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The Westfield News
“The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.”
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
— Bret Harte
FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014
VOL. 83 NO. 79
Residents protest rail trail ramp
Hilltown highway heads hopeful By Peter Francis Staff Writer HUNTINGTON – The state Chapter 90 Program has come under fire from highway departments all over western Massachusetts who say that their needs aren’t being met on Beacon Hill. Lacking the public transit options available to residents of greater Boston, municipalities in Berkshire, Franklin, and the western ends of Hampden and Hampshire counties are completely reliant on state and town roadways, and believe that the funds issued by Boston to maintain these roads are insufficient. “We’re trying to get the public involved because of how limited we are in our funding,” said Charles “Chip” Dazelle, highway superintendent for the Town of Huntington. “We fought for $100 million (in extra statewide funding) last year and just got $200 million, which was level funding from the year before. We have 25 miles of blacktop and 12 miles of dirt to maintain, and if blacktop costs $69 a ton, it would cost about $162,000 to redo a mile of road.” One look at Dazelle’s allowance from the state through Chapter 90, $166,287 for the fiscal year 2014, paints a picture of what exactly the heads of local DPWs are referring to when they speak of the Commonwealth’s crumbling roadways. “The state’s infrastructure is so bad, and they (Beacon Hill) want to invest all the money in trains,” Dazelle continued. “Granted we don’t have the traffic like they do, but these potholes… you get front end damage on your car, that could run between $200 to $1,000.” Dazelle is calling for public support in attempting to persuade outgoing Governor Deval L. Patrick to place more emphasis on repairing the Bay State’s roads. “The Governor has the golden hammer, and we just can’t get him to strike it,” he said. “Just putting a band-aid on the roads isn’t going to fix it. They need to be done ever 12 years. I’ve always said that if you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.” Dazelle, a member of the Tri-County Highway Superintendents and Berkshire
75 cents
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Residents of East Silver and Gold streets requested the City Council to take action to protect their privacy and the use of their properties last night during public participation. The residents, whose properties are contiguous with the Columbia Greenway and the ramp down to East Silver Street, voiced their concerns about the project and asked the council to consider another location for the ramp. Sabrina Avezzie and Rosemond Moccia, both of 21 East Silver Street and Tanya Norseth of 2 Gold Street described the impact of the rail trail project on the families. “My house is closest to the rail trail,” Avezzie said. “With the access way (ramp) so close to my home, my grandchildren cannot play in the backyard anymore.” Avezzie said that removal of the trees along the east side of the rail trail has resulted in a “total loss of privacy” for her family. “Why couldn’t the access (ramp) go on the opposite side, the west side, where all of the businesses are located?” Avezzie asked. “That access is not more than 10 feet from my home. All of the trees were removed. Vibrations from the bulldozers and truck have cracked my walls and windows. “I hope you would move the access to the west side of the bike path,” she said. See Rail Trail Ramp, Page 3
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to stay informed Residents and commuters using Carrington Road in Russell have been inconvenienced for the past several years after a large portion of the roadway gave way causing the road to become one lane in the washout area. Funding for the repairs has been an ongoing issue. (File photo by Frederick Gore) Highway Superintendents Associations, said the membership of these organizations are “fighting on a daily bases to get our monies raised and a multi-year Chapter 90 bill that will allow us to do more and have a schedule.” “If we just black-topped our roads with no repairs before we did, i.e. drainage, milling, reclaiming, shimming, and just put 2 inches of top on, we could do 1 ½ miles of road and 15 years to do them all, and $2.6 million that probably would not last 10 years from deterioration,” he said in a statement. “That price (of blacktop) depends on the going oil prices that day. This is called an escalation or de-escalation adjustment. Prices have gone up on everything — except our Chapter 90 money.” Dazelle added that, while he and his fellow rural highway superintendents have heard the cries of residents regarding the conditions of their roads, it is up to them to be the squeaky wheels that receive the grease from Boston. “As we hear all of you about our conditions of local roads, our hands are tied with not receiving additional money from our Governor. As taxpayers, something has to stop at the local level as See Hilltown Highway, Page 3
Council to review business special permit petition By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council referred two businessrelated special applications to its Zoning, Planning & Development Committee last night after hearing details of the projects presented during public hearing. Matthew Rokosz is seeking a special permit and site plan approval from the City Council to operate two businesses at 264 Lockhouse Road on property owned by his mother Barbara Rokosz. Rokosz is asking to be allowed to operate an open-air storage facility and a firewood retail business. Attorney Brad Moir, representing Rokosz, said the property is zoned Industrial A and is located in a heavily developed industrial area. The site is across Lockhouse Road from the intersection of
Servistar Industrial Way. “What Matt wants to do is clear off some of the land and do openair storage for boats, trailers, campers and RVs in the front of the parcel and in the back of the property do retail sale of firewood,” Moir said. “The storage area would be fenced, a six-foot high chain link fence, and would be landscaped.” Moir said the access drive from Lockhouse Road to the open-air storage facility would be 50-feet long, enough length to accommodate a vehicle with a trailer. “There would be enough space to get off Lockhouse Road,” Moir said. The storage area gate would be controlled by a key code or card swipe to allow customers access to their stored property. Moir said See Special Permit, Page 3
STGRHS renovations moving quickly By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – SouthwickTolland-Granville Regional Schools Superintendent Dr. John Barry told the School Committee this week that the campus-wide school construction projects are moving along. “The high school is wrapped in a vapor barrier and we are going to begin masonry work soon,” he said. Barry walked through the middle school addition at the high school and said “it’s being defined and it’s going fast.” The high school will become a 7-12 combined middle and high school, with the middle and high school classrooms separated by wings. There will be spaces used by all grades, such as the auditorium, gymnasium, technology center, and library.
Barry said over the winter, the renovations at Woodland Elementary School moved very quickly. Work in what will be the preschool, music and guidance wing is nearly complete, and Owner’s Project Manager PDS wants to move the guidance department and work in the other wing. “Abatement has been done and electrical and plumbing have been roughed in,” Barry said. “When the heating season is over, they want to move music classes in the cafeteria so they can start on the auditorium.” PDS is also considering taking down ceilings and ripping up floors in the corridors this spring while class is still in session. Barry said this would allow them to start those renovations as soon as students are out of the building for the summer. “I walked through Woodland
today,” he said Tuesday, “and the walls are up, windows are in and most electrical and mechanical is in. The sheet rock is going up and the target date for phase three at Woodland is May 30.” He also said there’s an effort to expedite the boiler installation at Powder Mill Middle School, which will become the district’s intermediate school once all renovations are complete. “Originally the plan was to build the boiler on the first floor and have it running for the 2014-2015 school year,” he said, “then they would reconstruct it in the basement, but we’re exploring building it once downstairs.” The school committee and board of selectmen will tour the renovations April 17.
Southwick Selectman Joseph Deedy, center, gestures while touring the Powder Mill Middle School with, left-right, Mike McGarry, project manager, Karl Steinhart, chief administrative officer for the Town of Southwick, Steve Presnal, Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District business manager, and Eric Morgan, building and grounds supervisor. Officials toured Woodland Elementary School and Powder Mill Middle School last year as renovations continue in the school district. (File photo by Frederick Gore)