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WEATHER TONIGHT Clear and cooler. Low of 16.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold.” Andre Maurois
www.thewestfieldnews.com SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2013
VOL. 82 NO. 285
Officials seek state review of council action
75 cents
Hilltowns start domestic violence campaign
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – City officials contacted the Department of Revenue Friday morning to determine if the City Council has the authority to cut the tax levy, action that the council took Thursday night to reduce the tax rate increase for all classes of property to under 1 percent. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Friday morning that City Auditor Deborah Strycharz and Solicitor Susan Phillips spoke with DOR attorneys to determine of that action is legal. “They asked the DOR to research the legality of the council’s action,” Knapik said. “We expect a confirmatory opinion from the DOR early next week.” City Council President Brian Sullivan said that he is also awaiting that opinion. “Depending on that opinion, I don’t think any votes will be needed because we did vote to approve a shift factor of 1.63 and we did vote to use $1.245,368 from the stabilization account to balance the budget based on the mayor’s recommendation for a 2 percent tax levy increase,” Sullivan said. The council voted to use stabilization to cover a $940,000 shortfall in the budget and to use the remaining money to lower the tax increase which would be 3.4 percent if the DOR determines that the tax levy cut is illegal. Sullivan said the budget was about $450,000 in the red when it was approved in June. That shortfall was further increased because excise tax revenue, projected at $800,000 based upon a 10-year average, fell below the projection. New growth revenue also came in below the current fiscal year budget. Typically the budget is balanced by appropriation of either free cash, projected at $2.8 million this year, or by the use of stabilization funds, a practice opposed by the council’s Finance Committee. The city’s free cash account, money remaining in the previous fiscal year budget, has yet to be certified by the DOR and cannot be used until the state agency certified that the are no debts yet to be paid in the prior fiscal year. Knapik, in his request to use the stabilization to balance the 2014 fiscal year
Southwick Town Clerk Michelle L. Hill displays a set of documents and a compact disc that someone ordered, which town employees spent 10 hours to compile as part of the Request for Information process. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Information request policy updated
By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer RUSSELL - A recent survey distributed to residents of the hilltowns of western Hampden County has uncovered that a vast majority of residents hold similar opinions on domestic violence. What makes these widely held opinions unsettling is that they also cast doubt that their neighbors feel the same way. The survey concluded that 96 percent of the 326 respondents agreed that “it is possible to abuse someone without using physical violence” However, only 66 percent of those surveyed believe other hilltown residents would agree with that statement. They also are in widespread agreement, 85 percent of hilltown residents, that “abuse is never the fault of the person being abused”, yet only 54 percent thought their neighbors would agree. So marks the beginning of a two year public information campaign being put out by the Southern Hilltown Domestic Violence Taskforce, which
By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Town Clerk Michelle Hill has updated the town’s policy for requesting information. Hill told the Board of Selectmen last week that the policy is in line with state laws. Hill said she has outlined seven steps for those requesting information from the Town Clerk. “It is in accordance with state law CMR-32,” said Hill. “I took that and summed it up to put together the steps.” Hill said she was prompted to update the policy – which includes fees for more labor-intensive requests – because of the high volume of requests processed by Hill’s office. Hill said a simple request, such as a copy of an audio file of a meeting, is a $5 charge for the CD. If requested information is readily available and takes just a few minutes to produce, there is no charge. It is the more involved search and segregation requests that Hill said bog down staff and takes them away from their normal duties. “We’ve been receiving requests that are very detailed and take hours, often involving different departments and legal counsel,” she said. Hill said one such request was recently made by one person, and another person came to pick up the packet of information but was not prepared to pay for it. Hill said she had to refuse handing over the files until the person who requested it came in with payment. Moving forward, said Hill, she will give an estimated cost and payment must be made before the work is done.
is aimed at educating and enlightening residents on the prevention of domestic violence and abuse. Monica Moran of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission is working with local residents, the State Police, and a coalition of area support organizations to put forth a planned two-year public outreach and education campaign. “We started in early 2013, and distributed the surveys from April to August,” said Moran. “We then analyzed the data this fall. We want to make sure that residents know where to get help if they’re worried about someone. You don’t have to be an expert. You can be a bridge.” The taskforce, which currently has fifteen members, ten of whom are active, meets on the second Thursday of each month. Chief among their concerns are the certain aspects that make rural life conducive to domestic violence. “The nearest police station is in Russell, which if you live in Worthington, is about a 45-minute See Hilltowns, Page 6
Dickens of a Day house tour returns WESTFIELD – Back by popular demand, Westfield on Weekends will present the sixth Dickens of A Day Historic House Tour this Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., beginning at the First Congregational Church at 18 Broad Street. Participants will be invited to enjoy holiday decorations, music, costumed characters and special treats as they take part in a selfguided tour of seven historic stops in downtown Westfield, representing four centuries of architecture. Tickets and booklets containing a map and description of the seven stops will be available at the First Congregational Church where participants can tour the historic church, at which Reverend Taylor,
the “Poet Laureate of Colonial America” preached. The church’s Candy Cane Boutique will be open for holiday shopping. As they set out, tour goers will go back in time through the centuries – from the Dewey House (ca. 1735) where folks in period costume and the Cratchit family will offer a special historical tour, to a beautiful Federal Period Cape on West Silver Street, the front of which was recently restored by its owners. The late 1800s are represented by a beautiful Queen Anne style home on Day Avenue (c1890) where Mrs. Claus will greet everyone. See Dickens, Page 6
See Policy Updated, Page 6
See Council Action, Page 7
Domus gets big loan for ‘Our House’ By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) announced this week that it has awarded more than $1.7 million in loans intended for development and preservation of affordable housing around the Commonwealth. The project includes $740,000 for organizations who are planning new developments, including Boston’s Asian Community Development Corporation, Inc.; Lowell’s Coalition for a Better Acre; Worcester Community Housing Resources, Inc.; Springfield’s HAP, Inc.; Pittsfield’s Berkshire Housing Development Corporation (BHDC); and Westfield’s DOMUS, Inc. CEDAC awarded Domus, Inc.,
the largest chunk of the funding, totaling $273,294. DOMUS, Inc. of School Street received its CEDAC loan for $189,644 to finance its “Our House” project. The funds will enable the organization to purchase and begin renovations to a vacant two-story historic city building that Executive Director Ann Lentini hopes will
provide housing for homeless teens in the city. Lentini says that at any one time up to 30 high school age youths in the city are homeless, which is a number that is far too high for her liking. “It’s a good start,” said Lentini of the CEDAC loan. “(Our House) will provide a stable environment for students with live-in staff. Students will have individual apartments, not unlike our Meadows apartments.” The organization received an additional $83,650 in funding for technical and pre-development services, including consultants, architects, and surveyors. “‘Our House’ will include a living space, a computer area where students can hook devices up, and a laundry facility, as well as a confer-
ence room where students can visit counselors,” Lentini said. She also added that residents of the facility will be able to live in “Our House” for several years after graduation. “The state sets the age limits between 17 and 25,” Lentini said. “Most will go on to proceed to school and jobs before that, though.” House rules and regulations will be put in place and enforced by the live-in “Our House” staff, as will security systems that Lentini oversees herself. “Nobody wants it to feel like an open environment,” she said. “Everyone wants to feel secure.” DOMUS has also partnered with Westfield’s Carson Center for Human Services, an affiliate of the Valley Human Services, to “provide
the residents with psychiatric counseling and other mental health support.” “Homelessness among teens is a high agenda statewide,” said Lentini. “The state has seen that we have done a high quality job with housing people with disabilities, as well as the low to medium income homeless. They know we do a good job of building and overseeing. But this is the first time Westfield has applied for (funding) for this population (homeless teens).” “Thanks to the hard work of organizations like the BHDC, DOMUS, and HAP, Inc, we are seeing significant increases in the number of units throughout estern Massachusetts, as well as projects that offer additional See Domus, Page 6
Grief Support Services:
562-3133 James F. Adams
FUNERAL SERVICE 76 Broad Street, Westfield • (413) 562-6244 • www.firtionadams.com
James R. Adams