JANUARY 8, 2026 | FREE
IN THIS
EDITION SOUTHWICK
Select Board approves Special Town Meeting warrant The Select Board voted unanimously to approve the warrant for the Special Town Meeting that included an additional article related to health insurance for the town’s retirees.
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WESTFIELD
Westfield hires Balik as city’s new conservation agent At the Dec. 18 City Council meeting, Conservation Commission chair Joseph Giffune introduced Nicholas Balik as the new conservation agent for Westfield.
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HILLTOWNS
Free class with CPA offered for small business owners The Southern Hilltowns Adult Education Center will offer a free class for small business owners on how to prepare the Small Business Schedule C form with a certified public accountant.
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PUBLISHED BY REMINDER PUBLISHING
Athenaeum restoration nearly complete By Amy Porter
aporter@thereminder.com
WESTFIELD — Linda Saltus, chairman of the Building & Grounds Committee for the Westfield Athenaeum, said the ongoing work at the library is nearing completion. “We are doing cosmetic work, as well as a restoration. Most of the things are not going to be changed. It will just be cleaner and brighter,” Saltus said. The current work, which she called phase three or four of a long-term renovation begun in 2017, involved both outdoor restoration of the historic 100-yearold building and indoor paint and repair of the Great Hall, among other items. During the work, the front Elm Street entrance has been closed, but the library has remained open throughout, with access in the rear and Children’s Library entrance on Court Street. The City Council approved a grant for $400,000 from the Community Preservation Commission that covered two parts of the restoration. Saltus estimated the total cost of the current work at $1.1 million. One part of the outdoor work covered by the CPC grant may have been observed by residents this summer and fall, when boom trucks that were brought in to reset the granite steps on the Elm Street side as well as the ones leading into the Children’s Library. Saltus said over time, water had gotten into the mortar between the steps. “They literally took all of the steps out and restored the piers underneath,” she said. At the same time, they did work on the water table at the edge of the roof, which diverts rainwater away from the building. She said those had also de-
Thirty-five-foot scaffolding is needed to repair and paint the ceiling of the Great Hall in the Westfield Athenaeum. Reminder Publishing submitted photo
teriorated over 100 years, and the contractors took out the old mortar, patched it and cleaned it. Saltus said the other part of the CPA money went to cover repair and paint of the Great
Hall, where they needed 35-foot scaffolding to reach the ceiling. She said it took the painters almost three weeks to repair all of the cracks in the ceiling, one of which ran from one side to the
other. She said the painting is 99 percent done. Taking advantage of the scaffolding, the library also had elecSee ATHENAEUM on page 2