Search for The Westfield News
WEATHER TONIGHT Mainly clear. Low of 58.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO.141
— Confucius
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014
75 cents
Committee votes to disband BID
Fucci ready to build next chapter By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – After 34 years at Westfield Vocational Technical High School – 31 as a fulltime teacher - it could be said Clement “Clem” Fucci has earned the title of “Mr. Voke.” Fucci, a 1974 WVTHS alum, knew he wanted to be a teacher long before he spent three decades teaching in the school’s manufacturing department and coaching the Tigers on the baseball diamond. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher while I was still at Westfield Voke,” said Fucci, who worked in manufacturing for 13 years after graduation and earning his Occupational Education
Westfield Voc-Tech baseball coach Clem Fucci, center, speaks to the team during a game against Smith Academy.
Westfield Vocational-Technical High School Manufacturing Technology Instructor Clem Fucci, speaks to a group of students in the schools state-of-the-art computer aided manufacturing design lab. (File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore) Certification at then-Westfield State College. “I’d work a 10-hour day, go home, get cleaned up, and go to school from 6-9, and I also coached Babe Ruth baseball. So my schedule was pretty full back in the day.” An institution at Voke, Fucci took the school’s manufacturing department, a mainstay since 1911, and turned it into a juggernaut, earning the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education (PRIME) award, a national award given to the nation’s elite manufacturing program,s that WVTHS earned in 2012. The award nets the school $10,000 each year for three years, which Fucci has used to buy equipment, and $5,000 for professional development and promoting manufacturing. The award also enables Fucci’s students to apply for scholarships through the SME. Fucci’s program has also done something that many colleges and universities nationwide are struggling to achieve: Help their students find jobs. “The connections he’s made with business and industry and what he’s done for the students, 100 percent of those students have the opportunity – and 95 percent of them take it – to go right to work,” said WVTHS Principal Stefan Czaporowski. “Just the amount of funding he’s been able to generate for the
(File photo by Frederick Gore)
See Fucci Ready, Page 3
Addict arraigned for October thefts By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Although it took more than six months, the tenacious work of a city detective has resulted in the arrest and arraignment of a former city resident who allegedly stole his neighbors’ jewelry to support his heroin habit. Det. Brian Freeman reports that in October of 2013 he investigated reports by two residents of a Russell Road condominium complex who both had discovered that a significant amount of jewelry had been stolen. Freeman found that both cases were similar in that, not only do both victims live in the same unit at the complex, in neither
Developer seeks subdivision change By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The developer of the Bent Tree subdivision asked the Planning Board to allow a minor change to the plans accepted by the board last month. The 10-lot development on 28 acres of land off Montgomery Road is being developed by Mark Bergeron of Bent Tree Development, LLC. The preliminary subdivision plan was approved by the board in February and the definitive plan at the board’s See Developer, Page 7
“The way of a superior man is three-fold; virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear.”
case was there any sign of forcible entry. In a document filed in Westfield District Court, Freeman reports that in both cases “the crime went unnoticed because the suspect did not make a mess, he placed things back where he found them, he only stole select items and left other items behind.” The “select items” which were stolen were the better pieces of jewelry. Coincidentally, the monetary value of the jewelry the women lost was very similar with one victim losing items with a total value of $2,875 while the other victim’s loss totaled $2,850. Freeman explained that the burgled residences are two of four apartments which share common hallways and common outer
doors (which are kept locked) and said that he learned that the residents often leave the doors to their individual apartments unlocked while they are away for brief periods such as trips to the laundry room. He learned that there are seven persons who have keys to the locked outer doors including the landlord, a longtime maintenance worker, the four tenants and the son of one of the tenants, Zachary R Bruneau 25, of 627 Randall Road, Ludlow, who had been living with his father at the time of the thefts. The landlord told Freeman that he believed Bruneau was responsible for the See Thefts, Page 7
Aviation museum hopes to take off By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Westfield Aviation Museum, led by President Harland Avezzie Sr. and Treasuer Paul Dion, has been in existence for over a decade under the title of Pioneer Valley Military and Transportation Museum and they hope that they have built up enough capital and support to build a museum in Westfield. “We want a living museum with vehicles that are running and aircraft that are flying, and to be able to give kids rides,” said Avezzie, owner of North American Restorations of 40 Franklin Street. “It’s all about education. Let kids experience stuff that you’re not going to experience anywhere else.” Avezzie’s group is taking pointers from New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, on how to build their own museum. “We’ve spoken about going down with them and seeing how they’ve gone about coming up with logos and ideas. I’ve worked with them a lot, so I’m very famil-
iar with them,” he said. “And it took them over 17 years to get their first building up. You’ve got to find donations,” added Dion, who stated that the Westfield Aviation Museum has accumulated almost $200,000 from local businesses, veterans and military vehicle enthusiasts toward building the facility on their leased property at 20 Airport Road. “We finally have the money to put up a 75 foot by 100 foot building,” added Avezzie. “There are some issues with the lease. There are eight acres of land at the airport. But we want to get this thing up and running and break ground as soon as possible.” “We’ve had three different attorneys look at it and they’ve said that the lease is valid,” Dion said. “It was signed by the airport commission and by the mayor at the time.” He added that he feels that the city’s Law Department doesn’t want the group to build on the property. See Aviation Museum, Page 7
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council’s Governmental Relations Committee voted last night to recommend dissolution of the Westfield Business Improvement District to the full City Council at its July meeting. The committee discussed the petition, submitted by property owners, to dissolve the BID. The petition to dissolve the BID was initiated by a group of businessmen and property owners dissatisfied with the recent change in the state law establishing Business Improvement Districts within the Commonwealth. That group, led by Ted Cassell, Robert Wilcox and Brad Moir, submitted a petition to the City Clerk, which under state law, could lead to the dissolution of the Business Improvement District, established in 2006. The City Council conducted a public hearing at its June 5 meeting to allow both BID opponents and proponents to argue the merits of the BID organization. Many of the BID opponents made a decision to “opt out” under the original 1994 state law which allowed businesses and property owners the option not to participate in the BID and exempted them from BID dues. Those owners and businessmen feel they were shanghaied into the BID, and its dues, when the law was changed in 2012. The Governmental Relations Committee members cited that state law change making BID membership compulsory as the reason for their vote to give the full City Council a recommendation to disband the organization. Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell, who served on See BID, Page 3
MCAS to stay another year By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School Committee voted last night to give only the MCAS test to students in the next school year. Superintendent Dr. John Barry said the committee had to decide whether to test students with MCAS or the new PARCC test next year. PARCC is not yet approved by the Department of Education, but is a new test system that is more aligned with the common core curriculum and was designed to be used as a national test. Barry said there is no guarantee the PARCC will be approved and added that many of the states that originally signed on to use PARCC as a national standardized test have dropped out. “Is the intent of this still viable?” Barry wondered. “My recommendation is to stay with the MCAS.” See MCAS, Page 3
School committee discusses budget, buses By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD -Chairman of the Westfield School Committee’s Finance Subcommittee Kevin Sullivan praised the efforts of Director of Technology and Business Services Ronald Rix, who presented the proposed school budget for the upcoming fiscal year at last week’s City Council meeting. “I felt the presentation you made to the City Council last Thursday was very smooth and cohesive and I think we made some real progress,” said Sullivan. “I thought the budget presentation was very well done. Hopefully we can make some headway in some of the issues that they (the city council) brought up.” Rix replied that it was the result of a “great team approach” and that it went “much better than I expected.” Westfield Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion took the opportunity to make a clarification regarding special education spending. “The press did misreport the concept of cost in special education,” she said. “They indicated that we were spending an additional $2 million plus in our special education costs. In fact, we achieved a cost avoidance of over $2 million by bringing our special ed programs into the district.” Scallion referred to the report as “completely a 180″ from what See Budget, Buses, Page 3