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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
in tune with the times and prepared to break with tradition.”
— JAMES AGEE
www.thewestfieldnews.com
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 043
“You must be
Camerota to earn $164K By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – 2015 has gotten off to a great start for Westfield Police Chief John A. Camerota, who was granted a pay increase in his annual salary in December. Starting January 1, Camerota received an annual salary of $164,617.09, a decision ratified by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik and Karl Hupfer, chairman of the Westfield Police Commission. Camerota, who has served as police chief since 1998 according to the Westfield Police Department’s website, is now one of the highest paid city police chiefs in the region. According to the agreement signed by Knapik, Hupfer and Camerota, the
chief’s pay will be 20 percent higher than his highest paid captain. The funding for the increase is subject to appropriation in the FY15 budget. Chiefs in other western Mass. cities are similarly well-compensated, with Holyoke Police Chief James Neiswanger earning $144,430, Chicopee Chief William Jebb bringing in $115,096 and Agawam Chief Eric Gillis earning $110,338 in base salary, along with $29,901 in direct benefits. Neiswanger was appointed in 2011, while Jebb and Gillis were sworn in last year. Gillis’ predecessor, Robert Campbell, earned $163,574 in 2013 after serving 41 years in the department, according to Agawam Tresurer/
Collector Laurel Placzek. In Hampshire County, Amherst and Northampton Police Chiefs Scott Livingstone and Russell Sienkiewicz earned $133,110 and $148,003 respectively in FY14. When asked of Camerota’s new salary, an increase of over $30,000 from his salary in 2011 when he was the city’s highest paid employee, Knapik said that Camerota’s 16-year tenure, coupled with what he calls a progressive attitude toward policing, makes him worthy of a bump in salary. “In the past, John hasn’t always taken a pay raise, so when he was up for a contract renewal, he was in a situation where the senior captain’s pay was within $1,000 or $2,000 of
his pay,” said Knapik, adding that a tiered, five-year approach was taken to restructuring Camerota’s contract, similar to that of the city’s teachers. Knapik said that he believes Camerota will retire in 2016 and that the next chief will be brought in at about $140,000 and wouldn’t be entitled Camerota’s current salary range until they’ve logged 15 years as chief, with a salary step occurring every five years. “I’ve been in city government for 14 years and Westfield scores very high as it relates to ‘suicide cities’ in it’s crime statistics,” said Knapik, adding that Camerota took a proactive role in training his officers for See Police Chief, Page 8
New Englanders brace for another major snowstorm By BOB SALSBERG Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Exasperated New Englanders still digging out from three major storms that left 6 feet or more of snow in many areas are bracing for what’s expected to be another punishing blast of winter this weekend. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for all of eastern Massachusetts and coastal areas of Maine and New Hampshire ahead of a storm expected to intensify Saturday night and last into Sunday, bringing bone-chilling cold behind it. Wind gusts could howl at 70 mph and northfacing coastal areas could suffer moderate flooding and beach erosion from the “monster storm,” said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts. “Snow amounts will not be as much as the previous big storms, but still, when you have 8 to 14 inches of snow, wind driven-snow, the cold air and the snow that is already there it’s probably going to be very difficult for a lot of people,” he said. The northern New England coast could see greater snowfall totals — with up 2 two feet in Down East Maine. Officials warned that hurricane-force wind gusts could lead to power outages. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced late Friday it would suspend all rail, bus and ferry service in the Boston area on Sunday, the latest in a series of disruptions for the nation’s oldest public transit network. Snow and freezing temperatures have overwhelmed the system’s aging infrastructure. Gov. Charlie Baker urged motorists to stay off roads during the storm, but stopped short of an outright travel ban. The storm’s off shore track could hold down snowfall totals inland, but create dangerous coastal conditions, forecasters said. The Coast Guard had an airplane flying in the Gulf of Maine Friday broadcasting a warning to mariners about the impending storm, said Lt. Scott McCann. The forecast added to the urgency Friday of crews working to remove massive snow piles that have clogged streets and triggered numerous roof collapses. Massachusetts called up hundreds of National Guard troops to assist with snow removal, and the Hanscom Air Force base outside Boston became a staging area for heavy equipment pouring in from eight other Northeast states to help in the effort. Patricia Vinchesi, town administrator in Scituate, said a state of emergency would go into effect at midnight Saturday in the coastal community were portions of the seawall were breached during a late January storm. “We’ve sort of been in reaction and recovery mode and before we can get any appreciable degree of recovery we are in reaction mode again,” Vinchesi said of the coming storm. The National Guard helped dig out 700 fire hydrants in recent days and workers from the New York Department of Transportation were lending a hand to the snow removal effort on Friday, she said. The state gave Scituate permission to dump snow into the ocean because there was nowhere else to put it. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said two machines See Snow, Page 8
JOHN A. CAMEROTA Westfield Police Chief
Subdivision plan going to Planning Board
Dave Wason of Attleboro helps a neighbor clear her driveway during another winter snow storm Monday. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mark Stockwell)
Residents urged to clear meters of snow, ice By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – As easperated New Englanders brace for another major snowstorm, gas and electric companies are asking residents to be mindful of their properties, clearing off roofs and eaves of snow and icicles so as not to damage natural gas meters, which can cause ruptures in the gas line and result in serious gas leaks. In addition, companies such as Columbia Gas and Westfield Gas and Electric are urging customers to keep their home exhaust vents clear of snow and ice as well to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning from occurring inside. “The safety and comfort of our customers and communities is our number one priority,” said Steve Bryant, president of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts. “We ask that you be diligent in removing snow and ice from above and around your natural gas meter, keep your appliance vents clear and your gas meter accessible.” “With record snowfall over the past month and continuing in the next couple days, this winter season continues to be a challenge for us all,” said Bryant.
Westfield Gas and Electric Superintendent Aaron Bean said that customers clearing paths to their meters is helpful in addition to cleaning them off. “Don’t use any hard instruments like a shovel when clearing snow off your meter – use a snow brush,” he said. “In case our servicemen are called to go to a house, clear an easy path so they can get to the meter. The quicker we can get to those devices, the quicker we can handle any issues.” Bean said he hasn’t heard of any meters being damaged by the elements and that the WG&E has been sending crews out to help with shoveling out some meters as well. In the event of a gas leak, Bean said that customers will be able to smell it thanks to a chemical called mercaptan that the WG&E adds to make the normally odorless natural gas detectable and should call the WG&E’s 24 hour dispatch line at (413) 572-0000. “It smells like rotten eggs and if someone suspects there might be a gas leak, they should call the number and we’ll send somebody out to investigate immediately,” he said.
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Conservation Commission approved a plan to replicate a wetland next to North West Road requested by a West Springfield developer seeking to construct an 11-lot subdivision. The commission attached a number of conditions and special conditions to its approval to the project as part of its review, including several that fall under the jurisdiction of the Planning Board which had deferred its review until the Conservation Commission made a decision on the wetland replication petition. The Planning Board will now begin its review of the subdivision proposal which residents of that area near Little River are concerned will have far reaching environmental impact on their properties. Residents and abutters of an 11-lot subdivision proposed off Northwest Road packed a Dec. 23 Conversation Commission hearing to raise those concerns, but were told by Conservation Commission Chairman Dr. David Doe that many of the concerns raised were not within the board’s authority to review and that those issues should be addressed during the Planning Board’s review of the project. The details of the wetland replication plan approved by the commission were presented by land-use consultant Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates on behalf of developer Joseph Kelly of West Springfield. The wetland replication was requested so that the new subdivision road would line up with Old Quarry Road. The wetland being replicated is directly across North West Road from the intersection of Old Quarry Road. Levesque said the existing wet- ROB LEVESQUE land is 1,550 square feet, too small to trigger the state regulation, but it does trigger the city’s wetland protection ordinance. The proposed plan is to create a 1,560 square-foot wetland next to the subdivision road, just a few feet north of the existing wetland area. The subdivision property is nearly 28 acres in area and is zoned for rural residential usage. Levesque said the existing wetland “is not the highest quality” and that it has little vegetation. The proposed wetland would be created by excavating topsoil and diverting stormwater, which feeds the current wetland, toward the new wetland depression. The replicated wetland basin will have a relief pipe to allow water to flow out of it into the subdivision drainage See Subdivision, Page 8
State senate adopts new set of joint rules BOSTON – State Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D- Pittsfield) announces that the Massachusetts Senate adopted a new set of Joint Rules to govern the procedural workings of the 27 Joint Committees in the state Legislature during Thursday’s full formal session. The package reflects significant operational changes, outlines a more open and transparent process and streamlines how committees will function during the 2015-2016 legislative session. Major changes to the rules embraced by the Senate include an amendment authorizing Senators to secure approval to release Senate
bills from Joint Committees without consent of their House counterparts. Membership of the Joint Committees is comprised of both 13 or 11 House members and eight or six Senate members, often giving the House chairman control over the panel’s agenda. This rule change provides Senate members a way to advance their bills out of committee to be considered by the entire Senate. In an effort to increase efficiency in the legislative review process, the Senate’s Joint Rules create new timeframes for committee decisions. The Senate’s package requires Joint Committee
votes to be posted on the Legislature’s website within 48 hours and mandates that all late filed bills referred to a committee by one branch will be referred within 60 days by the other branch. Additionally, the deadline for filing conference committee reports has been moved from 8:00 pm to 5:00 pm., and the deadline to report bills out of committee in even numbered years has been moved from mid-March to mid-January. The House of Representatives passed its version of the Joint Rules on January 29, 2015. The two branches must agree on the final wording of the Joint Rules before they can be put into place.