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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO. 42
— Alice Roosevelt Longworth
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014
See Police Train, Page 5
Fingerprinting to begin for school staffers BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts school districts have started fingerprinting teachers, administrators, bus drivers and other employees for national background checks. The effort officially began this month in a handful of districts, with all school systems to follow in the coming weeks. Massachusetts is the last state to fingerprint school employees to more fully search for past criminal activities, education officials said. “It’s a little overdue,” Jeff Wulfson, a deputy commissioner at the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, told The Boston Globe. Chapter 459 of the Acts of 2012 amends Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 15D, Section 7, and requires that “fingerprint-based checks of the state and national criminal history databases” be performed as a condition of license fingerprint-based checks of the state and national criminal history databases “for all applicants for employment who have the potential for unsupervised contact with children in any department approved program” which includes “any household member or person regularly on the premises, age 15 or older, in a family child care program” or “any prospective foster or adoptive parent.” In Westfield, the school department’s director of human resources, Jennifer Willard, said that although the city school department is not one of the volunteer districts trying out the system, the city department is ready to comply. “As soon as we get word from the state” about when and where the teachers will be fingerprinted “we are ready to go as soon as they tell us what to do.” Willard said that where to send teachers to be fingerprinted is one of the questions she is waiting for an answer for from state officials. Fingerprinting centers have been established in Beverly, Boston, Bourne and Pittsfield, and more are planned. “Hopefully, one will be closer than Pittsfield,” she said. See Fingerprinting, Page 3
75 cents
Board approves preliminary subdivision plan
Police train for active shooter By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer GRANVILLE – Granville Village School was turned into a training facility for local and state police this week. Members of the Southwick and Granville police departments trained with State Police for active shooter situations yesterday and again today. With the school empty for winter break, police were able to simulate real-life situations and use hallways and classrooms for training. “Active shooters are today’s reality,” said Southwick Officer Greg L. Burt. “The Southwick Police Department is committed to being ready to address the active shooter threat.” State Police Sgt. Pardo Montagano said since the Newtown, Conn. tragedy, police departments across the Commonwealth are seeking more training in case of an active shooter. “We do two or three a week,” Montagano said. “We do them all summer when school is out – we have been inundated with requests since Newtown.” The State Police offers the training for free to police departments that request training. The only cost to departments is for 100 rounds of simunition (simulated ammunition). This week was the second time the departments received the training. Last summer, a basic active shooter training was held at Southwick-TollandGranville Regional High School. This week the group of 20 officers received intermediate training. Montagano said there is also an advanced level active shooter training. “Unfortunately, it’s all too common,” he said of incidents like the one at Newtown and Virginia Tech. “You never know what’s going to happen, and it may not be a school – it could be another building. It could happen anywhere.” Police officers want to be prepared for any situation, he said.
“I’ve always believed in the adage that the secret of eternal youth is arrested development.”
of complaints,” said Maureen Belliveau, director of the city’s Business Improvement District, which handles snow cleanup for the storefronts within their district. “If we do get a complaint, I do try to get the clean team on it.” Belliveau added that the city’s contracted “clean team” consists of one full-time employee and four part-timers, who are brought in by the contractor, Garten Landscaping of Springfield. They are also contracted to serve as the clean team for Northampton’s BID. David Morretti, the owner of Garten, LLC., said the amount of men he sends on a job depends on the magnitude of the storm. “We usually send four to six guys,
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Planning Board voted 6-0 to approve a preliminary subdivision plan for a 10-lot development on 28 acres of land off Montgomery Road Tuesday night. The developer of the subdivision, Mark Bergeron of Bent Tree Development, LLC, will now prepare a definitive subdivision plan for submission to the board. The subdivision will be serviced by a 1,000-foot-long cul-de-sac road. The details of the project were presented to the board members by Rob Levesque of R Lévesque Associates, Inc. The subdivision will occupy about half of the 28 acres of property owned by the William F. Reed Family Nominee Trust. The site is bordered by Montgomery Road on the West, the Massachusetts Turnpike on the north, Powdermill Brook on the east and Simmons Brook to the south. Much of the land near the brooks and associated wetlands will be left undisturbed and will be controlled by the subdivision homeowners’ association. Levesque said that the subdivision will be served by city water. An eight-inch main will be connected to the 16-inch water line under Montgomery Road. The 10 proposed lots will have septic systems. The lots will range in size from an acre to an acre and a half. Principal Planner Jay Vinskey said this is the first subdivision plan submitted in recent years
See Walkways, Page 5
See Subdivision, Page 3
A woman walks along a traffic lane on Washington Street as many sidewalks around the city remain ice covered. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Obstructed walkways ongoing challenge By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Winter in New England is noted for snowfall, and this winter has seen several large storms which have dumped over a foot of flakes onto the City of Westfield. Numerous city residents have raised concerns over the handling of snow removal this year, and various city departments are attempting to handle the precipitation as quickly and efficiently as possible. “Personally, I think a better job needs to be done,” said Norman Smith, secretary for the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities. “A lot of the walkways have not been cleared enough for residents in walkers and wheelchairs.” “We haven’t really been getting a lot
Russellville Road house destroyed by fire
A large portion of city-owned sidewalk remains buried near the municipal parking lot on School Street Monday. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The remains of a Russellville Road house are in its cellar this morning after it was destroyed by a fire late Wednesday night. Reports of the fire at 467 Russellville Road first came in at 10:28 p.m. and the first responder, Police Officer Timothy Fanion, reports that the house was fully engulfed in flames when he arrived. Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Egloff reports this morning that the house is a total loss but said that the investigation has barely begun. He said that he, together with Westfield Det. Lt. David Ragazzini and State Trooper Michael Mazza of the state fire marshal’s office, will begin the serious investigation into the fire today. Ragazzini said that there was apparently nobody in the house at the time of the fire and said that the owner, Marshall Harris of Springfield, recently bought the house and it had been apparently undergoing some sort of renovation prior to the fire. Egloff said that, because there are not fire hydrants in that sector of the city, the Barnes Airport fire department was asked to assist and used their tanker truck to shuttle water to the scene. There were no injuries reported due to the fire.
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AGAWAM • EAST LONGMEADOW • GREENFIELD SOUTH HADLEY • SPRINGFIELD • WARE
136838-12/13 ME
Jim Maloney, Physical Therapist and Tim Daggett, Olympic Gold Medalist