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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 234
MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014
Local businesses seek local support By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Todd Cieplinski, owner of MoFroYo on East Main Street, has been open for just over two years, having moved into the one of the two shopping plazas that sit on Route 20 heading east toward West Springfield. His business has not seen the growth that he had hoped for and says small business owners in the city that he has spoken to are rapidly coming to the same conclusion – Westfield doesn’t support local businesses. “That’s what I’ve been wrestling with. There’s some pretty highincome, affluent neighborhoods (in Westfield),” he said. “Our philosophy is community-focused and family-friendly, so we’ve tried to do everything we can to make this as appealing as possible to that type of demographic. But we haven’t seen the traffic in here over the past Clemenza’s Cafe and Brick Oven Pizzaria located on Elm Street. year.” Cieplinski, a Springfield native and Westfield resident who had (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen) been in consulting, manufacturing and software prior to his foray into frozen yogurt, said that Westfield seems on paper to be the perfect there. I think it’s a mindset.” place for a business like his to thrive, but that his odds of weathering “There’s a huge focus on downtown Westfield, now that the infrathe upcoming winter months are “50-50 at best.” structure is done, on supporting local businesses,” he said. “But yet you “It is scary going into our third winter. We opened at the end of see everyone from Westfield at the shops in West Springfield, at the August, not April or May, so we have to weather our third winter Holyoke Mall, at the restaurants in Northampton. There are even fundwithout a third summer,” he said, adding that towns across the raisers for political candidates – for this city – held at The Federal in Connecticut River are experiencing frozen yogurt booms. “East Agawam.” Longmeadow has three, Enfield has two. We (Westfield) have one and The focus on downtown seems to be sputtering as well, as several we don’t see the foot traffic.” businesses have closed up shop in recent months. With 21 flavors and over 100 toppings and with larger square footClemenza’s Cafe and Brick Oven Pizzaria on Elm Street has been age, Cieplinski said that his business has received patrons from tony open for just over a year, but owner Anthony Martone says that he now Springfield suburbs who say it is the best frozen yogurt establishment has a “different philosophy” about the city and the business. they’ve been in. “The first year, I let the customers decide what we were going to go “But where’s the people in Westfield?” he asked. “That’s the million dollar question and I don’t know if there’s any one silver bullet out See Local Support, Page 3
Councilors seek revised bond package By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council took no action on a proposed $1.85 million bond request following a meeting of the Finance Committee at which city officials were requested to narrow of the scope of the spending. The bond was requested by Water Resource Superintendent Dave Billips to improve the energy footprint of the plant, which consumes electricity in large amounts because of the heavy reliance on electric motors. The bond was submitted to the City Council for its review under the title of a “bond authorization for $1,850,000 to pay costs of replacing Turblex Blowers” for the wastewater treatment plant, but includes other equipment replacement to increase energy efficiency. Billips said the problem with the present turbo compressors is that they are too efficient, because they are too large for the plant. Replacement of the blowers, which aerate effluent as part of the treatment process, will result
DAVID BILLIPS Interim Public Works Director in a minimal energy savings of $31,000 a year, although Billips said that is a conservative estimate. Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul Sr., a member of the Finance Committee, questioned a number of other energy-saving items rolled into the bond request, suggesting that many of those items could be accomplished indepen-
dently of the bond. Paul requested that the bond be restructured to exclude about $300,000 of the energy management system technology and equipment. In other business, the City Council did approve an appropriation of $326,170 from the stabilization account, which requires a super majority of nine (9) votes, to allow the Purchasing Department to enter into a oneyear contract, with two option years, with Siemens for maintenance of the energy-efficiency equipment recently install in municipal and school buildings. The appropriation was approved by a vote of 11-2. The funding was originally included in the Purchasing Department 2015 fiscal year budget, but was cut by the council, at the request of the Finance Committee, June to allow City Purchaser Tammy Tefft time to seek more competitive bids for the maintenance contract. At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty, who voted for the appropriation, said he was “not excited” by the single bid resubmitted
by Siemens. “I realize we need to get this work done, but I was hoping we could find a cheaper way to do it with local vendors,” Flaherty said. Ward 6 Councilor Christopher Crean, a member of the Finance Committee which gave the appropriation a 3-0 positive recommendation, said that Tefft did “reach out, but there were no other bidders, so I don’t know what else we can do. It was changed from a five-year to a three-year contract.” Paul said the contract “protects our assets and gives us time to find a more efficient way of doing it.” At-large Councilor James R. Adams said the maintenance contract protects the city because it keeps equipment guarantees valid until another maintenance option is in place. The city is assessing the option of creating a new Building and Ground Maintenance Department which would perform maintenance of the energy-efficiency equipment.
The Westfield News will run our masthead in pink, in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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Business leaders talk local patronage By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – As local small businesses attempt to keep their heads above water, city and business officials are trying to throw them a lifeline. “I think people are still cautiously optimistic about the economy and businesses have to take a hard look at their operations and the products and services that they provide,” said Kate Phelon, executive director of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce. “They need to figure out if Peter J. they can work more Miller Jr. efficiently and do more with less. The recession ended five years ago and this may be the new norm.” Phelon said that her organization asks members to shop locally, but admits that she’s preaching to the choir. “The Chamber doesn’t represent people, we represent companies. Small Business Saturdays, – we’re going to be promoting those again this year,” she said. “We have networking events for $10 where you can meet your business neighbors. There are ways to market that are See Patronage, Page 3
Holyoke crash victim identified as member of 104th Fighter Wing HOLYOKE (WWLP) – Barnes Air National Guard Base has identified the man killed in a motorcycle accident in Holyoke on Friday night as a member of the 104th Fighter Wing. A post on the official Facebook page of the Guard Base offers condolences to the family of Tech Sgt. Patrick Rud, who was 32 years old, was killed in Holyoke on Route 5 near Northampton Street. The motorcycle he was driving collided with a car and an SUV. There’s no information about what caused the crash.
More research needed on smoking policy By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – When it comes to no smoking on town property, the jury is still out about whose job it is to enforce it. The Southwick Board of Health discussed the topic of the town smoking policy again last week, including enforcement and how to handle e-cigarettes. Health Director Thomas Fitzgerald was asked by Chief Administrative Officer karl Stinehart and the Board of Selectmen to weigh-in on the topic as the board finalizes its code of conduct policies. Fitzgerald and health board members Dr. Jerome Azia and Susan Brzoska agreed that enforcement could not come from the board. “It would be impossible,” said Fitzgerald. “If someone called because a person was smoking somewhere, by the time I got there the cigarette would be out and I could not prove it – it would be very difficult.” Electronic, or e-cigarettes, are not regulated by the federal or state government and Fitzgerald said there are currently no bylaws about “smoking” them in public.
The Board of Health did approve a regulation recently that no one under age 18 should have e-cigarettes. “It gives off vapor, not smoke, but I suppose that could bother some people,” Fitgerald said. “What about in restaurants and other public places, not just town property?” asked Azia. Board members wondered how other communities are handling e-cigarettes and Fitzgerald said he would research the subject with surrounding towns. “I think everyone is handling this at the same time,” he said. “It’s still a new thing.” The board reviewed its current smoking policy, which has not been updated since 1992, and found that more recent state laws supercede some of the regulations. “There isn’t anything more strict here than in the state regulations,” said Azia. Last week Board of Selectmen Chairman Russell Fox said the conduct policy would have a “clear path” for making complaints about violations of any of the codes of conduct, including smoking.
Southwick Department of Public Works Director Randy Brown, right, questions members of the Southwick Board of Health about smoking on town property during a recent meeting at Southwick Town Hall. Brown brought the concern to the Board of Health as part of an inquiry from the Board of Selectmen for a Code of Conduct policy that would apply to all town properties. (Photo by Frederick Gore)