million dollars. God bless Westfield. Thank you.
Good morning. I’m calling about the Twiss Street transfer station. August 1st is the big day when the Health Department and the Public Works Department will be making a major move. We are not going to have someone checking out stickers on every vehicle coming in to dump their trash. You know something? I know the stickers only cost $10 dollar, but that’s not the point. The point is we have the diamond in the rough in this area. They know it. City Hall knows it. And they’re not working on it. We have a transfer station that is set and ready to go except for an extra tonnage being added or a house that we can actually build to be the entrance to the facility with a credit card box that everyone can swipe as we go through and charge every vehicle that is not from town. They haven’t moved one iota. All that’s first is a major move. Now we’re going to put a young man out there to collect and make sure an “x” amount of people are turned around. Again, I’m going to tell you this is the diamond in the rough and you are ignoring it completely. I can’t believe the Board of Health and Public Works are lying down on the job on this. Listen. This has been year, after year, after year – you have everything in place. Good luck and I hope the system works for you because you haven’t raised one finger up to this point to make this a money-maker.
Today I would like to congratulate two young men who are located in Boston at least six months of the year: Mr. Humason and Mr. Knapik. I think they’ve done a great job bringing in funds to the City of Westfield even though a lot of them were grants, which you don’t have to pay back. Over a period of years, especially the last ten, I think Mr. Humason and Mr. Knapik deserve a great deal of credit. I was just hoping that they could go a step further. August 1st is right around the corner and sometimes a bill or two is passed with additional pork, perks, or grants, which don’t have to be paid back. Can we get a grant for three new dump trucks to be leased for a five year period? Mr. Humason, Mr. Knapik, I challenge you to see if you can bring the pork, tag it on to one of those bills you’re going to be passing in the next few days, and see if it works. See if you can get the votes. You’ve done so well over a period of years it will be a feather, no, four more feathers in your cap. Give it a try. That’s my suggestion for the day. Remember, the trash trucks are leaking on every street in the City of Westfield especially when they stop on an incline. Help us get rid of this smelly substance that is scattered throughout our city today.
