Skip to main content

PSA-20260305

Page 1

MARCH 5, 2026 | FREE

IN THIS

EDITION WESTFIELD

Council approves $2.3 million in free cash appropriations On Feb. 19, the City Council approved a series of free cash appropriations totalling $2.3 million that had been requested by Mayor Michael McCabe.

Page 3

SOUTHWICK

Snow removal costs climbing but are yet to exceed last year With one snow event after another over the last two and a half months, the DPW continues to rack up snow removal costs, but as much snow as the town has gotten, there’s a possibility the cost won’t exceed last year’s.

Page 4

BLANDFORD

DCR acquires 218 acres in Blandford The Massachusetts Department of Conservation on Feb. 25 the acquisition of 218 acres of forested land in the town of Blandford.

Page 5

PUBLISHED BY REMINDER PUBLISHING

Senate adopts legislation for call duty firefighters By Cliff Clark

cclark@thereminder.com

WESTFIELD — It’s been said that words matter, and in the case of creditable service legislation filed by state Sen. John Velis, changing “the” to “any” will affect call firefighters across the state if adopted by the House and signed by the governor. “We’ve been fighting for this for a long time,” said Russ Anderson, who spent 17 years as the fire chief in Southwick and Granby, Connecticut. The change Velis filed legislation for will allow call firefighters to move from one department to another without losing creditable time that is used to calculate retirement pension compensation. “This legislation ensures that firefighters who become full-time can receive creditable service for their time as call firefighters regardless of what Fire Department they worked at,” the Office of Senator Velis posted in a statement. In plain language: A parttime call firefighter, who was with the Granby Fire Department for five or more years, can take five of the years accrued with them if they are hired full-time at another department. Currently, that is not allowed by state law because of one word, “the,” which means the only way a call firefighter can accrue five years of service is if they stay at that department. If they were to take a fulltime position at another department, they would start from zero. Westfield Fire Chief Patrick Egloff said that happened to a firefighter who was hired by the department from another department and wasn’t allowed to bring his service time with him. Because of that, he said, the

State Sen. John Velis Reminder Publishing submitted photo

firefighter eventually went back to their original department. Velis is seeking to change the “the” to “any.” The current law reads: “the retirement board shall credit as full-time service not to exceed a maximum of five years that period of time during which … a reserve, permanent-intermittent or call fire fighter was on his respective list and was eligible for assignment to duty subsequent to his appointment; and provid-

ed, further, that such service as a permanent-intermittent or call fire fighter shall be credited only if such permanent-intermittent or call fire fighter was later appointed as a permanent member of the fire department.” Egloff and Anderson said, if the legislation is adopted, it could help with retention rates and recruitment of firefighters. “That would definitely help,” Egloff said. The Westfield Fire Depart-

ment has struggled with hiring and keeping firefighters. A new Civil Service program called the “Local Registration Program” lets municipalities appoint entry-level police and fire positions through the local registration program without taking the exam and waiting for an opening. Interestingly, the current restrictions do not apply to police officers who move from one department to another.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
PSA-20260305 by the-reminder - Issuu