What’s the status of the old Romani’s bowling alley? Will it be open in time for fall league? Would the owner of the establishment respond in the PulseLine? Most likely more downtown properties will be acquired through the Westfield Redevelopment Authority, including the site of the Romani Bowling Center, as part of the implementation of the Elm Street Urban Renewal Plan. For the latest on this effort, please read Dan Moriarty’s front-page story from Wednesday’s Westfield News: “State approves urban renewal plan.”
94 North Elm Street – 2nd time in recent months. NO ELEVATOR – today. maybe worse, because while I could get to to the 4th floor to pay my property tax – I could not get down. Seems one elevator had fried circuit board while the other had intermittent problems. Later I found out (maybe) there was a tax collector in the lobby -which I am sure was fruitful information for at least (I am sure) one person in a wheelchair (3rd fl)and one person using a walker (2nd fl). Gentleman (3RD FL) informed me that building personnel were friendly and they were attempting to communicate with them – approx 4:30pm Imagine – trying to talk to building people during business hours. APPALLING. They should, in absence of capably keeping elevators working, post signs for those unable to climb!!!! Thanx for the ear. City staffers report recurrent problems with the elevators and in an effort to accommodate the public a temporary desk was set up in the lobby. Mechanical problems do occur and they apologize for the inconvenience. They look forward to their return to City Hall in November.
Good morning. I was calling concerning all the work that has been done in the city of Westfield, downtown Westfield especially. And I know the mayors’ office and other departments have called them back, these contractors, to replace trees on Chapman Playground; to do some additional tree work in the vicinity of the Square, the town green; and, in turn, I have seen the trucks come back occasionally to correct problems that have occurred over the spending of millions of dollars. I keep looking at I don’t know if it’s three or six or eight cannons between the two bridges. Not a trickle of water has come out of there. Don’t let that contractor get away with murder. Get him back here and make sure the problems is solved today. Not two years from now. Not five years from now. Or get your money back on that particular part of the project . Have a pleasant day. The trees and shrubs located at Chapman and the Green, are under warranty and the City has periodically called the contractors back for replacement of landscaping when needed. The City of Westfield has asked the contractor for the Green to replant during the fall planting season.
Good morning. I’d like to talk about our transfer station, which is also called our city dump. I think we have to call this our diamond in the rough, waiting to have tons of money coming into our treasury. I see the new trucks have started to arrive, the new trucks for the cardboard and the new trucks for the trash. And I’m hoping and praying that the 50-ton ceiling on the trash amount comes in at 150. I’m hoping that the $600,000 for new trash barrels does not occur. I’d rather see it all update our entire facility on Twiss Street to make it easy-in and easy-out for whoever wants to come in and we’re going to charge every one of those trucks that come in and build up our city funds. Can it happen? Time will tell. The new trucks look great and, by God, they’re not leaking the garbage as they go through the neighborhood. Nice job! Remember, this facility can make a ton of money. Do not give it away! Thank you. The City has begun the process of environmental permitting that needs to occur to expand capacity at the transfer station. This process may take 12-24 months to complete. As part of the long-term plan, the City of Westfield will be required to build a sorting building at the location and, of course, this is a cost that needs to be considered and developed as part of a larger plan, so that it “pays for itself.” Due to complex state regulations, it is not as easy as opening the gate and asking everyone to come in. As part of the City’s request for permission to expand the daily capacity, Westfield will need to demonstrate how the City will reduce its daily rubbish output, as reduction is a key requirement of the state’s solid waste management plan. As part of the long-term strategy to reduce daily tonnage of rubbish, the City is evaluating a future option of single-stream recycling using the 96-gallon containers for recycling and using 65-gallon containers for rubbish. The City has been evaluating grant options for assisting with paying for the conversion. If the City is successful in obtaining a grant to assist in the conversion, it will see a long-term saving in the annual rubbish removal contract, as the City would reduce daily output and would likely also see a rise in recycling that has occurred in other single-stream communities, which leads to a larger reimbursement by the state in recycling grants. Before any of that can happen the vehicle fleet needed to be upgraded and Mayor Knapik is pleased to report: “We are almost in a position to get this done, as we continue to retire the obsolete and old and, as the caller points out, leaking sanitation fleet.”
