Westfield City Solicitor Susan C. Phillips (WNG File Photo)
WESTFIELD – City Solicitor Susan C. Phillips came to the Finance sub-committee budget review prepared, handing out updated resumes of the four attorneys in the Law Department. She said in addition to herself and attorneys Meghan Bristol, Shanna Reed and Jeffrey Krok; they have Robyn Gay, a paralegal on their team who serves as the Records Access Officer, the Fire Department hearings officer and on parking ticket appeals.
Phillips said so far this year, they have had 178 claims filed and 299 public records requests (plus ten more this week), which she called, “incredibly labor intensive.” In comparison, she said the City of West Springfield’s number of requests is one-quarter of Westfield’s. She said Westfield was also picked to be included in a state-wide gender research study of the Police Department. Phillips said for recurring requests, the department is trying to put the information on the website.
Phillips said Amanda Hines in her office is still listed as a clerk, but just got her paralegal status. She said Hines does all of the packaging for cases. “Now we have one case in federal court, that won’t take anything on paper, only electronic. The state takes no electronic (documents), only paper,” Phillips said.
Phillips said 265 parking tickets have been processed since October, and two fire violations. There are also four cases in land court that the city will be auctioning off, along with many others ready to be filed.
In speaking about her work on collections, Phillips said people don’t realize when they don’t pay their real estate taxes there is a 16% interest charge applied when they go to pay their bill. She said her department is working with the treasurer on a new policy. “The goal is not to own people’s houses,” she said.
Philips said her office has written intergovernmental agreements with Westfield G&E, and has done a lot of work with Barnes Airport, as well as all contract negotiations with the city and the School Department. Phillips said all contracts will be up on June 30, making Attorney Jeffrey Krok, who handles negotiations as well as all school grievances, “pretty busy.”
Phillips said there are two ways her department saves money; ”by hiring really smart lawyers that want to do this every day.” She said she doesn’t believe hiring part-time lawyers with private practices is a good model, because they can be called away by court appearances and their clients’ needs. She illustrated why full-time lawyers are cost effective with the example of a neighboring city, where the city gets sued, a letter is sent from the state and then it goes to the Law Department. “Here we’re preemptive. I think we add value that way,” Phillips said.
Ward 3 Councilor and Finance Committee member Andrew Surprise noted that Meghan Bristol does a lot of work on Barnes Airport, and asked if they had their own attorney. Phillips said since they are not their own entity but a city department, they do not. However, she said with the FAA oversight of the airport, everything has to be done differently. Phillips said the FAA says the city can do what it wants with the airport, but the grant funds are contingent on meeting their requirements. She added that their current FAA contact has been “great to work with.”
“We go to Airport Commission meetings when needed, when asked,” Phillips said.
Airport Manager Eric Billowitz, who just completed his first full year, began his presentation by saying that Barnes Airport has been certified for safety in operating standards. He said out of 3300 recognized airports nationally, only 527 hold certificates, and only nine of them are in Massachusetts.
Billowitz said they have eight employees at the Airport, and everyone has a function. In the last 6-7 months, they underwent an inspection by the FAA, who he said are a big proponent of redundancy. If somebody is missing, such as during a storm, they need backup to ensure notification of pilots on the condition of the airport. “The FAA is constantly looking in my direction to cross-train people if somebody’s missing,” he said.
Barnes Municipal Airport Manager, Eric Billowitz (WNG File photo)
Billowitz ran down some of the grants received by the airport this year, including security perimeter fencing valued at $365,000 from MassDOT with no local share. “If it is security related, MassDOT picks up 100%,” he said. “We had a good year in that regard. We had a wish list, and they pretty much gave us everything on it,” Billowitz added.
During a discussion on airport revenue, Billowitz said the city receives a fuel royalty of 8 cents for every gallon of gas sold, plus landing fees.
Emmershy said the Airport budget is $821,000, and asked what the actual revenues are. Billowitz said he is projecting $470,000 in revenue this year. He said he is just wrapping up a review, and has proposed an increase in landing fees which haven’t gone up in ten years. He said Barnes charges 85 cents per 1,000 lbs. As a comparison, he said Pittsfield charges $4 per 1,000 lbs., which is considered by most to be too high. Billowitz said there are 20,000 landings per year.
Surprise asked whether excise tax could be charged for planes kept there, but Billowitz said they couldn’t charge both a fuel royalty and excise tax, which is also calculated per gallon for planes.
Billowitz also said Air Methods air medical transport has just finished construction at Barnes, and will be fully operational by the end of June. Once they occupy the building, they will be adding to the airport revenue. He said the Westfield Technical Academy has also just converted to an option for a 19 year lease on Hangar II at $31,000 annually.
Billowitz said at least two entities operating at other airports are looking at Barnes as their next best option, but added that he couldn’t say any more.
Flaherty said the former Airport Manager saw an opportunity in new buildings for hangar space. “I would agree,” Billowitz said, adding that one of the entities that called would be in the airport today if they had a hangar. Billowitz said one idea would be to invest in improving a building site with utilities. “If we were to make the investment to shovel ready, (we could) negotiate a rate to cover that investment,” he said.
“So right now, you’re essentially running a deficit of $350,000 plus HVAC changes,” Emmershy said, referring to HVAC work due to be done in the building this year.
Billowitz said they will be getting closer between Air Methods coming in and the lease with WTA, plus a landing fee increase. “We’re getting closer. There may be some opportunity to offset some expenses through a state program,” he said.
