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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 228
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
be for one side alone, but must be for both.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
75 cents
Westfield Red Cross chapter closing
WSU campus construction By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Following the recent groundbreaking on Westfield State University’s new science center, it may seem to city residents that there is always something being built on Western Avenue. It’s true. A cursory scan of the University’s Facilities and Operations website lists several past, present and future projects, which include installations, renovations and repairs for several campus facilities. Everyone knows that any project – from fixing a faucet to constructing a 54,000-square foot-academic building – requires manpower, and skilled manpower at that. But exactly how many people receive work when Westfield State selects a contractor to work on a project? “It’s depends on the type of project,” said Dr. Curt Robie, assistant vice president of facilities and operations at WSU. “If it’s a small renovation project, you could only have one or two trades. On a project like the science building, you’d utilize basically every trade – mechanical, electrical HVAC, steel workers, roofers, site folks… it’s a huge number.” Robie said that when the school built its last residence hall, University Hall last year, there were anywhere between 80 and 175 people working on the building on any given day. “The trades change as the job goes on. Certain projects you’ll have more site guys on at the beginning, more concrete doing footings and rebar and then that tails off and the next phase comes in,” he said. “There’s a natural progression through the construction of the building.” While major campus construction projects generally hire large contractors from greater Boston, Robie added that there are usually smaller projects that utilize local contractors. “We had a local contractor who renovated Scanlon Banquet Hall this summer and at any one time, the most people we had in there was five or six,” he said. “It depends upon the intensity of the project when it goes out to bid.”
“Justice cannot
Westfield State University located at 577 Western Avenue in Westfield. (© 2014 Frederick Gore) This summer, D.A. Sullivan and Sons of Northampton renovated the University’s Davis Hall, a project referred to by Robie as a “summer slammer.” “That was very intense. We couldn’t start the project until students moved out of Davis since it’s a residence hall and we had to finish it before the students moved in,” said Robie. “We had a large number of guys working extended hours. At one point we had people in there 24 hours a day to get the project done.” “We work on the colleges, hopefully the casino when it comes in, the railroad company that may be coming in to the city of Springfield to build railcars,” said John Scammon of Sheetmetal Workers Local 63 in Springfield. “Schools, insurance buildings, malls… wherever there’s heat and air, that’s us.” Scammon said that he currently has 496 current members covering western and central Massachusetts, as well as Vermont. For a 54,000 square foot building, such as the new science center at Westfield State, Scammon said his crews might increase in size over time. “We may start out smaller at first. I may start off with a crew of 12. Sometimes it’s 30,” he said. “It all depends on how fast they want to get the job done. Our push is quality and we go pretty quick with our jobs.” See Campus, Page 3
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Two local chapters of the American Red Cross are being consolidated with the Pioneer Valley Chapter as part of a nationwide reorganization. The Westfield Chapter and the Berkshire Chapters are being folded into the Springfield-based Pioneer Valley Chapter and some positions in the local chapters are being eliminated as the National Red Cross organization restructures the agency. The Westfield Red Cross Chapter, established in 1923, had been located at 48 Broad St., since the building was donated in 1948. The Chapter House was closed in June of 2012 and the Westfield program relocated to St. John’s Lutheran Church at 60 Broad Street where the chapter’s administrative operations and educational programs are now housed. Executive Director Kim Goulette of the Pioneer Valley Chapter said this morning that the national organization “is streamlining, transforming our operations to meet the growing demand for our services while making the best use of donor dollars.” “The services, classes, disaster relief and blood drives will remain the same,” Goulette said. The two executive directors’ positions will be managed through here.” “We will miss Rich (Rubin, Westfield Chapter executive director) tremendously,” Goulette said. “Rich has been an incredible asset to the Red Cross for over 30 years.” Goulette said that Rubin is still working for the Red Cross as the consolidation plan evolves. The Pioneer Valley Chapter leadership is currently working with the Westfield Red Cross Board of directors as part of the reorganization. See Red Cross, Page 3
Town to apply for grant through PVPC By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen last week gave approval to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) to apply for a grant for the town. James Mazik of the PVPC met with the board to discuss a recent denial of a grant application because the town did not score high enough to qualify. “The cutoff was 76 points and you were eight points below that,” said Mazik. Mazik said he believed another appliation showing improvements to areas such as veteran’s streets would earn approval. He said that category scored an average of 53 points, due in part to lack of resident participation in advisory committee meetings and a lack of residential input. “Points were knocked off because there was no sign-in sheet,” Mazik offered as an example of why there was such a low score. Mazik suggested taking the grant-required ad-hoc committee, which will be headed by Selectman Joseph Deedy, literally to the streets to speak to veterans as a way to get more input and increase scores. One area of excellence was the mobile food pantry, which
James M. Mazik, seated right, deputy director for operations of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, explains a grant program to Southwick officials during a Board of Selectmen meeting in Town Hall. (File photo by Frederick Gore) also serves the town of Granville in addition to Southwick. “The mobile food pantry scored 67 points, which is really high,” he said. Mazik added that social service programs are not included as a category but count toward the average score. Housing and Rehab scored well, but Mazik said they could easily improve the score. “There wasn’t additional outreach to target areas, and
we can do that,” he said, using letters as an example. Mazik told the board he believed the town could raise their scores into the high 60s, plus receive an additional 10 points for its regional services. He added that the PPC had a good success rate with grants. “We wrote eight applications and were successful with six,” he said. “That’s a good sign,” said Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart.
The board agreed to allow the PVPC to work with the ad-hoc committee and prepare a new grant application. “The sooner the better,” Mazik said of the committee formation. “I will contact Granville and we can do something on a Saturday in October on the street.” Deedy said he would call upon the ad-hoc committee members from the last application. “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
WSU police charge car break suspects By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Westfield State University police believe they have identified five men who broke into, or attempted to break into, dozens of vehicles parked in the WSU South Parking Lot in May. The campus police began to investigate after a victim came to them to report the theft of property from her vehicle while it was parked in the lot and provided a time frame for the theft. WSU Officer Tyler Moore reports that a review of security video showed that about 2:50 a.m. on May 1 a car followed the university’s shuttle bus into the parking lot but nobody left the vehicle until the shuttle had departed. Then, Moore reports, “Five black males got out and checked the door handles of cars in that immediate area.” The video showed the men return to the car, a gray Toyota Camry, which moved to another parking slot in the lot and the men “spread out and checked other vehicles in the area.” The pattern was repeated, Moore reports. He wrote that, while the officers were not able to identify many of the vehicles the men entered or attempted to enter, at least four specific vehicles which were broken into were identified. He also reports that the officers were able to read the registration plate on the vehicle the suspects arrived in and they found the vehicle to be owned by Abdullah AbdulRahim, 21, of 182 Florida Street. The next day, Moore reports “(WSU) Officer Coughlin and I (Officer Moore), drove around the Florida Street vicinity of Springfield with Detective Ron Sheehan of the See WSU Police, Page 3
Patrick proclaims ‘Advanced Manufacturing Week’ Week-long series of events promote importance of the Manufacturing Industry across the Commonwealth BOSTON – Governor Deval Patrick today proclaimed this week as Advanced Manufacturing Week in Massachusetts, underscoring the administration’s support of the robust advanced manufacturing industry and its workforce throughout the Commonwealth. The weeklong celebration coincides with national efforts to promote the role advanced manufacturing plays in
the economy, with the third annual National Advanced Manufacturing Day being celebrated on October 3. “The Commonwealth is a national leader in Advanced Manufacturing, and we want to keep it that way,” said Patrick. “By working with our partners in industry and academia, we are continuing to enhance the competitiveness of our robust advanced manufacturing industry, for today and the future.” Massachusetts is home to over 7,000 manufacturers with 250,000 employees. Throughout the week, Patrick administration officials will participate in events that highlight the statewide effort to promote careers in advanced manufacturing and build awareness among
manufacturers about the many programs in place to support them. The Patrick administration is committed to supporting the growth of advanced manufacturing in Massachusetts, an industry that is expected to require 100,000 jobs in the next decade and offers careers in a sector with an average annual salary of $75,000. The week’s celebration builds on record investments in workforce training and education made by the Administration in recent years. In 2011, Patrick launched the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC), a partnership between industry and government to help build a globally competitive manufacturing industry in Massachusetts. Its five-point agen-
da brings together manufacturers, educators, academia, and other organizations to work on industryidentified priorities including promoting manufacturing; workforce and education; manufacturing innovation; the cost of doing business including energy management and sustainability; and access to capital resources. The AMC’s AMP it Up! Program which launched in September 2012 and is operated by MassDevelopment, works to build awareness among young adults and their families on the opportunities for well-paying careers in manufacturing. Massachusetts-based nonprofit organizations that See Advanced, Page 5
Governor Deval Patrick