Beautiful. Good evening. I'd like to call the February 20th, 2025 meeting the Westfield City Council to order. Roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris. Here. Matthews. Kane. Here. Mellow. Here. Morgan Elli? Here. Oniskey. Here. Sullivan. Here. Adams. Here. Allie? Here. Bean. Uh, he will not be with us this Evening. Bill. Trendy. Here. Burns. Here ion. Here. Fige. Present. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge for all allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Mr. Republic all stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice file.
Thank you. Reading of the record of the meeting of February 10th, 2025. Councilor Oniskey. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, motion for acceptance of the reading of the record of meeting of February 10th, 2025. Second. Motion made it second. Any discussion on the minutes? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now comes a portion of the meeting for public participation. Anyone wishing to address the council may do so by stepping forward. State your name and address for the city clerk. You do this in three minute increments for a total of 30 minutes. Anyone wishing to speak, please come up.
Uh, hello. My name is Maureen Kane. Um, my address too is please, uh, 30 Koa Terrace, Westfield. And, um, I thank you all very much for allowing us to speak this evening. I'm here along with board members Dan Florence and Jackie McDowell, who will also speak on behalf of Grandmother's Garden, uh, and address and ask for your support for the, uh, pavilion Project. As you all know, I'm sure. Friends of Grandmother's Garden is a 5 0 1 C3 corporation formed in 1994.
And in 1995, the city of Westfield, um, granted the Friends of Grandmother's Garden, a 75 year lease on the approximately 10 acres of land that comprised Chauncey Allen Park and grandmother's Garden Fog recognizes, or the friends of grandmother's Garden recognize that this, uh, this is public land. Its assets are owned by the city of Westfield. Yet the Friends of Grandmother's Garden must exercise stewardship over the, this property stewardship requires us to budget for the maintenance and the preservation of the park
and the garden, and to manage the protection of its buildings and its artifacts. Our operating budgets therefore contain line items that address recurring and new annual operating costs, including security. We are prepared to manage, maintain, and protect this beautiful new facility. The utilization plan for the facility is as follows. We envision the pavilion will be used for the following programs and events by local schools K through 12. We anticipate nature-based programs, STEM instruction, arts
and photography, instruction, and community field trips, Westfield Technical Academy. We foresee class instruction for students of horticulture, construction technology, history, science and environmental study. Westfield State University. We plan for students and faculty to use the facility that are pursuing biology studies, visual arts, education, environmental sciences, and urban planning. Further, we envision environmental education programs run by the Mass Audubon Society, the Naturalist Club of Western Mass, and the Pioneer Valley STEM Network.
We anticipate private classes, lectures, and wellness events such as yoga, and we anticipate social and special events, small gatherings, picnics, meetings, and reunions. Again, thank you for your kind attention. Uh, Dan Florence and Jackie McDowell will now share their support and their vision for this project. Thank You. Thank you. Hello, I'm Jackie McDowell and I live at 38 Lindbergh Boulevard here in Westfield. Thank you. I am, uh,
on the Board of Grandmother's Garden and if approved, I will be the coordinator, operations manager, maintenance and community involvement facilitator. This wonderful gathering place will be more than a pavilion in the park. It will be an outdoor classroom, environmental education center and event space. We already have strong letters of support from the mayor, the superintendent, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Pioneer Valley Stem Network, housed at Westfield State University
and the Amelia Park Children's Museum. Each of these organizations has interest in providing intergenerational programming through the education center. Specifically, the superintendent introduced me to the Westfield City School's STEM coordinators, Laura Kagan and Lindsey Ayers. They're excited to offer K 12 programs and field trips and have already been coordinating with Mass Audubon to provide conservation and environmental STEM field trips to the center for every second and third grader in the city.
They're also interested in offering summer school programs at Ethics Garden since it is two blocks away from the new elementary school. Finally, the Pioneer Valley Stem Network reaches 71 different education entities up and down the Pioneer Valley, and they hope to use the center for both children and adult programming. The Gar Grandmother's Garden Board sees a bright future for Chauncey Allen Park and counselors. We hope you do as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Dan Florence,
22 Taco Terrace here in Westfield. Uh, I recently joined the board of Directors of Grandmother's Gardens to support the outdoor classroom project. Uh, I'd like to provide technical and operational support. Uh, I'm a retired engineer, dedicated gardener and a student of history. I know the board members, committee members and volunteers of the Friends of grandmother's Gardens have worked hard with the goal of making this project a success, and I'm honored to be part of that team. Thank you. Thank you. Someone else like to address the council. Councilor Morgane. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, yes, I
Have, have a, uh, there was an email sent from, uh, Carolyn Healy 15 Living Stone Avenue, um, about the, uh, snow and ice storm that we, we had. And she said I was unable to leave my home. The frozen road conditions and divots and Rus made, uh, by the one time plowing that happened Sunday morning at 1:00 AM left in impassable. I drive a Mazda two, the ruts are so deep, they are scraping the undercarriage of my vehicle and will not wreck my car because, and, um, will not wreck my car because of the poor ability to do your jobs. This is unacceptable. I have today off due to the holiday or tomorrow I have to go to work, uh,
and will be unable to do so if this does not get fixed. And she goes on to talk about the tax dollars and, um, and asked about, uh, the department that's responsible for, um, for it. And, uh, the, the mayor had responded to her, which is, uh, just that, you know, we're working on it. And I, I just a, uh, a note about the storm. I mean, it was at almost about 20 hours, uh, and it was snow and then ice, and then it changed to rain. So I can imagine that the DPW department, along with all the subcontractors in the city, um, that take care
of all the neighborhoods, uh, had a really tough time challenged with not only the, the longevity of the storm, but also the different types of precipitation. Um, but I will be, I will be entertaining a motion at the next meeting. Uh, just so, um, our DPW can send us a letter as to how that particular storm was managed so we can understand, uh, I personally don't know how to respond to the many people that called me and emailed, um, uh, to, to what to say about, uh, the city and, um,
and how it was, uh, why it was like that. Um, my road was, was just as bad, I can tell you that. So we all dealt with it. It was a, it was a very rough storm, uh, um, understanding because I understand how the different types of precipitation can really, uh, affect how a road gets cleaned properly and the temperatures as well. And we had a flash freeze that happened after the rain came down, so that even made it worse. Um, but, uh, I just wanted to read this letter from Carolyn Healy and I thank her for corresponding with the council
and making us aware of, um, uh, of her situation, which was, uh, everyone's situation, I think in, in Westfield from this past storm. So thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council? Seeing none. Next item is executive session. Pursuant to MGLC 30 a Section 21, A three to discuss strategy with respect to litigation as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the public body. If the chair so declares it is intended the council return to open session at the conclusion of the executive session.
The LI litigation items include two cases titled Shaker Farms Country Club, Inc. V, city of Westfield, et al, at Joseph Clark at Al v, city of Westfield, and Fra Muna v, city of Westfield. Motion to move into executive session. Second. Second. Motion made it seconding. Any discussion on going into executive session? Roll call. Madam City Court. Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane, yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Belt handy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. We'll be in executive session. We going.
You're welcome. Okay. We are not back in regular board setting. Gimme one second here. Okay. Communications from the mayor. Item one, councilor fee. Thank you Mr. President requesting any action. Excuse me. Lemme start over. Requesting immediate consideration and approval of the appropriation of the amount of 250,000 free cash, the law purchase of services account to used for additional services for outside counsel. Second. Motion made and seconded. Um, there is no discussion on this since it was part of our executive session. We'll call
Mme. Harris. Yes. Matthew Kane. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean. Oh, sorry. Beltran. Yes. Burns. Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. Item two. Councilor Figy. Thank you Mr. President. Requesting immediate consideration of approval of a transfer of fifteen thousand eighty two thousand seventy two cents in the law, part-time salary account, purchase of services account to be used for additional services of outside counsel. Second. Motion made it second.
And again, no discussion on this item. Roll call Madam City Court. Harris. Yes. Matthews. Kane. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan? Yes. Ky. Yes. Sullivan. Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bill? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. Item three. Councilor Figgy. Thank you Mr. President. Requesting immediate consideration, acceptance of the grant. The amount of $15,000 for the Mass Cultural Council for the FY 25 Cultural District Initiative program. Use for costs associated with downtown Westfield Cultural District. Second. Motion made it second seconding.
Further discussion, counselor? Yeah. The reason for me to consideration is this funds must be expended by June 30th. Any further discussion on this item? Seeing none, roll call. Mme. Harris. Yes. Matthews Kane. Yes. Ello? Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bill. Randy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Figy? Yes. Thank you. Item four, councilor Figy. Item four. Requesting immediate consideration. Acceptance of a grant, the amount of 59,000 $172 and 80 cents from the Executive officer of Public Safety
and security of the Westville Police Department under Municipal Road Safety Program through funding the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Second Motion made it seconded. Further Discussion Counselor, As the previous item, this is a time sensitive, uh, item and needs to be implemented as soon as possible. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris? Yes. Matthews Kane. Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. On Key. Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bill. Randy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Figgy?
Yes. Thank you. Item five, councilor Figgy. Thank you. Please have Madam City Clerk read on five, six and seven. Certify Second. She made it second in Madam City Court. Five. Requesting acceptance of a grant in the amount of $50,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to Westfield Gas and Electric for six electric vehicle charging stations at the Westfield Gas Electric Operation Center at 40 Turnpike Industrial Road under the Massachusetts Electrical Vehicle Vehicle Incentive Public Access program. Six. Requesting acceptance of a grant in the amount of $14,407 and 32 cents. And the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
to Westfield Gas and Electric for two public electric vehicle charging stations under the Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Public Access program. Seven. Appropriation the amount of $50,000 from free cash to the school department. Fiscal year 25. Land and building capital project account for shredding of documents at St. Kamias Church. And storage of documents from Admir Gibbs Elementary School. Thank You. Any further discussion on sending to finance? Seeing none. All in favor? A Opposed Now in the hands of finance Item eight, councilor Harris. Thank you Mr. President, please ask Madam Clerk 3 8 9 10 and refer to the Personal action Committee.
Motion made and seconded. Madam City Clerk Kate Requesting appointment of Jeffreys Eagle 56 Wilson Ave. As a member of the fire Commission for a term to expire in February 20, 28. Nine. Requesting reappointment of John Graney 58 Ridge CRE Drive as a member of the Council on Aging for a term to expire February 20, 28. 10 reappointment of Carrie re fi Chief 57 Wildflower Circle as a member of the Board of Health for term to expire February, 2028. Any further discussion on sending to personnel action? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now in the hands of personnel action reports of city officers. Item 11, council Harris,
Um, treasurer. Matthew Barnes is here and he'd like to speak on this. Decades. Okay. Uh, treasurer collector Matt Barnes submitting a request for immediate consideration of the appointment of Shela Carson as assistant collector of effective March 3rd, 2025. Sir, you have the floor. Good evening. Thank you. Um, so I just came to talk about, uh, Shela Carson, uh, for her appointment as city assistant collector. Um, Shellah joined the city in May, 2012. Uh, she started in the audit department. She then did nine years in the collector's office,
and then just over a year now with the Treasurer's office. Um, so her experience in the collectors and also audit and learning on the treasurer's side. It's really helped her with learning not just the collector's functions, but with the other departments that are related to that job, how they're seeing the work that's being done. Um, so part of the reason for the immediate consideration is we're going into, uh, vehicle excise bills season, where we're gonna have the most bills out that we do the whole year. We're gonna have about 34,000 bills out.
So it'd be helpful for the department to have the position filled and be fully staffed during this season. Any questions from the council? Any comments? Councilor Harris? Uh, very well qualified and I, I would highly recommend, uh, that all counselors vote for this. Thank you. We've all had the information for well over a week. You see nothing further. Roll call madam. Uh, I'll make a motion to, uh, appoint, uh, Shela Carson as the assistant, uh, collector. Effective March 3rd, 2025. Second. Second. Motion made. Seconded. Any further discussion? Roll call. Madam City Clerk
Harris? Yes. Matthews Kane? Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan Elli? Yes. On P? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Yes. Biggie? Yes. Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thanks ma'am. Reports of committees finance. Item 12, Councillor Sullivan. Thank you Mr. President. Finance has met. Um, and I would move approval of the acceptance of a grant in the amount of $60,000 from an earmark approved by Governor Healy in the fiscal year 2025 state budget as filed by Senator John Veis to the police department
for purchase of, um, transportation equipment and infrastructure upgrades. Second motion made it seconded. Further discussion. Council? Yeah, this was on a two nothing vote from the finance committee. Uh, there is no city match on this. Um, as stated in the motion, it's an earmark, um, in the state budget, these dollars will be used to, um, purchase a, um, a, a vehicle, uh, think of golf cart so that it would be able to access rural areas, um, of the community as well as being able to use at festivals, um, and other large gatherings within the,
the community just for ease of, um, access and, and convenience. Um, anticipate that they will buy some additional sign boards and some barricades and some other signages for emergency, um, uh, events so that they have that, uh, in stock and ready to go. And lastly, um, they will be looking to make some, um, um, additions, um, and improvements to the woman's locker room, which for all intents and purposes does not, um, exist at the, apparently it's in a closet, um, in the, uh, police department, uh, because they are anticipating that the number
of female officers that is currently at four is going to be nine, um, in a relatively short period of time, understanding that this is a short term fix until the new police department goes online. So they will be making improvements, um, but certainly not necessarily state of the art, but definitely better than what exists there now. And again, there's no city match. Any questions, comments? Seeing none? Roll call. Madam City Court. Harris? Yes. Matthew Kane. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan Miller. Yes. Ky? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes.
Yes. Burns? Yes. Ian? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. Item 13, council Sullivan. Mr. President, uh, finances met on the two zero recommend, uh, recommends the approval of the transfer of $1,010 from the, the fiscal year 25 Department of Public Works Waste Collection division, full-time hourly account to the fiscal year 24, full-time hourly account for past due compensation. So move. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, counselor? Yeah. This is a case of where the individual, this one individual involved here, uh, was originally hired
as a grade 11 between the time that this person was hired and, um, began employment. Um, the, um, collective bargaining agreement changed this position to a, um, a grade 12. So there was a slight increase in the pay rate. Um, the individual was paid at 11, should have been being paid at 12. Um, and this is gonna be the same argument for number 14 later on. Um, so it has been found out, um, been brought to the attention of the department and personnel that this adjustment needs to be made. It's being done internally.
Um, and again, it's $1,010. Further Discussion. Seeing none. Roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris. Yes. Matthews. Kane? Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgane? Yes. Ky? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Ion? Yes. Fahe? Yes. Thank you. Item 14. Councilor Sullivan. Thank You Ms. President. Uh, finance met on a two nothing recommendation. Um, I move approval of the transfer of $168 and 19 cents from the fiscal year 25 Department
of Public Works waste collection division, overtime account to the fiscal year 24 overtime account for the past due compensation. Second. Motion made it seconded. Counselor, Same argument, same individual. He worked $168 and 19 cents worth of overtime. I will, um, tell the council when asked, the department head assured us that A, there was enough, um, money in this account and that he would not be back to us in fiscal year 25 to, um, for additional monies for overtime supplements. Any further discussion? Seeing none. Roll call. Madam City Clerk
Harris? Yes. Matthews Kain. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgane? Yes. Ky? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. Item 15. Councilor vi. Thank you Mr. President Finances met and on a two zero vote votes, approval of appropriation in the amount of $33,800 from the Community Preservation Committee. Open space FY 25 Account to the CPA North Road Field Agriculture Preserve restriction account to permanently preserve farmland on zero North Road
to the Commonwealth Agricultural Prevention Restriction Program. Second, Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion. Counselor? Yeah. This, this is the current field of flowers. Some of you may be familiar with that. This has been in the family for over 75 years and the father's wishes for this to go into permanent. This is participating in a state run program. And the, um, the, uh, 33,000 hundred dollars is the Westfield's match to the State preservation Councilor Sullivan. I would simply add that this property is already in
restricted property for tax purposes from the city. So there's no change in terms of how much, um, taxes the property owner here will pay to the city of Westfield. 'cause it's already in, in 61. Thank you for that. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call Madam City Court. Harris? Yes. Matthews Kane. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fiy? Yes. Thank you. Item 16, Councillor Figi. Thank you Mr. President Finances met And our two zero vote votes to approve an appropriation of the amount
of $269,000 from the CPA committee. Undesignated FY 25 account to the CPA grandmother's recreational account for the construction of a new outdoor classroom and restroom at grandmother's Garden. Second. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, counselor? I don't think I could add more than the public participation did. They did a great job. They did a great job last night in finance as well. I think that you need to understand that the grandmother's garden is on public property and grandmother's garden is a 5 0 1 C3, uh,
organization, uh, founded in 1994 and they had a 75 year lease starting in 1975. Um, funds for this property will be used towards the, uh, construction of a classroom, uh, outdoor classroom that from all sense and purposes and from the letters of support that are in the file, looks like it'll be used by more than just the community. So I would encourage us to utilize the community preservation on designated account to fund part of this project. Council Sullivan, I would just add last night we had a,
a full presentation from, um, Rob Levek, who I think everybody's familiar with in terms of the project itself. Um, on behalf of the council. 'cause I know it's come up before we did ask if this had been bid, they actually had put out an RFP for this process. They had had, um, I believe it was 20 respondents. Um, so they weren't all necessarily apples to apple. Some had proposed different, um, structures, um, but they did, um, in fact bid this project. So that's the numbers that are reflected here tonight. Um, and I just would, again, doing a little bit of history
for those back in what would've been the early 1990s, the maintenance agreement from the, or the maintenance, uh, from the city of Westfield involved bringing down a mower from the city of Westfield and mowing the entire field. So the volunteers that are now part of this 5 0 1 C3, um, have really, uh, really had a labor of love and committed their, um, their time, their money, uh, and their efforts to bring in not only bringing grandmother's garden back to, uh, what it was historically, but also, um, really looking at the future
and how to best serve the city of Westfield. And I would add that one of the individuals that is part of the, um, grandmother Garden, uh, group is a, from the Steiger family who had originally donated the, the property to the city of Westfield. So there's a grandmother Steiger relative that, uh, approved to this plan as well. Council burns. Yeah. Thank you Mr. President. Well, this is exactly where I feel community prevent or community preservation money should be going to. Absolutely. And I don't have to speak anymore. Grandmother's garden was always special to me. My my mom growing up.
So I'll be very happy to approve this tonight or vote for this. Thank you. Thank you for your presentation and your, you're aware. Thanks. Looking forward to an open house. Anything further? Seeing none. Roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris. Yes. Matthews Kane. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Belt. Randy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Figy? Yes. Very good. Congratulations folks. I think There's One more vote. Item seven. You got one more? We're not done.
That's only half the money. They want To run a roll. Oh, he's got another. Okay, here we go. Item Seven, we're on a roll. Item 17. Councilor Fki. Thank you Mr. President. Finances met on a two zero vote. Voted to approve the appropriation in the amount of $259,200 from Community Preservation Committee. Undesignated balance account to the CPA grandmother's garden recreation account for the construction of a new outdoor classroom or restrooms at grandmother's Garden. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion. Counselor, The reason there's two votes is 'cause this is two pots of money that were taken out of.
So there was questions up at the last meeting about how you can combine different appropriations in the one. So we broke 'em apart. So this is part two. Good further discussion. Seeing none. Roll call. Madam City Court. Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane. Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan. Ellie. Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Okay. Congratulations. Item 18, Councillor Sullivan. Thank you Mr. President. Uh, finance committee met
and, uh, recommends on a two zero vote the acceptance of a grant in the amount of $9,330 and 22 cents from the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to reimburse the city for administrative costs accrued while administering the Covid Pandemic FEMA program from 2020 through 2023. I move approval. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, counsel? Yes. This is, um, administrative dollars that were incurred, um, by Tammy Ts.
So she had to track her hourly rate for any work that she did in administering, um, any of the FEMA monies that were as resulting from the covid, uh, programs from the federal government. Um, the reason it's now and not earlier is this is what they classify as Category Z costs. So you can only collect on your category Z costs. After the incident has been completed, all the bills have been paid, and in fact that the account has been closed out, they then say, you can go back
and take your administrative fees. So that's what this $9,330 and 22 cents is. Um, there obviously is no city match. This money will come into the general fund, um, and show up in the free cash cal free cash calculations at the end of this fiscal year. It is not paid, um, to any city employee. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris. Yes. Matthews Kane. Yes. Miller? Yes. Morgan. Elliot. Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Ye Yes.
Thank you. Item 19. Council Sullivan. Thank you Mr. President. Uh, finance Matt on the two. Nothing Motion. Uh, I move Acceptance of the 2025 Cybersecurity Awareness grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, executive Office of Technology Services and security for end user training, assessments and simulation tools, both the city of Westfield and the Westfield Public Schools. I move approval. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, Counsel. Pretty self-explanatory. There is obviously no city match here. Uh, we're participating in the state run program,
which actually saves us money because we don't have to go out. Um, it was estimated that it would cost us about $30,000 a year to run this program. Um, if we did not take this grant. Um, this is providing, um, as close as we can get to state of the art, um, cybersecurity training for, um, all of all of the employees. Um, it was reported last night that there's 61% participation, uh, rate on the city side. Um, for this, um, for these services. Uh, a little lower on the school size, around 43%,
although still overall good numbers when compared. Um, this is actually the sixth year that we've accepted, um, this grant and been part of the program. So we've done this before. Thank you. Anything further? Seeing none. Roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Ky Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Belt. Randy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fan? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. Item 20. Council Sullivan. Thank you Ms. President. Finance. Mad on a two nothing motion. I move. Appro. Um, appro move approval of the acceptance
of a grant in the amount of $37,283 and 12 cents from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, um, aeronautics Division in the Westfield Barnes airport to be used to start a pilot program for noise mitigation, sound insulation program and complete a land reuse plan for properties previously acquired for noise mitigation purposes. So moved. Second. Motion. Made it seconded. Further discussion Counsel, Again, this is actually just the MAs dot, um, part of this grant and acceptance. We've previously accepted this grant.
Um, so they're just now paying their fair share. I think it's pretty self-explanatory in terms of what it's gonna be used for. Um, and I would note that, uh, the airport, um, manager Chris Wallenberg is present here tonight. Anything further? I see none. Roll call. Madam Clerk Harris. Yes. Matthews Kane. Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan? Yes. Bonus. Keith? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Viki? Yes. Thank you. Item 21. Councilor Figgy. Thank you Mr. President. Finances met on a two zero vote.
Voted to approve the appropriation of $1 million from free cash to the Turf Field Project Fund for the construcion of a new concession stand in conjunction with the new athletic field at Westfield High School. So moved. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion. Counselor? Yes. This is more than just a concession stand. This will also include all of the, uh, bathrooms for the facility. Uh, we had a lengthy conversation with, uh, Tammy Test with numbers of stalls needed and required. I also have for us, if Madam City Clerk could be so kind, is to run the video behind you to give you a little idea
of exactly what the $11 million that the what city fibers financing. And then you'll see the concession stand briefly and I'll explain more later. Oh, I was gonna say they didn't trust Ralph with this technology, did they? Absolutely not. That is new softball field. Nice. No rocks. No rocks. This is born in field. That roof looks pretty good. And the new stadium complex right there is a concession stand at Brown Building. It's got m and w on it. Track field.
Okay. Very nice. We had a, a lengthy discussion about the cost associated with, with this project. 50% of this cost is due to labor, due to the, uh, fair price, whatever it's called. Prevailing wage. Prevailing wage wage. Yeah. So if we didn't have prevailing wage, we could do it for half of what, what is up there? Uh, however, I'm also working in conjunction with Senator Ellis looking for a state earmark in this year's budget to help com combat the cost of this. And there are other possible funding sources coming.
We need the million dollars in place so that we can go further and go out to bid. We don't have the monies in place. We can't go out to bid. If any money comes in, then that will be returned as free cash. So, and my hope is that we will not have to spend this whole million dollars to complete this project. I think it's very important to understand that if we don't do this now and we don't do it right, it's not gonna get done in the future. Uh, toilets are very important. When you have 1200 people to an event. You don't wanna use porta potties. Mm. So this is the, uh, there's a complete breakdown in the share
drive as to the costs. You can see, check it out. The big ticket items are plumbing, electrical, and construction. So I'm merging you guys to continue to support the project. Uh, it's been a long time coming. We just had six athletes, an indoor track metal at the last state meet. Imagine what they can do once this outdoor track gets going. So Councilor Adams? Yep. Council, just for the public, uh, any idea timeframe for this project? Um, if I am correct, it's a fall. Yeah. Fall.
They're, they're at over, over 75% complete design. Right. Once they get to a hundred percent, they can bid out and once they can get started, uh, for the fall construction season. Thank you. Thank you. Council Sullivan? Yeah, just following up on that. And then the construction would be done in about a year as to is what you'd be looking at. But they are expecting that the bids will be going out, um, sometime, you know, or mid, mid-year. And they will time Tammy will time the construction of the, um, the bathrooms and the concession stands with the larger projects so
that it's all finished at, at the same time. Yes. I, I had, I had raised, um, you know, kind of first off I wanted to, to recognize and, and thank Tammy for the contract and construction management that she's done on this. This, in terms of bringing the costs down, I, we had a lengthy discussion about bringing 'em down so much that you've quite frankly built something inferior when you're having an $11 million stadium and you're short arming the concession stands and the, um, bathrooms in particular. Um, because they are gonna be on a waiver, they will have
to get a waiver, uh, for the number of bathrooms, um, that this will, um, that this facility will have. It's less than what the state building code would require, which is pretty significant. I'm not saying you need that many. So I got no problem with a waiver, but I just didn't want to build something that is less than what it should be because you're never gonna be able to get to do that. Um, but she's already, um, had comments back that they're already looking to add in for the same dollar amounts here. Um, another couple of, um, bathrooms to this facility.
'cause you can't, you can't look to have this be the facility that the region uses for big events and then have to be wheeling out. Horse potties, Councilor. All Thank you, Mr. President. So I just have a couple questions. So like, how many, what's the number of stalls that are proposed right now? And then, um, and it also is this like a, like a full kitchen, like grills and It won't be a full kitchen because if you have cooking inside, you need an ancillary unit, which is quite expensive. GE is, uh, offered to pipe natural gas to the site
so the outdoor grills could be used and then that product could be taken into the concession stand. So They'd be grilling outside. Alright. Um, I'll have to do some digging to get the exact number. Okay. Um, Toilets, but gimme some time right Now my other question would be like, is this something at some point we would consider bonding for? Or it's not worth it At this point? I don't think it's worth bonding for. My hope is that we'll be able to get some outside contributions to this and, uh, be able to, um, Okay. So I think, I think there's going to be 22 women's stalls
and 11 men's stalls. Okay. So that's a good amount, right? Sounds right. Okay. The total count would, before you form Councilman me. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I appreciate that video. And, uh, I need to say that I didn't see any shade structures in that video or trees at all. And if all of that grass that looked so green is plastic, um, that's gonna get real hot and that's gonna be dangerous. And I don't think that if you don't have shade structures built into that,
that you have correctly calculated the problems you're gonna have or the amount of money it's gonna cost is my first statement. Number one. Um, number two, that's gonna be a stormwater disaster for the powder millbrook. I'm just gonna say that again so that people know that that's gonna be a problem coming down the line. Number three, this is in addition to the $11 million that's bonded. Right? This is not like some of that money went into free cash and now we're gonna move it back. This is in addition to that 11 Right? That I called Dave Flaherty to check,
to make sure I understood that correctly. Um, well, you could have called me. I would've, yeah, but I wanted to just make absolutely certain 'cause I felt, you know, oh, you don't trust me of dumb girl questions. Don't No, I didn't want to sound stupid so I checked, right? 'cause I always sound stupid when I ask Dave. So, so I double checked and that is an extra million. But here's the thing. If I were gonna spend a million dollars in free cash right now, if it were gonna be on anything, it would fix the little river levee, which is a public health and safety problem.
But if I couldn't spend it on that and I had to spend it on bathrooms, I would make it so that the kids at the Vogue could go to the bathroom. I, we cannot responsibly take free cash to promise to build bathrooms for other people for a stadium we don't even have yet. When you're talking about putting on a ballot a question for override for 150 million to build something else up there where you could add an extra $1 million building and get it funded, but instead
before we've seen a budget, right? You want me to promise a million dollars that, you know, we're going to need to reduce the tax increase we're looking at. And you want me to promise it for, for bathrooms, for a stadium of plastic fields, my answer has to be no. But if you are worried about the tax hit that we're gonna get, your answer has to be no too. Thank you. Thank you. Anything further? Roll call Madam Supreme clerk. Good. I didn't see you.
That's okay, council. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I felt very conflicted over this vote. I wish that we had cost engineered the earlier bond so that we could fit the bathrooms into that, but we didn't. But I feel like I have to make a choice between two options. I don't really like, um, I don't like spending a million dollars in free cash, but I don't like the idea of having bathrooms there even more. And I am relieved to hear Councilor Figgy saying that they are working on getting donations. So I'm gonna be a yes. But, um, it's, I feel very conflicted about this. Thank you.
Anything further? Roll call. Adam Harris. Yes. Matthews Kane. Yes. Mellow? No. Morgan. Ellie. Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie Be Yes. Vote. But you got a good point on the bathrooms at, uh, the technical academy. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes, sir. Yes. Fanny? Yes. Figy? Yes. Thank You. Item 22, councilor Figy. Thank you Mr. President. Finances met on a two zero vote approved appropriation of the $106,449 38 cents for free cash
to Department of Public Water Division FY 22 purchase and services account to pay two outstanding prior year Bureau bills from Moras Concrete services for completed work associated with the Western Mass Western Avenue. Phase two project. Second Motion made it seconded. Further discussion. Counselor, This item had a long discussion and I think Councilor Sullivan's going to make an amendment to it. So we might as well do that at this point. Or do you want me to do that, Mr. President? Um, I would move, uh, an amendment to this that,
um, the water department shall repay the $106,449 and 38 cents to the general fund, um, upon having receipts of set amount or greater, um, in their undesignated fund, um, immediately upon, um, having $106,000 there. Second. Okay. Just, just on, just on this, um, I have a real problem. As I said last night, um, having the general fund pay this obligation, um, and we have an enterprise fund in the water department,
that's where it should be paying. I also understand the realities, which we're gonna address next week, um, at a, at a meeting, um, as to how we got, how the problem was created and what the fix is gonna be. Um, but I also know, so, so therefore, you know, there's a problem. There's no money there to pay this bill. Um, we could sit and we can, and I understand some may still vote no. And I'm not trying to change anybody's vote here. Um, and appreciate those that don't want to, don't want to pay that. Um, however, the reality is that this contractor will turn around and sue us in court. Um, we will end up having to pay the $106,000.
It will come with penalties and interest and possibly even, um, double or triple damages as a result. Because there was no, there's been absolutely no allegation that the, the work wasn't authorized by the city. That it wasn't done correctly by the contractor, um, that the job was in fact completed and that we in fact owe the money. There also does not seem to be any confusion that this bill sat at the DPW and did not come forward in a timely manner, even though the city engineer had sent a number of inquiries
and directives to have this submitted by, um, the DPW for payment. So we're in a situation right now where this money is owed. Um, we are gonna have to pay the bill. Um, but I do think in fact that the water department should have to repay this money back into the general fund. Councilor Rome, Melo, and then Burns. Thank you Mr. President. If I may through the chair. Do we, do we know for a fact that it wasn't paid? That it was not paid? There seems to be no confusion of the fact that the bill was not paid. Correct? The And because there's nothing in the council shared that,
you know, it's a verification from like Tammy or Vicky or, so I, it just, it feels very funny to me that we've had all of this information about the water department not having enough money. And now all of a sudden I got information where the most recent date, other than the request is from 2023. How do I know this was, this wasn't paid. It wasn't paid. You Bet. Well, I, I, Where's, where's my verification that this isn't just, Hey, we need to get more money in that water department. Somebody find me a decent bill. Oh wait, here's one for a hundred thousand.
Uh, how do I know this wasn't already paid? Well, you're asking me to prove a negative, which I can't do. Um, and I can only tell you that in having talked to the department head last night, the mayor this morning, and his representation in terms of what the city engineer had directed the department to do at least six times prior to tonight, and it wasn't done in terms of getting paid, I think at least I feel comfortable that the bill was in fact not paid the lawyer, there was a meeting with the lawyers for this company in the mayor's office. I was not in it. So I'm just repeating back
what the mayor told me this morning, that the lawyers had gotten together on this, that they were already looking for damages. Well, in excess of this because it hadn't been paid. And there seems to be absolutely no defense on the part of the city that the work wasn't authorized. It was done properly and the bill in fact has not been paid. Okay. So if there was a meeting with lawyers right? Then there'd be something with a date of 20 24, 20 25, right? Somewhere. But this bill is, this bill is before then. Yeah. I, I'm sorry. I I I feel like I'm getting lied to not
by you, but I feel like, I feel like there ought to be something with a more recent date from someone if there was a lawyer, that there should be a letter from a lawyer saying, Hey, pay this bill, or a letter from someone else saying, you know what, no, we didn't. But all I have is stuff that I could have seen two years ago. And so I, I'm sorry, I'm a no on this. Thank you. Councilor Burns, then Morgane, then Harris. Yeah. Thank you Mr. President. Exactly what I thought was gonna happen. Um, I'm gonna vote for this because it will be triple damages.
This will come out as, especially it goes back to 23. Yeah, it, it definitely will. Um, all I would like to say is, um, I think it was October we voted on this to pay attention to or attention to the, uh, departments. Um, I think we need to move on this. I believe, uh, the clerk is the, uh, council shares the, is that review in there? Yep. The review is in there. I suggest everybody in this room. Well, counselors read that. Get familiar with that. We need to move on this and we need to move on it as fast as possible.
Four years is way too long for mismanagement of this, this account. 15 years in the city. I've spent either on the commission or on the council. I've never seen anything paid out of free cash ever. Um, this should have came out of un-designated or, um, the, uh, uh, unforeseen, well, not unforeseen. They have a construction account. Okay. So again, read that review. I think we need to address what we need to address that we voted on in October. And I I thank you Mr. President for that.
Councilor Morgane. Thank you Mr. President. Yeah. I I'm not voting to take this out of free cash. And you know, we, we see these bills coming through this, this chamber occasionally. This one takes the cake. Two and a half years ago is the last work that was done. Mm-hmm. Um, the last bill that we received. Where's the accountability? Where's the fiscal responsibility in our city departments? I've got a meeting with the mayor tomorrow morning and that's the, uh, if you're watching Mr. Mayor, that's one of the things we'll be talking about. I'm gonna add that to the list. Um, this is unacceptable.
This has to stop. And I, and I'd like to know who was responsible for not paying this bill. This keeps happening over and over and over again. And then it goes, you know, I'm surprised we haven't gotten sued by somebody that because a bill was late or have all these extraneous fees added onto a bill. This has to stop. Council Harris And then council Ky. Um, thank you Mr. President. I'm gonna ask the ad hoc committee and the finance committee to seriously look at changing the ordinance and putting the responsibility back into the city council so
that the finance committee can keep track of all the funds that the, uh, water department is involved in. Otherwise, it's gonna be continued to be mismanaged and we are never gonna have the answers that we are all looking for. So that's my request. Council Ky Thank you Mr. President. I, I agree this was a bad thing happening, but to vote no his fiscal mismanagement because we're gonna be paying $318,000 after he loses in court, rather than paying
$106,000 now. Thank you. Councilor Matthews King. Thank you Mr. President. I'd like to ask a question through the chair to Councillor Sullivan. So your amendment, is that like a legally binding, or is that like a polite request? It damn well is gonna be legally binding. 'cause whenever they get money in their undesignated fund, you can bet that we're gonna make a motion. Go to the mayor and have that transferred over. Okay. Thank you. And I did let the mayor know this morning that we made that amendment last night and he actually supported that. Okay. Alright. So we Councilor
Fiy and even the department had supported that Last night. He did last night he did. Fran Kain did Support Fran. Fran Kae did support the payback. Okay. 'cause he realizes the real conflict we're in using in general funds to pay enterprise fund. Not, not done, but we have to pay our bills. I'm Good. Council Morgan, did you wanna speak Motion to table until we get all this in writing from the departments and from the mayor? Thank you. Motion to table. Roll call matters. Clerk. There's no second. Well, no discussion. There's no second. There's no second.
Does it have to be a second? Yep. Yep. We have no second. No motion. Original. Motion to amend. We have a second, Second, second. I Second. I second That. Okay. Motion made and seconded. Any further discussion on the Amendment? Yeah. Can, can the council cross the way? Just explain one more time the amendment. Yes. The amendment simply says, simplest form. When the water department has enough money in their undesignated fund balance, which they will, they will have to pay back the general fund, the a hundred and, uh,
Hundred 6,449. So it's paid by the water department enterprise fund versus the general fund in the end. But understand, in the short run, it's being paid out of the general fund And through the chair. If I may, um, is that gonna be in this fiscal year before June 1st? Before July 1st? Well, a, I guess I, my crystal ball's not that good. Um, I'm gonna suspect that it's not going to be, um, for one thing we're gonna get up in four months, they're gonna, that account would get zeroed out and held until the state rees the undesignated fund.
So realistically, um, I think the earliest that it's gonna happen would be fiscal year 26. Mm-hmm. So, and realistically probably even calendar year 26. Mm-hmm. So you're, you're a year, I'm gonna say you're at least a year before you have $106,000 in that fund. Councilor be Thank you Mr. President. Um, I'm fine to support your amendment. I'm still a no on the appropriation. I just wanna clarify. I have no problem paying a bill. We owe I have a problem with the lack of that supportive evidence in the council share
and can't support without it. Thank you. Okay. Can I just Vote on Yeah. Can I just wanna voice my support for getting a DPW director? Yeah. Move to vote. Yeah, please. Or two or two. The, the vote on the amendment. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Now the original vote on funding. Yep. Can I just have one thing which I'm not gonna bring up tonight because it's a little bit off topic, but in the course of the discussion with finance committee, the department had made at least an allegation that he felt that this expense was incurred as a result
of some negligence on the part of the outside, not the inside, not the city engineer, but the outside engineers that did this work and through their calculations, um, caused this basic expense to be incurred. So I will make a motion at the next meeting to refer that to the law department to have them investigate whether or not there's any validity to that claim and whether or not there's a way to recoup this money through the outside engineer. Okay. Now, original motion
to approve for funding. Roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris. Yes. Matthews. Kane. Yes. Mellow? No. Morgan. Ellie. Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. Item 23, councilor Fige. Thank you Mr. President. Plaintiff is met on a two zero volt, voted to approve the transfer of $900 from the Peg FY 25 purchase the services account to the Peg FY 24 purchases account to pay an outstanding prior year bill from UE Corporation.
Seconded. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, counsel? Yes. Um, the department head, Pete Coles came in and fast right up and said it was his fault that the bill didn't get paid. That was a breath of fresh air for a change. There you go. This bill got confused with a similar bill from the same corporation and it was just confusion and just did proper follow through. So he did apologize for it. Thank you. Further discussion Council Morgane. Absolutely. Discussion. Thank you Mr. President. I, I am
I am, uh, thankful and appreciate integrity that is in the room tonight. Fiscal responsibility and someone who said, you know, I made a mistake, which is fine. It's okay to make mistakes. That's how we learn right. From when we're 1-year-old. So thank you Mr. Coles for being here in person and for coming to the committee and saying it was my fault. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Anything further? Roll call. Clerk Harris. Yes. Matthews Kane? Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan Elli. Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie?
Absolutely. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fige? Yes. Thank you. Item 24, councilor Sullivan. Thank you Mr. President. Finances met on a two zero recommendations. I move the transfer of approval of the transfer in the amount of $766 for reserve for unforeseen account to the, uh, indemnification account to cover retirees prescription bills that have been recently approved by the 100 B panel. So Second motion made it seconded. Further discussion Count. So these are bills that are just as what they sound like.
Uh, medical bills for a class of retirees. The city's responsible for. They were not here when the budget was put together. They were approved afterwards. Um, the a hundred B committee is a working committee within the city that makes this approval. They also work with the retirement, um, department. Um, so that's what this is. They're bottom line. They're medical bills from, uh, retirees. Thank you for the discussion. Seeing none, roll call. Madam City Clerk Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane. Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan? Me. Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Sullivan? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bill?
Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Gie? Yes. Thank you. Motions. Orders or resolutions? Item 25. Councilor Bean is not with us. Councilor Ky. Thank you Mr. President. Motion of Councilor Bean to request an inventory of open funded positions by department and salary per Position. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion? No. Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Item 26, Councillor All Thank President. A motion by Councillor all for the council to request that the state representatives and state senator file bills to put a pause on sitting
or citing lithium battery sites require buffer zones between battery storage sites and communities or ecologically fragile areas and require local engagement in permitting instead of allowing state agencies to give approval on their own refer. LNO. Mayor, representative Pease, representative Finn and, and Senator Second. Second. Motion made it seconded. Any further discussion? You kind of explained it already. Uh, pretty much. Yeah. Um, but the reason for doing this is that, um, the motion is simply a request, um, to our state legislators to file these bills.
Um, in January, the Moss plant in Monterey, California burned for five days. Residents have reported numerous health issues and scientists from San Jose University have found toxic heavy metals in the soil, hundreds to thousands of times higher than before. Four out of the eight battery storage facilities in New York State had fires in 2023 alone. The drinking water in East Hampton, New York has been contaminated due to the fire there As a result, officials in California and New York call for investigations into the safety
of these facilities and file legislation for those three things that I just mentioned. Um, I will be meeting with our state legislators and the mayor of tomorrow, along with the council president to discuss this issue. Um, moving forward, Massachusetts should be proactive and learn from what is happening in other states. The governor's clean ended G Act was just signed into law last November. Many safeguards in departments are not in place yet. This is a new technology that already has a history of fires and multiple lithium, uh, facilities and locations across the country with great results.
We simply cannot afford the danger of that a fire presents to the surrounding communities here in the Connecticut Valley or the regional, uh, water supply in the hope that nothing bad will ever happen. Thank you. Thank You. Any comments? Councilor Oniskey. Thank you, Mr. President. I agree with everything that the counselor says across the room. Although if we are going to request this, um, you know, those three items, you know, from the state and reps and, and senator, we could just do it now. I mean, sending this to l and o does absolutely nothing.
Sending it to the mayor really does absolutely nothing because we, your motion says for the council to request. So, I mean, if we request it, I, I would say we just vote on this as, as is right now. I'm all for it. I don't think we need to mire it in a, a committee. Second. Yeah, you have agreeable. Yeah. Motion made and seconded. Uh, we gotta suspend the rules. Vote. Motion to suspend the rules. Vote this tonight. Second. Motion made and seconded on suspension of the rules. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, now under suspension, Councillor. All.
Okay, so basically it would be immediate, uh, church and Reach. Gonna request it right now we're gonna vote on it. Okay, So, but what you already requested what I already requested? Yep. We're good. So, so that it be written, so let it be done. Yeah. Motion Made it seconded. Any discussion? Just one question. Are you gonna do these as separate requests? And the only reason I'm asking is 'cause the last one, quite honestly is already addressed in the Clean energy legislation that the governor and the legislature literally just passed, which the counselor to my left referenced in January.
So I really don't think they're gonna go back and do it. I'm not saying you don't ask for it, I'm just saying that that citing issue was part of that bill. So I would think if it has any chance of having any parts of this pass, you're better off having it be separate items as opposed to one letter that asks for all three things in one piece of legislation. So We'll do three separate votes, Correct? I don't, I don't think you need three separate votes. I just don't, I just think you want to ask for each one individually. Yeah, And, and I agree. 'cause even if this was done as, um, a valid question
or whatever, these would become three separate things. If there were bills, it would probably be better to be separate. That way people know what they're voting on and we can't, Okay. Yeah. Any more comments? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Any announcements? Councilor Morgan. Elliot. Thank You, Mr. President. I think, uh, this time next week, the roads will be a lot better in Westfield with several days above 40 degrees coming up, so it's something to be thankful for. Anybody else? Councillor Harris. Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? Aye.
Opposed? Thank you.