To go fast. Oh yeah. Don't start a minute earlier. Who is it? Probably your May 1st, 2025 meeting of the Westfield City Conference order. We'll call Adam Sullivan. Here. Adams. He will not be Allie. Here. Bean. Here. Beltran. Here. Burns Here. Fanon. Here. Figgy. Here. Harris. Here. Matthews. Kane. Here. Mellow. Here. Morgane? Here. Oniskey Here. Pledge Flag. United States America Republic, which stands? One Nation under God. Invisible with liberty just for all.
Thank you. Councilor Sullivan. Thank you, Mr. President. I would, uh, ask the, uh, the, the chair to call for a, uh, moment of silence for the passing of John Kane. Uh, John served, uh, for a number of years in this chamber as a city counselor and was a school business manager for a number of years. Certainly active in the community, um, and particularly within the Irish community. Um, and so we, uh, we lost a really good guide. Thank. You'll do one more to silence please. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Uh, reading of the record of the meeting. April 17th. Councilor B. Thank you Mr. President.
I'd like to make a motion to accept the reading of the record from May, uh, April 17th, 2025 without meeting Second motion. Made it second. Any discussion on the meeting? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Now comes the portion of the meeting for public participation. Anyone wishing to address the city council may do so by stepping forward. Stating your name and address for the city clerk. And we do this in three minute increments, which may be extended. Anyone like to address the council? Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Good evening, Mr. Congratulations. Uh, big win last week. Congratulations. Thank you for all that you did on behalf
of the city's Westfield, uh, Jupiter Powers withdrawal, I think was a boon for everybody, so congratulations for all of that. But now it's on to Cincinnati, right? Gotta keep on moving. So I, I'd like to give you a couple of numbers. I'll try to keep it under three minutes if I could possibly do that. The budget, as you know, I've tried to present a couple of different ways to tell people how bad it is or how good it is or what we're facing. So right now, I'm kind of left with, uh, a bit of a problem, um, that there's just simply not enough money to meet expenses. So I would be proposing at one point a 5% increase
in taxes, which is also predicated on a solid wage management fee being increased by 2.4 million. That's the number that's before you tonight, that would still leave the city with a $4 million deficit. I want that to sit in. That's a $4 million deficit with a 5% tax increase. And the good work that I hope that you guys do tonight on, um, the trash fee it has been suggested and respectfully, well, instead of doing that, maybe we could move the rate higher. So let's go to 7.5 rate increase
with the trash increase with it, that lowers the number of the overall deficit to 1.8 million. And you guessed it at 7.5% increase in taxes without the waste management fee. Dropping it back down to the actual revenue received by the fee as it currently stands, which is $1.1 million, it jumps back up to $4.1 million. So I'm hopeful that you kind of see the, the predicament
that we're in free cash right now is, um, not really an option because DLS has a kind of prescribed best practice and their prescribed best practice is 5%. If we make all the moves that we need to make right now in terms of moving money for into free cash and then voting on free cash and using free cash, that number drops down to 3.8% with a balance of 3.8%. I don't have the same ability as I've had in the past to use free cash really to offset that. So I, I told you I would be brief.
I just wanted you to have the numbers with, without being able to sub sustain the numbers, I will have to go back to the drawing board truthfully and make another round of cuts that I don't wanna make. I sat before the school committee, as you know, I'm the chair of the school committee and, you know, they were pretty bummed out about their level one and level two cuts, and I don't blame them. But if I still have a $4 million deficit after tonight, I have to go back to them again. And then I also have to cut into police fire and DPW because it's the only place now that we have any place
to come up with that type of shortfall. Thank you very much for all that you do. Thank you very much for what you do for the citizens of Westfield, and I hope that you understand the kind of predicament that we're in. Thank you very much. Thank you, Sir. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council? Okay. Uh, Dan Alley, 38 Union Street. And I just want to echo the mayor. Um, thank God we're not gonna have a lithium battery. We're storage facility in town. I wanna publicly thank all the towns. There were, there were so many volunteers that came forward and helped us. Um, but a number of the cities around us,
the state was only gonna note, required the company to notify planning boards of towns abutting Westfield in this process, which is not adequate. So the towns that would be affected by this, which was another eight towns, um, the town managers, the mayors, the select boards, the city councils, and their planning boards, and, uh, through our city clerk, we were able to get information to them and we had people going to, making presentations to those boards. And I'd like to thank the towns of South Hampton, east Hampton, um, north Hampton, um, Agawam,
west Springfield, and I don't remember some Holyoke, um, and South Hadley and Hadley that we either, as part of the public comment period, which would've ended May 13th, working on resolutions already, already had passed resolutions supporting Westfield to oppose that. Um, and then working with their own state reps to support, um, bill 4, 5, 5 8, which is put in moratorium on that. That is Kelly Peeves had, um, uh, filed on April 10th. So anyways, thank you for all your help and everything, and just, we can't thank the people that just stepped up
and supported us because this became a regional fight. This was never anything that we should have fought on our own. And to me, um, uh, what the state proposed in terms of notifying people wasn't adequate. You know, it really needed to be, you know, everybody because everybody would be affected by it. So you should all be applauded and everybody, and there's too many to count. I mean, it just was amazing when people, once the signs went up and people became aware of it, that was the biggest danger people did not know. So anyways, but thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council? Seeing no one communications from the mayor.
Item one Councilor Figgy. Thank you Mr. President. Please add Madam City Clerk read items one through six. Refer to finance. Second. Second motion made and seconded. Uh, Madam City Clerk One appropriation the amount of $500,000 in the community preservation undesignated fiscal year 25 account to the CPI Skate park recreation account for rehabilitation and modernization of the city Skate park. Two appropriation in the amount of $400,000 from the community preservation undesignated fiscal year 25 account to the CPA Athena historic account for rehabilitation and restoration efforts at the Athenaeum three appropriation
in the amount of $90,000 from the community preservation undesignated fiscal year 25 account to the CPA Amelia's Memorial Garden account for drainage rehabilitation and improvements at the Amelia Park Garden. Four appropriation in the amount of $6,000 from the community preservation undesignated fiscal year 25 account to the CPA WIP collection display historic account to purchase display cases for a recently donated collection of historical WIPs for the Westfield Athena five appropriation in the amount of $2,000 from the community Community preservation undesignated fiscal year 25 account to the CPA Camden Hampshire Canal historic account to complete a previously funded regional effort
of an archeological inventory study of the canal. Six. Transferring the amount of $20,222 and 73 cents from the PEG undesignated fiscal year 25 account to the peg additional capital equipment account to purchase equipment for the FM radio station that the city has been awarded a license for by the FCC. Any discussion on sending to finance? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now in the hands of finance petitions, Remon other papers. Item seven is a public hearing on an application for a special permit site plan approval and storm water permit for contractors yard
with associated site improvements pursuant to zoning ordinance sections three dash 1 33 1 4 dash one 10 and six dash ten one to be located at 18. Service Star Industrial Way, Westfield Mass, submitted by our Leve Associates on behalf of Nicholas w Stefano. Public hearing is now. Open floor is yours Mr. Leve. You okay? Mm-hmm. Uh, good evening, uh, Mr. President and counselors Rob Levek from our Leveque Associates. Appreciate your time this evening. Uh, I'm here. I just took clarification. It's 81 Service star way.
Um, we're here, we're here this evening for a proposed contractor's yard to be located at 81 Serviced Our Way. Um, the subject property is owned by the family of Louis Scarfo. Um, the, uh, property has been utilized for probably the last decade or so as a trailer storage yard. Uh, the plan to my left, Um, Would show the service star industrial way off to the right side of the plan. There's a, a long narrow strip that leads back. There's an existing driveway and an existing yard that was created. Originally, the site was permitted for a gentleman
by the name of David Wilcox. David Wilcox had, uh, submitted a special permit application for a contractor's yard. It was then subsequently purchased by Scarfo family. So on the way in, there's an existing, uh, gravel, basically gravel, uh, compacted gravel drive that comes back to an area that's, uh, compacted gravel. Uh, there is a stormwater basin in the back of the property. And then beyond that, there are wetlands. Um, the colored area that you see is the lot itself. It's kind of a pork chop shaped lot. The proposal is for an 18,000 square foot contractor's
building and associated site improvements. Those site improvements would include areas for the vehicles, the contractor vehicles to be stored, equipment, et cetera. Um, and a lot of the equipment and other storage, which can also happen within the building because it's, uh, 1800 square feet. There are a number of bays and, uh, loading areas within the building that would be utilized as well. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have through the board. Uh, just so you know, uh, we do have a conservation filing that we're going forward with, uh, we've submitted
to the Conservation Commission. We've also received, uh, some minor comments from Joe Kitner from the engineering department related to stormwater. We expect to be addressing those and going before the Conservation Commission, uh, in short order. Thank you. Thank you. Questions from the council, councilor fan. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I see on the plan that there's store, um, trailer storage. Is that the only thing that's gonna be stored on that property as trailers? Um, I think other construction equipment, potentially excavators typical, um, site slash demo construction equipment would likely
be stored there as well. Okay. Can ask one more question? Yes, please. Um, I went out and I, I visited the site and it's, it is a vacant lot at this time and it has been cleaned up, um, from the previous Site. Okay. I know there was a problem. Yeah, It looks it looks much better. Will you be cutting any more trees down to make the site bigger or is it gonna be what it looks like now? It, I would say in general, generally speaking, it will look almost identical to it is, uh, how it is now, um, in the back near the, uh, stormwater basin will be lowering the grade to accommodate a lower portion of the building. Okay. Um, generally speaking, we'll actually be going
mostly in most cases farther away from the resource areas and farther away from the woods. Um, so on the, I guess that's gonna be the east side, we'll be coming back from where the gravel is now into the site. So away from the woods, um, the stormwater basin will be reconfigured. Um, so that will generally be the same. That has some vegetation that's grown up. We'll be taking care of that, cleaning that up and re reestablishing that basin, um, with kind of a state of the art, uh, stormwater system. Slightly different than what was originally, uh, done in 2005, which happened to be in a, on a different, um,
regulatory, uh, water requirement. Okay. Thank you. Anything further from the council? Council Melo. Thank you, Mr. President. So It, when the permit, when the original permit was, was granted, what year was that? Approximately 2005, I Believe. So it, when that happened, was that, um, was the maximum amount of impervious surface used, or is the whole thing gravel in?
Where is, is this one of those locations where we were parking things where we want already? No, this did not expand beyond. So the, the site that's utilized currently is, is generally in keeping what, what was permitted. Um, it might have varied in the, you know, plowing snow, et cetera. It was a, a fairly messy site until just recently. Um, so long story short is the footprint is a generally what was permitted back in 2005. Okay. And so all cars, trucks and trailers would be on, I'm sorry, may I please all cars,
trucks and trailers would be on impervious surface? Yes. Correct. That, that is graded to go to stormwater E everything. Yes. And is there anything we can do to make sure that that water that gets discharged also flows through some kind of, um, biological system that helps to remove any contaminants before it goes into the aquifer? Because I know a portion of this right, has its toe in the aquifer, so technically the hole Is, yeah. So yeah, so, so the, the first answer is yes,
we're introducing water quality units, proprietary water quality units as part of the proposed treatment train for the stormwater basin. So we would have deep sum catch basins that run through a conveyance system. Um, they would then go to a water quality unit, then to a sediment four bay. So all of those components require us to, you know, we're required for nitrogen removal and total suspended solid removal. Um, it's a land use with a higher pollutant load. So we have a higher level of, of, uh, treatment, I guess I would say. So yes, the answer is yes, we are doing that, we are required to do that.
Second part of the question I Forgot, um, is, is there any, um, biological additive, are we adding any plantings? Are we adding, is there anything that's being added to the site that will help remove both the water and the nutrients? Is that what I would say we're calling now? I would say not really. We don't really have that proposed. It's not to say we couldn't look to introduce that. We will look, um, to see if we can make improvements in that regard. We are restoring some wetland buffer zone that was previously approved. And also some wetland buffer zone arguably is degraded a little bit.
So we will be, uh, reestablishing arguably a 50 foot buffer zone around the subject area. Thank you. And if I may, Mr. President, um, procedurally, will we be leaving the public hearing open so that we can also review the information from con con? It's Good, yes. We're not gonna close our public hearing before we get the con Conversation. And I know that, um, it was not possible for members of the public to get the application materials online last week. So if we could make sure that any updated materials are available, um, people like Councilor Dubinski would appreciate it. Thank
You. So noted. Thank You Officer Matthews king. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, this is more like a legal question. So they already have a special permit and we're applying for a new special permit. Is that 'cause the building is going up or? Yeah, it's a good question. I did ask Jayski about the best approach to, to take. Um, I could have, I guess arguably requested an amended special permit, but because the use that was there was not necessarily a contractor's yard, so it was approved and it was kind of like a mix and match. It just seemed cleaner to apply for a new permit and then the old permit goes away
and we would, we would have the new permit. Uh, technically I believe I could have requested to amend the old permit. Okay. Thank you. Um, what are the, you said there were different rules back when the first special permit, I know there's probably a book of new regulations, but in general, like what are the new regulations? What I was speaking about was a revision to the DEP stormwater management standards that came out in 2008. Um, specifically there were very other different provisions, different requirements for water quality,
different requirements for, uh, recharge and, um, and attenuations. So there's, it's all, you think of a stormwater basin, like an hourglass. Mm-hmm. How it gets, how it handles that, that sand coming through the hourglass, it gets metered out. The same thing with stormwater. You have to meter out the stormwater, but before you meter it out, back to the land that it was gonna originally go to before you had development, um, you gotta clean it. So the water quality is a pre-treatment and then you slow it down enough that you're releasing clean water at the same time.
So they've enhanced the regulations. Uh, there was a revision in 96 and then one in 2008. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Yes. And I know the very edge of it is in the aquifer protection zone. Correct. And what's the rule like? Yeah, it's a good question and it comes up a lot. So, and, and, uh, I, I can provide that next time, um, the actual, uh, language, but it essentially says if you clip the aquifer and you are not disturbing anything within the aquifer, it does not apply.
Okay. But we're close to it, so, and we are, and we're required to treat the land with, it's, again, I had mentioned something called, it's a ple, a land use of, with a higher pollutant load. So we have to make sure our water quality is, you know, at a certain level, um, before it's discharged, so that that's essentially, you know, it's all one and the same, even if it was subject to the regulations of the Water Resources Protection District. Um, they're very subtly different and a lot of the prohibitions are the same. Okay.
Thank You. Thank you. Anything further from the council? Councillor Elli? Uh, thanks Rob, about being here. Um, the, uh, can you tell me about this? I never thought I'd be asking this question at a, at a, a public hearing, but the Barracuda Max Storm water separation System, this is a brand new technology. Is that gonna be incorporated into this particular project? It, it's been around for a while. It has, um, a little while. Um, yeah, so it's just, again, a proprietary water quality unit, and they're designed to remove or, or, or settle out total suspended solids within the Barracuda
structure before they would, uh, head to the sediment for bay, which is also another catchment area for the, for the sand, uh, sediment, floatables, other floatables. Um, and then the water would then penetrate through the, you know, the, uh, four bay wall into the basin where then it goes on the ground. So it's a couple layers of protection. The deep sum catch basins are the same, but that's, that's something like you would see on a typical street that you're required to do, uh, like a four foot sump at the bottom so that all this, you know, the sediment falls to the bottom
and then ideally, you know, the water's, you know, the water's cleaner be as it leaves. Thanks for explaining that. Appreciate it. It's great technology. Anything further from the council before we open it up for questions? Anyone in the chamber want to ask a question of fact of the proponent regarding this project? Anyone want asked a question of fact? Is there anything that is Going, You need to step up, you need to step up. Give your name and address please. Hi, I am Kimberly Eggleston. I'm a resident of Bailey Drive, um, which directly is behind, um, service Star Industrial.
Um, recently we have had, across our entire development, we have had significant issues with 100 Service Star, um, which is directly behind our properties. Um, the property recently sold, they're leasing it to a trucking abatement company. Um, and we have been to zoning regarding several issues, including 20 plus tractor trailer trucks, parking behind our development directly in our backyard, um, employees going to the bathroom behind these tractor trailer trucks, lighting issues that are now shining directly into all
of our homes at 1:00 AM. It's like we're summoning extraterrestrial beings. Um, so I have immense concerns with this special permit request for another contractor's yard, um, going directly behind our development as well. Um, so I guess I'm wondering between the dust, the noise, the tractor trailer trucks, the city council, the planning board is on record for 2021 saying the industrial park is a blighted and decadent area, and these tractor trailer trucks are causing significant issues to roadways and the wellbeing
and morale of the community. So I'm wondering what you are doing to protect our development that's within 200 yards of this contractor's yard that you're applying for Mr. Lebeck, would you like to address that? Sure. So, so those are all good questions. Um, so the good news is the city of Westfield does protect, um, developments and surrounding areas, and they do have enforcement. So I'm not sure the specific site
or the specific concerns related to the other, uh, site that you were speaking of. Um, but there are enforcement, uh, folks that can be communicated with. Um, if there's lighting or traffic or management concerns, those things can definitely be addressed. Uh, just to give you an example, on this particular site, it was being utilized for trailer storage and it was unsightly and it needed to be cleaned up. They let, um, I believe they let Home Depot know. And I think within a, I think it was about 24 hours or close closely there too, they did go out and they addressed everything. Um, so we do understand that these industrial sites can be,
um, you know, unsightly or if they're not managed properly can be a problem. So in this particular case, this will be a manned site. So I'm not sure about the other one, but I know a lot of the other sites that we're talking about are sites that might not be manned. This will be a manned facility. It will have a gate, it'll be completely controlled. Um, in addition to that, there is a, as far as lighting goes, um, this is going to be dark sky compliance required under the regulations. So we have a photometric plan that shows that we won't have any light spill over to the surrounding areas. As you can see, it's hard to actually,
it doesn't really depict it, but the areas, most of the areas that you see in white around the colored area are actually vegetated. So it's, it's all wooded, all behind here. There's an, uh, power easement. So there's no development that's behind us here. There are, uh, industrial properties on either side, and there's an industrial property in front of us. So the beauty of this site is out of sight, out of mind, the pork chop, that front piece is all you see there. There's no development proposed. There'll be a gate out front. That's really all you're gonna see. So that's, I think, positive for the neighbors.
Um, in addition to the, to that, um, this will be completely monitored with cameras, um, you know, state of the art fac, you know, typical new building, I don't wanna say state of the art, but typical new building with cameras, et cetera. So, um, I think they can rest assured this will be a managed site. Um, and there is a nice buffer zone around this site. Naturally. Uh, there's a wetland area here. Uh, there's A wetland area here. There's wetland area surrounding it, um, As well as, um, vegetation. So no chance of migration
or development beyond the footprint requested. I think there was, uh, oh, and as far as tractor trailers, so this is a contractor's yard, so there will be, you know, trailers and tractors, but there it's not, it's not a trucking terminal. We would've requested a trucking terminal use, which is a very broad term as the city council is aware, includes trailer storage and those types of things. So this particular project is for a contractor, a manned place where they'll be utilizing a building, um, and storing their equipment and coming and going, uh, to work on their, their job sites.
Anyone else in the chamber like to ask a question of fact on this project? Councilor Melo. Thank you, Mr. Oh, you couldn't see it. Thank You, Mr. Chairman. Pat Cogan, 26 Bailey Drive. Just wondering, uh, who the contractor is and how many pieces of heavy equipment do they own? Thank you. Um, the contractor is Nick. The, the applicant is Nick Stefano. Um, Frank and Nick Stefano own a, a contracting business. Um, it is not local. They have multiple locations.
They, um, are, you know, a pretty sophisticated operation. Um, as far as the amount of equipment, um, I don't know. Um, and I think it varies and it will vary based on job sites, as you can imagine, based on equipment that comes and goes. So it's going to be a dynamic number of different types of equipment, um, as well as trucks and containers, et cetera. Thank you. Please come back up. I'll get to you counsel. So I have two Questions. I guess my first question is, is this property related to the data center? No, it is not. I I can clarify that. So for the, for the
Present, yes. Um, the, the question was, is the property associated with the data center? This was actually, I believe at one point, potentially under agreement for the data center, but it is not in any way, shape or form in this proponent. An applicant is not in any way, shape, or form, uh, associated with the data center. My second request is that this permit be looked into because I have been to the zoning board regarding the issues behind our pathways currently. Um, and I have been informed that the zoning for 100 industrial has been grandfathered in
pre 1970. So current zoning restrictions do not apply to them. So they are not required to put a buffer up. They're not required to do anything with their lighting. They're not required with noise. There is nothing that they can't do basically behind our developments. So we are basically just forced to live, live with it, is what we have been told. So I hope that this special permit is in current zoning guidelines that put a little protection on the community because as of right now, Bailey Drive has none.
And we're living in for, For the counselor. So there is in fact a, uh, special permit for a contractor's yard that was issued approximately, don't hold me to the date specific, but around 2005, um, which was conditioned by the council. Um, there, there would be obviously, should we be so lucky to get a special permit. Um, there would be, uh, conditions placed on, and I know the counsel knows this, but there would be conditions. This is for the, uh, uh, the lady, I had a question. There would be conditions, specific conditions related to hours of operation, um, what can be done
and what can't be done there. Um, and that would be oftentimes issued just to the applicant. Um, and then maybe they have to come back. There's different, uh, controls that the council has. So certainly there are a number of controls and we have to meet all of the use requirements, um, that are put forth in the zoning ordinance. So there are controls. Anyone else in the chamber before I turn it back to the council for questions? Councilor Mulah. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, hours. Forgot to ask hours of operation and vehicle trips per day anticipated. Um, I can get a better idea of vehicle trips per day and get that to you before the next, uh, public hearing.
Um, again, it's a, it's a, uh, a family owned contractor, uh, use. There are multiple locations. Um, but I think it's, it's going to be a limited traffic use. I will confirm that in more detail. Um, when I say that it's not something like a Dunking Donuts where you're getting, you know, a ton of traffic or something like that. Um, the other question was, sorry. Uh, hours, vehicle Trips and hours. Hours, hours. Operator? Uh, I, normal, normal, uh, normal business hours for a contractor. How long do you work, sir? Um, not at night.
I, you know, I, I can't imagine there's any gonna be anything crazy, but I'll confirm. Okay. Thank you. Cons? Alley, did you have your hand Up? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. So, Rob, if so, there was another special permit, right? And that operation was in continuous operation the whole time? It was kind of a, well, there was a special permit issued to a gentleman by the name of David Wilcox. And I don't know personally firsthand all the, all the, um, the, the history. But at some point that project either died on the vine or was since purchased by Mr.
Scarfo, Louis Scarfo, late, late Louis Scarfo. And he didn't do anything with it? No, he's been utilizing it. Yeah. The, the family had been utilizing it. Um, and then in recent years had been utilized for trailer storage, probably familiar with, I think everybody's familiar with that fact that Home Depot needs trailer storage. That's a Whole nother, right? 'cause I guess my question, I, I know like if you get a special permit for something and you're allowed so much time to actually do it, you know, otherwise, oh no, no, It commenced. Yeah. No, it was constructed and commenced within the timeframe that it was originally issued. Correct. But, alright.
And so, but at any point did that operation, like stop and Lapse? No, no, no. They've been continuously utilizing it since 2005. Alright. And so by filing this new special permit now, um, is what that woman was asking about, like those other conditions Yes. Will that get grandfathered in or not? So I think the term grandfathering would not apply to the previous permit because it was not a pre-existing non-conforming use that was actually a permitted use. So the contractor's yard was a permitted use back in 2005.
So the grandfathering provisions or the inability of the enforcement arm of the city of Westfield to enforce conditions would not exist now with, under the current permit that was issued in 2005 or in the future, city of Westwood would absolutely have the ability to enforce the special permit and any other permits that are issued, for example, conservation permits. Okay. Okay. That was, did that Answer it? Kind of, sort of. But to be specific, like, would you wanna try again? Um, sure. So with the old conditions still
exist or would they have to apply to The new Standards would be utilizing the new permit. This is A new permit. This would be new permit and it'd be new standards, right? This is a New Permit? Correct. Alright. So her concerns would be addressed. Councilor Sullivan. Okay. So, um, is the applicant willing to live with all the original? Not that that's all, they're gonna be all the original restrictions that were on the Original, I haven't, to be honest with you. I'd have to read those. Could you get That answer for when you come back again? Yeah. And could you also get the hours of operation? Yes. So that we know what that restriction's gonna be. Again, not that, just
because that's what the owner's looking for is that's what they're gonna get. But at least we know where we're starting From. Absolutely. Thank You. Yep. Councilor Matthews gang. It's okay. You're good. Anyone else like to address this? This public hearing's clearly gonna be, uh, remain open. Yes. So if you're here and you want to see what happens at the next one, please feel free to come back and you'll get the answers to most of these questions before it goes to committee. So with that being said, councilor Fanon, would you like to make a motion to continue? Motion To continue the public hearing to the next second City Council meeting? Motion made
it second in any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you, sir. Thank you. Item eight is a public hearing on a petition of the city council to amend the zoning ordinance relative to the keeping of animals allowing, allowing backyard chickens by right public hearing is now open. Counselor Morgane, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, before I begin, because we just had that public hearing, I think maybe, uh, the people that are here for this, uh, if you would be so kind to just, uh, explain the procedures of how this goes. Uh, they just saw it, but just so they know,
So the, the procedure is that the proponent in this this case was Council Morgan. He's gonna make a presentation and then we'll ask for questions from the council, and then we'll open up the questions after that to the general public hear. And then depending on how that goes, the public hearing will either be re remain open or will be closed. And if that's the way we're going, then we'll take comments from you with, uh, either opposed or in favor of the application. So with that, Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Uh, good evening counsel. Uh, we have, um, the proposed, uh,
zoning amendment to allow backyard chickens by right. And this is to delete section three dash 40.4, section 18 non-commercial chicken raising by special permit in the rural residential district. And revise keeping of animals at section four dash 30 to read as follows. Number one, keeping of a pet or companion animal, but not constituting a residential kennel as defined in section two dash 20.1 shall be an allowed accessory use to any residential use in any district,
but remain subject to any other applicable ordinance or regulation. And number two, it says where accessory to any single or two family use backyard chickens may be maintained for non-commercial purposes outside of the principle structure as follows, on a lot containing at least 5,000 square feet, a maximum of six hens, no roosters on a lot containing at least 20,000 square feet, a maximum of 12 hens no roosters. And the provisions for this are that number one, the owner or keeper of any such file has registered.
The same with the animal control officer who shall be afforded access to the property for inspection purposes. Number two, a suitable coop must be, uh, must be provided with it. And any permanent run areas located at least 30 feet from any neighboring dwelling structure, such as a garage and that kind of thing, or a house and 10 feet from any lot line. The property line number three, the birds are maintained only within the subject lot, but outside of the front yard set back at all times. So this is just for a backyard
or a side yard that you can't see from the front of the house, obviously. Um, number four, shelter run and feed storage areas are secured and maintained to limit rodents, storm water, runoff, dust and odor, so as not to constitute a nuisance or a safety hazard. And number five, onsite slaughtering is prohibited outside of the rural residential district. And the last section, uh, is any quantity of birds exclusive of immature offspring
kept in excess of, and or upon a lot smaller than that specified above shall require a special permit from the Board of Appeals, the zoning board of appeals of the city of Westfield. Um, and there's the last section here. Uh, notwithstanding the foregoing farm animals, livestock of any type or quantity may, may be kept as an accessory use. That's, um, part of that, uh, same section that has, uh, that doesn't have anything to do with what we're talking about tonight. Um, so the, the lot sizes, just so we can put it in a mine of acreage. Um, 5,000 square feet is just under a, uh,
just over a 10th of an acre. If you add, uh, a little bit to that, you get 7,500 square feet. That's a little less than a fifth of an acre. 10,000 square feet is about a quarter of an acre. 15,000 square feet is about a third of an acre. And 20,000 square feet is just under a half an acre. Um, the, there, there are a lot of concerns with this. I'll, I'll kind of wait to hear, uh, from the public, but I'll, I'll take any, any questions of fact. Let's Start with the council. Anyone have questions on the council? Councilor? Me?
Thank you, Mr. President. Um, what in the ordinance is this set up for handling? Can can you start again please? Sorry. What? In the ordinance is set up for the handling of the poultry litter. The poultry Litter. It's, um, the manure, the feces plus the bedding. Oh, The bedding. Well, The bedding and the manure. When you, when you clean out the coop, what, what is our setup for that? Right. Because generally, uh, animal refuse, right? When you walk your dog, you're gonna dispose that in a trash bin. And the City of Westfield recommends animal
refuse in a trash bin. But then are we gonna be charging for that bulk waste or, or are they gonna compost it? And if they're composting it, um, is the 10th of an acre enough room? So that's my Question. That's a good question. Um, yeah. So, uh, chicken, um, or sell it in the store called coop poop. Uh, chicken, uh, feces are actually very good for, uh, composting. Uh, you don't need a lot of room for anybody's ever composted for their garden at home.
Uh, you don't need a lot of room for that. This is six chickens. Um, and actually if, if, if you, anybody that's got a dog, um, and they do their duty outside, right? Um, there's a lot more of that, uh, than, um, than these chickens would, would produce. Um, so I I, there's nothing in the ordinance that says that because the people that usually have chickens, uh, that have, are familiar with raising hens, they, they know how to deal with that and they usually compost it
or, um, dispose of it properly. Um, the animal control, uh, you know, if it ever became a problem, they would have jurisdiction over, um, you know, telling them that, that they can't have them anymore because they, they violated the ordinance. Um, it, it does say in here that they, it, it can't, it has to have proper storm water and not smell, um, that's in the ordinance. Um, as far as what they choose to do with their poop, it's not something really we, I think we as a city need to regulate. Um, we don't do that with dogs. We don't do that with outdoor cats.
We don't do that with any other domestic animals. I don't think chickens are any different. Thank You. Councilor Figgs and then Burns. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, just to piggyback up what Councilor Morgan was saying, uh, chicken manure is the highest level of manure, nitrogen of any fe and it used properly, it will definitely improve your gardens. Um, the board of health as well as the animal control officers still have control and jurisdiction if a complaint is filed. So that's not in this ordinance
because that will come into a different ordinance later on if this one is approved. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Burns. Yeah, thank you Mr. President. Now, uh, council, this is a buy right by, right? Um, and the, uh, um, animal controls gonna be in charge of the, uh, Inspection. Is there Gonna be inspections and I mean, are we just gonna buy right and just say have chickens? Yeah, so it's, thank you for the question. Um, yeah, it's buy right? And just like other domesticated animals in our city, the animal control has jurisdiction over that.
This is, they're the experts on domesticated animals. Um, some, I have full confidence that that department will be able to take care of any, anything that inspections and anything else that arise from people having pens. Is the Board of Health involved with this at All? What's that? Is The Board of Health involved with this? No. Endeavor? No. The board of Health is, um, this is really an animal control issue. Yeah. Um, because, you know, and again, to further this, um, Madam City clerk here, her office, they registered dogs, cats,
you know, you can only have three. You can only have, I believe it's two cats. I mean, that's regulated. So we're gonna have six chickens, maybe. Is it six? It's more than that. Right? You got half acre. Mm-hmm. 12 chickens. And there's nobody, I mean, they have, I mean, they'll call animal control. How do you know they're gonna call animal control? How, how can you track that? Or how can we track that as a city? It's, it's, it's not our job to micromanage all the departments in the city. They're, they're the animal experts. And as I said, counselor, the animal control officers
Are, They're the ones that will oversee this. If this, if this, uh, passes in our city, just like they do with any other, any other animals. If there's a stray dog on the, excuse me, a stray dog on the street. Um, or if there's, uh, somebody's got 29 cats in their backyard, that stuff's happened. Well, they have to register cats. They have to register docs. Yeah. That's, that's, that's in the ordinance that they'd have to do that as well with the animal control. And Yeah. The coop has to be registered. They have, people have to register. How about if they don't, What's that? How about if they don't, how about if they don't register
their coop in their, in their chickens? Well, they're in violation of the ordinance and the animal control comes in and tell 'em How, how would you know That you can't have a coop? You see, I, I have problems with this. Okay. I really do. I think it can be worked in another way, but we'll talk about that later. But I mean, this is just like BuyRight chickens. I mean, I don't think any, any city around here is BuyRight chickens. Either the health department has to be involved or it has something has, I mean, there has to be a check on this. There is, we went through this a few years ago with dogs and cats. If, if I may Yes, council, there will be an annual barn inspection,
just like if you had a barn with a horse in it. And that's why it's registered with the animal control department. 'cause they're the ones that do the barn inspections. So you have to register before you can have them. If you don't register, you get turned in, then there's gonna be consequence that won't be in this ordinance. I could upon in the second ordinance that's come by, that was explained by Jayski that this one just sets up the idea. And then there's a second ordinance coming with more of the particulars. But this one is a, A good, that's a good point. My point is, who's going to, who's gonna know what they got the chicken. They just, they
Have chickens gonna know. Your neighbor will know and they will call, let they do that now. So I don't see that. Mr. President, can we have questions of fact, please? Yep. Let's move forward. Thank you. You have your time. I have my time, right. Council, I'm just asking that there's not a No, you can ask Whatever. Yes, I, I'll try to answer your question, counselor. And it's questions of fact that I I don't think we need a shouting match in the council chambers. I'm not shouting. No Councilor. That's enough. Councilor Figy was just clarifying something for him. Thank you. I got an order here. Councilor Fanon, then Figy, then Mellow, and then Sullivan. Thank you Mr. President. Thank you Mr. President. I just wanted to add that
during the ZPD meetings, we did talk about enforcement and inspections. And like Councilor Figy mentioned, that would have to be another ordinance. So if this ordinance does get passed, there will be subsequent ordinances because that has to go through the general ordinance, not the zoning ordinance. That's where inspections and enforcements come in. Um, this ordinance came out of the ZPD committee with a two to one vote. Um, two positive and one negative. I was the negative vote coming out of, um, for this ordinance. Um, I have concerns about this ordinance being allowed in
all residential districts. I think, um, densely populated areas, it could be problematic for neighbors having chickens next door. Um, my first call as a ward one counselor was about chickens. There were 14 to 24 chickens in the Residential Aid district. Um, we, I did file a zoning complaint for this person. The zoning inspector did come out and take care of it. It took some time to get rid of these chickens. Um, and the chickens were held in a shed and the shed was legally on the property.
So that couldn't, the zoning enforcement didn't have any anything to do with that, but that's where the smell was come from. And there was rats coming on the neighbor's property. And I just feel that this by right use in all residential districts would be extremely problematic. Councillor Figi, did you have something else? No, I just wanted to clarify the report. Councilor Melo. Thank you Mr. President. Um, is there anything in the ordinance that talks about private wells and, um, the composting of chicken litter near private wells?
The reason I ask is that as Councillor Figi said, high nitrogen content, but one of the things we have to worry about with Title V is a high nitrogen content. Um, because if you put a lot of nitrogen back into the soil where you're, you know, trying to drink water, um, you can end up having a problem. And if you put a lot of nitrogen in the soil where you get runoff, you can have a lot of problems with, um, things like algae blooms in your streams and ponds. So, um, I I'm pro chicken, right? There are chickens in my neighborhood that I hear every morning and I love their sound
and I never smell them, any of my neighbors. If somebody reports you, it was not me. I don't have a problem with your chickens, but I'm on city water. Oh no, I order my water. Right. 'cause, you know, but if, if it were impacting someone's private, well that would be a problem. And so if we're gonna write an ordinance to make something by, right? We need to protect the drinking water of the people who have private wells. Um, and we need to make sure that people who have, um, you know, pre-existing conditions that would have a problem with their neighbors having a chicken, right?
Because of the, the breeze or the whatever's on them. We need them to have some kind of input and, and redress from the government. So I don't know if by right is something I can support, but I could totally support special permit or, um, some other mechanism by which the neighbors can be like, we're all fine with it. Uh, but at very close quarters, especially like in the downtown area, a buy use without any information about disposal, right? If you're that close, you have to throw it in the trash or, or something. If we don't put something in place in the zoning
and how they behave, I am very concerned that we could end up with big problems from just a lack of planning. Um, and so anything we can do to make sure that we protect water and people's health in the ordinance, uh, I would hope we can look at. And thank You. I would. Councilor Sullivan, does the animal control officer support this? Um, we, We haven't spoken to the animal control officer directly. Um, but pretty much she's got all the responsibility here for enforcement, right? I think Councilor Figy has something you Can add to that. When, when we were proposing this the first time
and we had a timed out, the animal control officer was for it. She said she had the time to do it. So it wasn't an issue. She, I kinda like the idea of chance. I had forgotten. Thank you. Councilor Figy. I'd forgotten that point from you had mentioned that to me earlier. It helps to have an old file. Any other, He's got the original file over there. Yeah. Councilor Burns. Yeah. Through the chair. Um, councilor Figgy now was at that time with the interim control officer. Was it by Wright? Yes. Was by Ray, yes. Okay. Thank you. Councilor Ali.
Thank you, Mr. President. Um, so I would support, I mean, if something became a nuisance, then it definitely should be dealt with. And obviously an issue they like with rats and stuff like that, I don't think a small number of chickens is gonna produce that kind of nitrogen. That would become an issue. I don't think it would even make that threshold. Um, I mean, nitrogen is the most common gas in the atmosphere, but 12 chickens. Um, it is a high nitrogen thing, but it 12 chickens aren't gonna produce enough nitrogen to actually affect, um, to, to that degree.
I don't think that would be an issue. It Just, so there, this is for six chickens, the 12, you'd have to have 20,000 square feet. You'd have to have, I, I even land Even in that kind of space. I just don't think that the, the birds would produce enough to reach a threshold. That would become a, a problem that way. Councilor Matthews King. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I just wanna say people keep talking about close quarters and downtown. So I am the ward counselor for this area. And we could all get up and leave and go on a chicken tour. 'cause there's chickens everywhere in my ward. They're everywhere. I don't get complaints about them,
which implies to me that people are okay with it. And if we're really concerned about that, about the buy right, we could just kick up the amount of square feet and then it would, if somebody, like, if we make 5,000 square feet, 10,000 square feet, then that would kick anybody at 5,000 to special permit. And you could have the special permit process Council. Thank you council. And that's a good point. I mean, by legitimizing chicken coops and having animal control have oversight, then they're all gonna get inspected. They're not gonna be grandfathered in.
Those are gonna all get, they're gonna have to register their coop and get, and get inspected. And if they're unclean, unhealthy, they're not taking care of the chickens, then they'll, they'll have to give it up or fix it. Um, however they decide to enforce that. Um, but that's, you know, um, if we don't do anything, that's still gonna continue. Anything else before we have questions from the public? Anyone in the chamber like to ask questions of fact? Do the, uh, proponent in this case, council Martinelli, if so, step up and state your name and address.
Come on up. Okay. So this is my first time doing this. Um, So if you would just give your name and address for the city clerk. Yes. Um, Kaitlyn Grennan. Um, I originally, I was here and I prepared a speech to be for backyard chickens. Um, now I'm kind of feeling like this is a change in the zoning or the ordinance. Like I saw that it was rewritten. Is it okay if I still give you reasons why I think it's beneficial to have them? Is that okay? Yes. Okay. Well at this point we're just doing questions of fact, but then we'll ask people to come up
and speak in favor or against. So you want me to come up after? Yep. I'll call you back up. All right. Anyone else? Ever Question, period. And then after that you'll be crow born against. Okay. So you might come up with us. Yep. Any, anyone here? Mike, come on up. Please Just state your name and address if you would. My name is Ben Chu, 19 Odale Street Westfield. Um, I do have some documents that kind of address the concerns that were spoken about. Um, so if, if it's possible to hand them out, I think they are in the records Also. Are they questions? So I think you probably wanna wait until
Wait The next session? Yeah, if you, if you have a question of fact, you can, you can ask them. You know, we don't have a lot of answers. Yeah, It does. Whoever's missing their eyeglasses, they're here on the podium. Are they yours? Yeah, I don't, over here. Um, I have a, a just a simple question about the setback requirement. Just if you could state Your name. Oh, I'm sorry. Name and address. My name is Elizabeth Clark. I live at 27th Sherwood Avenue. Great, thank you so much. Um, My question about the setback is that I read that it was 30 feet from or residence. I think, I think that helps with some of the size issues,
but, um, does it also apply to the residents that own the chickens? In other words, could I put a chicken coop 20 feet from my own house, but 30 or more from the neighbors? Good question. So, Or does it have to also be 30 feet from my own house? It's neighboring. So the, the way, the way the ordinance is written, um, it is, uh, 30 feet from the neighboring structure. So a garage or a home and 10 feet from the property. Um, okay, we could add in there. We could add something that is a distance
from your, your home. Home. I don't want it to have to be That's the question because it's much safer predator wise. My dogs will bark at the door. If the chickens are close to house, they'll protect them. But, um, but I just, it wasn't clear to me from what I had read, whether it also applies, um, to the residence that owns them. It's from the neighbor's building. It's the Neighbors. I don't believe that's the way it's written Up. I think it just says 30 feet from the neighbor's Neighbor. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. The neighbor. The distance I gave just for the neighbor. Anyone else like to ask a question of fact?
Question of fact. Okay. At this point then we're gonna ask if anybody would like to speak in opposition to this? Yeah. Anyone like to speak in opposition of this ordinance? Change Counselor? I have three letters that were sent to me in opposition. Um, I believe one was read at the last meeting. It was from Carolyn Healy. She was speaking in opposition. Another one I received today was from Amanda Goodhart. She was speaking in opposition. Those are on your share file. And then I received another handwritten letter from someone
and she just addressed it as a resident of Westfield. But those are all in the share drive that they were in opposition. Okay. Once again, anyone like to speak in opposition to this moving forward? Seeing no one anyone like to speak in favor of this ordinance change step forward please. Your next young man. I'm guessing there might be a line. Um, thank you first of all for providing the opportunity to comment on this and for considering this. I, uh, moved to Westfield from a farm and Hatfield where I had chickens on a bigger property and I missed them very much.
But in fact they had a very nice, um, um, it wasn't a shed. It was actually part of a horse stable and a, and a totally protected run. Because I think maybe one thing people aren't thinking enough about is predator issues with chickens. Um, they're the favorite food of lots of things, but, um, but in fact, six chickens were not noisy, not nuisance. My neighbors begged me for the chicken manure. Um, and I, and, and I, it doesn't produce a lot of bedding, like mucking a horse stable or something.
You can clean the chicken poop out, leave the sand or whatever you use as a base. And, um, there's actually very little volume to it. They're productive. They're the only pets I've ever had that produced something useful. Um, my children won't eat store-bought eggs anymore. Um, and they are in fact really good pets. Our chickens were trained. They came when I called, they came in the yard with me and gardened because they knew that I was turning up bugs. They ate ticks. There were a lot of things in their favor. If you're worried about pollution, I would just like
to say a little bit off topic. Please go after all of the excessive lawn chemicals that are polluting our water and our runoff. 'cause the chickens nourish the ground. The herbicides kill it. Thank you very much. Thank you young man. You are next. Come on up. Alright. So, um, um, just State, state your name and address Please, please. Benjamin Mo Chicken 19 Oak Deal Street. Thank you. Um, so I'm here to speak in support of the ordinance today. We had chickens for nearly a decade before we had to get rid of them. Um, with a big family. The biggest impact was receiving eggs
and just having it without the worry. Um, like about the unpredictability of egg prices, uh, and as I kind of grew older with having chickens, it taught me a lot of valuable life lessons, such as responsibility, work ethic, patience, problem solving, and even empathy. So after received, after we received letters indicating we had to get rid of the chickens, um, I began looking into the ordinances in Westfield and the surrounding areas. I found that more than 90% of the cities in Townsend, Massachusetts allow residents to keep hands either
with reasonable restrictions or none at all. Um, and some nearby towns like West Springfield, they have overly complicated and expensive processes that make it almost like impossible for the average person to have chickens. Um, but I'm thankful that this proposed ordinance, um, avoids that mistake. It keeps things simple, practical, practical and accessible, while, while still including safeguards to protect neighbors, property and public health. That's what makes this a balanced solution. Um, and according to Mr. Figgy, one of the biggest impacts of this new ordinance would be to legalize the hundreds of people in Westfield that already have chickens illegally.
Um, and another thing worth noting is that the current laws are only enforced when the city is, when the city receives a complaint. So if chickens are really a problem, how come they're, how come the ordinances are not getting enforced, truly enforced? Um, and then with the requirements we have in place, nearly any objection of the hence can be addressed. Concerns about noise, odor, or cleanliness are mitigated by the proposed limits on flock size, setback requirements, and sanitation standards. Hands are quiet, especially when compared to roosters or dogs. And the loudest noise they make briefly after laying an egg is equivalent in decibels
to regular human conversation. Um, hands are no more disruptive than any household. Pet and chickens offer educational benefits for families. They promote local food sustainability and they reduce food waste by consuming kitchen scraps. So allowing residents to responsibly keeping keep hands strengthens our community's resilience and self-reliance, which is, I think of value we all share. Um, so I urge the city council to support this ordinance, not only for those of us who've already had the opportunity to experience the benefits of raising backyard chickens, but for the many families who desire to desire the opportunity to do so responsibly.
Um, and then I kind of wanted to address like the specifics with the, So a single 40 pound dog produces more solid waste than 10 chickens. With a new ordinance, it's six for 5,000, 5,000 square feet and 12 with 20,000 square feet. Um, and then according to McMurray hatchery, the advantage to chicken manure is that it can be used as valuable high nitrogen foot fertilizer. Unlike dog or cat poop, chicken manure can be combined with yard and leaf waste to create compost. Just as valuable, about 40 40% of the chicken manure is organic matter, which is necessary for building fertile, healthy top soil.
Um, and in contrast, dog waste is actually a great environmental hazard. Dog feces are considered a pollutant by the EPA and can carry pathogens if they're not properly removed. Um, EPA guidelines highlight that runoff from uncollected dog waste can contaminate water wastes, which is not an issue associated with back here chicken waste. Um, so with, with routine maintenance, backyard hands produce less waste, less odor, and fewer sanitation concerns than a single household dog. So thank you for your time. Thank
You. Thank you. Well said. Very good. Anyone else like to speak in favor of this change? Thank you. Okay. My name is Kaitlyn Grennan and I'm here to respectfully advocate for allowing backyard chickens in our zoning area. This is a not a casual or whimsical request. It is rooted in practical benefits, educational value, and a deep sense of responsibility to my family and to our community as a whole. Let me begin with one of the most pressing issues facing families across the country. Food insecurity. While we're fortunate to live in a supportive and relatively stable town, no community is entirely immune.
Eggs are one of the most affordable and protein rich food sources available. And raising hens offers a direct sustainable solution to reducing reliance on the grocery stores, especially during times of supply chain disruption, inflation or personal hardship. A small flock of hens can provide a consistent source of fresh, nutritious eggs at a fraction of a cost over time. But this is about more than food. It is about education and empowerment. As a homeschooling parent, I strive to give my children a hands-on meaningful education. Backyard chickens teach biology, ecology, responsibility, and even economics.
My children learn where their food comes from, not in a textbook, but in real life. They learn the value of care, consistency and stewardship, and that kind of learning, that connection to the land and to life is something no classroom can replicate. There's also growing awareness in our society about food transparency, knowing where our food comes, comes from, how it's produced and what goes into it. Raising your own hands ensures humane treatment, a clean environment and better egg quality, free from unnecessary antibiotics or chemicals. This is a step towards self-reliance and conscious living. I understand there may be concerns about property values,
noise or smell, but allow me to speak from an educated and evidence-based standpoint. Hence, not roosters are quiet animals. In fact, they produce less noise than a barking dog or a lawnmower. A queen, a clean, well-managed coop does not produce odor. Manure when composted becomes a rich natural fertilizer for gardens. Closing the loop in a sustainable household system. Studies and municipal experiences across the country from urban Seattle to suburban areas like ours have shown that ba small black backyard flocks do not negatively impact
neighbors or property values when managed responsibly. This is a quiet revolution, one that brings people closer to their food, educates our next generation and strengthens food security on a grassroots level. Backyard chickens are not a nuisance. They're an opportunity, an opportunity for education, sustainability, and community resilience. I urge all of you here to support this initiative, not just for those of us who raise the chickens, but for what it represents, which is independence, responsibility, and a smarter future. And that's, Thank you. Thank you, thank you. All set. Anyone else like to speak in favor of this?
She does. I'm sorry. No, the little one. Oh, Hi. I am Ksenia Lac. I'm a resident of 26 Pleasant Street. I just came to say that I'm in favor. Um, I came here and I was like five months pregnant with my daughter. She's like one and a half now. So I've been coming for a while, but I just wanna say I'm still in support. And it's a great way for kids, for, it's, it's educational. It's really good for our health. Um, you know, where your eggs are coming from, you know, where your breakfast is coming from. Six eggs can easily pro six chickens can easily produce five
to six eggs a day. That's what, that's one carton every two days, which is already saving a lot of household, um, money, which, I mean, food is really going up in price and it's something, I mean, we all eat in the morning, so it's a great start for anybody. I mean, watch, you guys wanna get it too. So Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak in favor? Seeing none? I'm looking for a motion counselor. And before we get, uh, to the motion, I just wanna mention that it, you know, it is may, um, and hens are laying eggs right now.
Um, so if we, if we delay things, uh, it's just gonna delay this season. Um, if we, um, move it forward. And if, if we can get this done, then, then people can have, hes before the season is over this year. Um, Okay. So I'll, I'll, I'll defer to Councilor Fiy for a motion. Okay. Uh, before I make the motion, I'd like to say some people probably wonder why the six is, the number six is the fewest amount of pulses you can buy. You have to buy at least six. So that's why that number is there.
So I'd like to make a motion to continue the public hearing until after the planning board meets on Tuesday. Second. Motion made. And second. Any further discussion? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? If anybody here would like to leave, if you're done with that, I'm gonna take a couple minute recess here so you can go, you're welcome to stay, but if you don't want to, you can go, I've never done this before. Is there a, will there be more discussion about this? Or is there anything I contribute by saying Yep. So Until the end or I'll just go to my, So, so the pro the process is
that the public hearing's gonna remain open. Okay. So the next time we have a public hearing open, you can come back and, and ask more questions or make more comments. How Does this type of situation, like how did, how long did the title go on for? And how can I make sure that I'm being involved in the correct way? I and Senator, um, some more information way than I did hear lot of education, but if there any way that could be more beneficial to this whole Process, the city website will have the, when the next public hearing is, and you're welcome to, you know, take a look at that.
And like I said, you can have more input at the, when you come to the next meeting. Oh, And also Councilor Figi, just not the planning board's. Public hearing is Tuesday night, so you can feel free to attend that. Councilor Morgane. Thank you Mr. President. No, just accolades to the young people in the room tonight that came out as a voice. It, it's very impressive. Uh, it's, it's great to see younger people in these chambers coming out to, to speak their mind and on something that's so important to them. So thank you. Well, for Whoever could just tell her what the next public hearing is. Council figure. Yeah, I'd just like to say that, uh,
the motion is to continue to our next meeting. So the next council meeting, May 15th to May 15th. Two weeks. Okay. It looks like everybody's clearing out like 72 there. I'll go there first. Pronounce the last name quickly. Yes, we have all moving on. Yeah, you can send me. Sure. Moving on. Reports of committees, finance committee. Item nine, councilor Sullivan.
Thank you Mr. President. Uh, finance committee is met and on a three zero vote recommends the appropriation of $1,072,804 and 83 cents from free cash to engineering department construction account for the cost associated with sidewalk upgrades and repairs. I move approval. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion council. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I'm gonna take the conversation here in two ways. Uh, the first one is, um, the reason to, um, do the sidewalks right now is that quite honestly,
we're gonna get 60% more sidewalks with this money on the current contract. Then if we wait until the next fiscal year when the current contract will have expired, and we'll have to be rebid. We know the costs are gonna go up substantially. Um, and so doing the projects now gets, literally gets us 60% more. They know there's gonna be cost increase, um, on, on blacktop, but more importantly on concrete because there's, um, some of the minerals that are in the concrete, there's tariffs on, so they already know they're gonna go up.
In addition with the sidewalks, there's the steel mesh. Um, and, um, the contractors already put the city on notice that those costs are gonna go up, um, as well just for that piece of the construction. Um, again, because that there are tariffs coming on that, um, also, so from a financial point of view, um, spending this million dollars on sidewalks makes considerably more sense to spend it in currently under the existing contract. Then waiting. The other part of the conversation is, um, the, uh, city engineer was, was in the finance committee meeting.
And by spending the million $72,000, now the mayor is reducing her budget for fiscal 26 by the million dollars. So there is no sidewalk construction in next fiscal year's budget. So there's a course funding cut, if you will, to the engineering department for fiscal 26. My concern was, and I raised in finance, is that you've heard the mayor tonight and you've heard the mayor a number of times before, say next year's budget is gonna be really bad. Um, so the free cash that we currently have is gonna have
to be smartly spent, um, because I do think you're gonna have to use some free cash where you can to leverage cuts in fiscal 26. So since this expenditure not only is fiscally smart in terms of the sidewalk construction, it also has a corresponding cut to next year's budget of the million dollars, which still, by the way, is already taken into account with the numbers that the mayor put forward tonight. Um, and just as a side note, um, I think everybody including the public should expect, and I think it's right, that, um,
it's gonna be a delayed budget season in terms of when we see that budget, um, given the amount of work that's gonna happen, which means finance will still have plenty of time. Um, but I fully suspect as someone who for 14 years did not give the city council, um, a, a budget until the night of vocational, um, graduation, which is usually the first Thursday in June. Um, I have no problem with that and I'd rather get it right the first time. So I fully expect to see that later. Um, but we will be looking at these free cash allocations, um, in terms of being able to help
at least balance next year's budget as well. So, um, for that, I would urge my fellow counselors to support this appropriation Council. Me. Thank you Mr. President. Uh, if I may through the chair, do, where are these sidewalks? We do have that. So it is High Street, Fremont Street, Butler Street, Chestnut Street, Ashley Street, state Street, and Taylor Street. So it is in the downtown areas, predominantly Wards two and three. Those are the ones, those are also under the sidewalk, um, program. When they look at the ratings in terms of which ones need
to be replaced, um, these are the ones that are at the top of the list. They are in the downtown areas, which I, um, believe people will be supportive of. Um, I will also note that all of these projects are coming in after the utilities have already been replaced, if they're being replaced. So the Genie has already done their work. If there was water work that's already been done. So it's a case of we do not want to go back and rip things up after the fact. So this has been a coordinated effort by engineering and our other departments that have pipes in the,
or utilities in the ground. So this is the last thing to do in those streets. Thank you Councilor Figi. I'm all set. You're good. Thanks. Anything further? Councilor Miller? Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I called the engineer today to find out if there was anything we could do that would be cheaper than this concrete that blew up in price. And it turns out that there in fact is not, I am not pleased about the fact that the choice tonight is whether or not to spend a million dollars in environmental justice communities. When we had to blow 300,000 on sidewalks
that weren't even on the list originally, that all ended up in front of somebody's neighborhood. And I'm not pleased about that. I'm really not pleased because you can't come to me and say, oh, you've got this big budget problem when 300,000 just got approved, like on the back end, and then it had to come out from somebody else's money. So I'm not pleased. This doesn't seem transparent or right, but I understand the position that the engineer is in, and I believe that Wards two and three deserve places where people can walk without falling. So I'm a yes, but I'm not a happy Yes. Thank you.
Anything further? Roll. Cop Madson Sullivan? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? Yes. Shandy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane? Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan Elli? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Thank you. Item 10, Councillor Sullivan. Um, Yes. Uh, thank you Mr. President. Finances met. Um, and on a three nothing vote, um, has voted to leave this in committee. Second. Second. Motion made it second. Any further discussion? Councilor? Uh, yes. The, we had asked a couple questions
and, um, so the auditor and some other department heads are gonna supply some information on this. Okay, great. Any further discussion? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Item 11, counselor Bean. Thank You. Mr. President. Finance committee has met with an approval of three to zero for the appropriation of $16,768 and 20 cents from free cash to off street parking purchase of service account for drainage improvements on Central Street. Lot. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, counsel? Yeah, this is, uh, this project is, is coming to us kind
of a bit unforeseen. It's surrounding a lawsuit, uh, from an abutter. Uh, this is drainage work that will be done. It's that parking lot right behind the police station. Uh, that runoff has, uh, affected an abuts property. So part of the, uh, settlement is to fix the drainage there and hopefully rectify the situation. Anything further? Seeing none. Roll call. Madam City Court. Sullivan? Yes. Allie? Yes. Beam? Yes. Bill. Randy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Vicky? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthew Kane? Yes.
Meow. Yes. Morgan? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Thank you. Item 12, councilor Bean. Thank you Mr. President. Uh, if finance committees met and gives a three zero approval for the appropriation of $15,625. From free cash to the city Clerk's office, additional equipment, uh, small equipment account to purchase of 11 poll pads. So moved. Second. Motion. Made it seconded. Further discussion, counsel. So this money, uh, there is some existing funds within the city clerk's budget, uh, a little over $3,000. The whole project is 19,000, uh, $75.
Uh, although this says it's just 11 pads, it also includes, uh, the portable printers that go with those particular pads. Uh, we have existing pads currently. We found out that they work very well when it comes to, uh, the polling places, absentee ballots and so forth. This will get rid of the paper process. Um, and what we found in coming from the city clerk who was there in front of us, uh, giving us, uh, the explanation of the process or the, uh, the equipment is that it really helps with accuracy. Uh, that's been, so the paper will disappear. Um, and, uh, this will have one for check-in
and we'll have, uh, one for people checking out, which isn't required by state law, but, uh, we are doing that as far as the law had changed back in 2022, I believe, for the checkout people first, but we're still doing it. Thank You. Anything further? Councilor Fike. Thank you. This does not replace the paper ballot, however, we still will have paper ballot. Correct? I, I meant what I meant to say about paper is the check-in when we Right. You know, the book that they go through to try to find who you are. Council. All. Alright, I just wanted the clarification.
So it's basically the check in and checkout, right? Correct. Aspect of it. Alright, Anything further? Seeing none. Roll call. Mme. Sullivan? Yes, Allie? Can I have one more question if I may? So let's say they've made a mistake just somehow does the system actually catch that? So Go ahead, counselor Sullivan. There will actually be backup paper at the exit. Yeah. So it doesn't get rid of all the paper. There'll still be a backup paper. Yeah, I was just wondering about that one. And they never make mistakes. Okay, Roll call. Madam City Court. Allie? Yes.
Bean? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Figg? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane? Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Item 13. Councilor Figgy. Thank you Mr. President. On April 30th, finance committee met on the appropriation of $950 for free cash of the Conservation Commission purchase service account to replace and balance four new tires for the department's vehicle. And on a three zero vol vote to recommend approval of this item. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, counsel? Yeah, apparently the pictures that were
provided to the committee show a four bald tires. So it's not safe, especially when they try to Do some off-roading. So it's appropriate that they get four new tires. Anything further? Councilor Burns? Yeah, real Quick question. Are they driving this car anymore? They shouldn't be driving that. They shouldn't. It's floating. Yes, they are driving. Thank you. Mr. Burn. Anything further? Roll call. Members. Sullivan? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? Yes. Shandy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Fige? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthew Cain? Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan. Elliot? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Legislative and ordinance committee.
Item 14. Councilor Oniskey. Thank you Mr. President. On April 30th, LO Matt. And upon a two zero vote, uh, voted to leave item 14, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute documents relative to an agricultural preservation restriction of 16 acres on North Road. Uh, to leave this in committee. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion Counselor, Discuss. Oh, I'm sorry. I've got nothing. So is there, is there a time limit? I mean, I know there is a time limit on how way long we have
to act unless it just automatically goes into Effect. Uh, we're gonna be within any time limit. That's set. I checked with the city planner. Okay, great. Thank you. The leaving committee. All in favor? A opposed? Item 15. Council Oniskey. Thank you. Item 15 is an ordinance amending chapter 18, article two, division three, division of public work section 18 dash 1 22, refuse and recycling and ano met on this item, uh, on April 30th. And, uh, upon a two zero vote, voted to bring it
to Full City Council with no recommendation. Second. Motion made it seconded. Further discussion, Counsel? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, there, there is a minor change in here that clarified some of the, uh, questions that were brought up in the past. Uh, the fee is, you know, two 60 and I'll go through that in a minute. But, uh, it says here that annually, the fee annually, which will include one refuse barrel and one recycling barrel. Okay. And then there was a typo with a period in there that got corrected on the, uh, the revised ordinance.
Um, the mayor spoke about this, you know, several times. Uh, the rates haven't changed, um, since, um, I think it was, oh gosh, I forget the year. Uh, 2002, 19 9, 19 90. Um, the last expenses we used to remove, well, hang on, lemme get my notes. Sorry I can't. We spent $7.9 million of taxpayer money for, uh, helping with the trash fee.
Trash fee is now $85 a year. The, uh, proposed increase is to $260. Um, in 2024, $2 million from the general fund was used to, uh, supplement the $1 million from the trash fee. Uh, that has gone up. Well, it, it's risen since 2019. At one point we were getting, the city was getting paid for recycling that no longer happens. Uh, and that's, you know, just one of the increases
that we've been been seeing. So that's all I have on it. Everything else, uh, you know, the mayor's really discussed, right? Councilor Matthews, Kane, and then Morgane. Thank you Mr. President. Um, when we first started talking about this, I had a lot of concerns because the fee was going up so much and I hear from people that they're challenged and I hear the most from our senior citizens. So it's the ones who really reach out to me. They're really upset. They're, they, they feel like any cost, they're on a fixed income. And so originally I was inclined to vote against it
because I don't wanna burden people who can't afford to pay. But I think I found a workaround for my problem. I'm gonna make a motion to amend and I hope it will be seconded, at least for discussion. So the current ordinance and section C says, for those permanent Westfield residents, 65 years of age or older, who own and occupy a unit as a principal residence, one such resident per household may apply to the Board of Public Works or its designee for 10% discount from the solid waste management fee is set at section 18 dash 1 22.
Applications for abatement for reasons other than the senior discount shall be submitted in writing to and determined by the board. I'd like a motion to amend to this For those permanent Westfield residents who own and occupy a unit as a principal residence. One such resident per household may apply to the Board of Public Works or its designee for a 50% discount from the solid waste management fee as set at section 18 dash 1 22. If they receive one of the following, the senior circuit breaker Massachusetts income tax credit,
the 41 a real estate tax deferral, A 41 C real estate tax exemption, or 17 d real estate tax exemption. There's a second. So we can, I can discuss it. Second, Second. A second for discussion. Second. Yeah, motion made it seconded. Any further discussion? Counselor? So First of all, I've had this looked at by legal and it's legally correct. I, the assessor also said that it would work. And I've spoken to the mayor and he says in terms of, you know, there'll be some manpower to do this. He's willing to make that happen.
Basically what we're doing now is we're giving a 10% discount to any senior who applies. So that means you can be a multimillionaire and you can get a 10% discount and you can also, or the reverse is true, you can be really struggling and you can apply and you can get a 10% discount. What this does is takes away the discount for any senior who applies and only gives it to people who are passing a means based test, which means somebody's looking at their assets or looking at their income and saying that this is someone who could use this break.
And there's the four categories, one's based off the state income tax, um, application. And the other three are deferrals or exemptions that we give in the city. So the paperwork's already done. Um, I think giving a 10% discount to people who are multimillionaires is not a good idea and we should give a bigger discount to people who need it. And I guess the remaining question would be like, how much is this going to cost? And I ran the numbers, Um, and I actually ran the numbers and I learned afterwards. So there's 648 people in Westfield who get
that senior circuit breaker and I found out that you can get that if you're a homeowner or if you rent. And we will not be giving this, um, rebate to anyone who's renting. It's only going to homeowners. We don't know what the breakout is of that 6 48. And you can also assume that anyone who's getting the deferrals or exemptions falls into that category. If you assume that, let's say you assume that two thirds of the circuit breakers apply, they're getting a 50% reduction, which brings it to 130 times the 432 people,
that's $56,160. If we are currently, if we increase the number and we give that 10% discount, that is, Where did I put that? That's 50 $52,130. So it's roughly the same amount of money would be giving out as a discount, but instead it would go to people who most need it. And I'm much more inclined to vote for this if I know people who need a break are gonna get it. Alright, so now, yes, Council meow. Uh,
thank you Mr. President. I, um, love the idea of the amendment, But I'm a hard no on the ordinance unless I get the answer to my question from last meeting, which is why it needs to be done and why the ordinance as written can't be used. I'm happy to make a change if somebody can tell me why the change needs to be made. But I'm not happy with an, I don't know and I'm not gonna answer the question. And since we have both the mayor and a member of the law department here, I'm wondering whether or not we can get that answer now so that I can make my decision with fully informed consent.
Thank you. Okay, Councilor Bean, just a question to the chair. Was this discussed at all within subcommittee? We received the suggestion yesterday at 1247. Our meeting was at five o'clock, or I'm sorry, five 30. I read the proposed amendment at about five o'clock after I got done with work. Okay. No, it wasn't discussed. Thank you Councilor Sullivan. Just, just a, I guess a question to the maker or the amendment. Um, I'm less optimistic on your number in terms of
how many people use it, but I'll take the 6 48 people that currently get it or at least are capable. Is that the most of the four criteria that you set out in this amendment? Is that the most people that apply and Get, so there's two people getting the real estate tax deferral. There's 40 people getting the real estate, the 17 d tax exemption, and there's 59 people getting the 41 C. So everyone would be 749 people. But I, speaking to the city's assessor, she said she can't imagine a world where the deferrals
and exemptions aren't also getting the senior circuit breaker. So she felt like, as I felt that it, you could use that 6 48 number. So I'm just gonna be more conservative than that and I'm gonna take the 7 49 number. Okay. Times half the fee times half. So it's $140 you're proposing as the abatement 130. Yeah. So that's $97,370 that doesn't get collected of the cost. Yeah, Constable math came
So first that would be every single person would have to apply. Yeah. And, and also I want you to think about what's the 10% break that we're already giving away, Right? So That's 50. And so how many multimillionaires are getting that 10%? I'm going to guess zero. So I, I get the $97,000 that's gonna come off just so everybody else understands that doesn't make the trash bill, which has gone up exponentially mostly due to disposal costs.
That means everybody else is sharing in that $97,000. 'cause the cost for that doesn't go down by 97, it just means it gets raised someplace else, whether it's other users or whether the city of Westfield subsidizes that through the general fund. So I get where you're trying to go, just as long as everybody understands what we're trying to do, I can support the motion if we're gonna go to the mayor's request at 2 60 60 Annually. Yeah. If that's where you're going, if this is for that motion, I can support that.
Council burns. Yeah. Thank you Mr. President. You know, this is all, I mean, I'm a senior myself, but um, there's other people struggling. There's younger people struggling that probably make less than seniors. Um, you know, a family of five, six, whatever. And uh, this is just for seniors. We should, if we're gonna do this, we should probably look at a, at, at, at at other, uh, age groups. And I mean, I'm not a multimillionaire, but I, but I, I, I won't qualify for this for sure. But Go ahead counselor. Thank you. So I did talk to the assessor about that.
And we did play, we played with including like a hundred veterans who have a hundred percent disability and blind people. There's no like, legal mechanism to find all the low income people in the city and give them That, that wouldn't be a ton of manpower. We would have to, we'd almost have to hire some, you know what I mean? It would be a lot of manpower in a huge application process. The reason why this, these three, four categories work is three of them are already within the city and the paperwork's been filled. And then that senior circuit breaker, they just have to give a copy of their Massachusetts income tax
and that's how they can prove that they qualify. So it wouldn't be a lot of paperwork. And we did try, we toyed with expanding it and we couldn't come up with something that would work. Alright, so the amendment, just so we're clear, is based on the two 60 that was submitted. So Council ky Thank you Mr. President. I mean there is a sense of urgency on a vote of, of some type tonight, uh, in order to get whatever happens to the budget. Uh, although, you know, I completely trust the councilors, you know, on my left numbers, this hasn't been vetted
by any committee, so I'm gonna be a no on the amendment till we can at least or talk about in a committee or send it to a committee to discuss. Um, I I'm just uncomfortable doing it. Hearing a five minute, uh, discussion On Councilor Bean and Councilor Ali. Yeah, uh, I commend the counselor to my left. I, I I, I like the idea. I always had a huge problem with just the senior aid. I felt it was discrimination on that age discrimination on all the stuff we've done. I know politically it's probably not, you know, popular to say, but, um, I'd rather help people that need help,
not somebody that, you know, ticks a number over 65 or 62 or 68, whatever the number might be. Um, the reality is we need money to run the department. I've been on the council since 2002, I think is when one of those changes were made. We haven't touched that rate in years. Um, and I know there's always been some debate about, um, you know, what the fee was for, um, uh, pick up or, you know, landfills so forth. Um, and I know this amendment is based off of the two 60.
Um, I am concerned moving forward, even if, you know, if if things do get truncated that we will be then back in this place one year from now. The prices aren't going down, they're going up dramatically. This is, you know, you're seeing it with the schools. We just talked about a bunch of things with the schools. We talked about it with, uh, sludge hauling. Um, you know, it's, it, it's, and I'm not above it, but we've played politics with these fees. I, I think long enough and that's why, you know, I'd like to see it go with the department that deals with it day in
and day out personally. And I know the reality we did it with the water department and we weren't thrilled with the 40% increase. But I think those things need to happen. Uh, it's, it's something that we have not done well. Uh, and, and I think our mistake, at least my mistake and I can speak to it because that was in 2002, is that we didn't incrementally keep up with the cost of doing business. So if this is a way to really help people, uh, that need the help, uh, and, uh, and some of those are seniors, which is great.
Um, I, I'm, I'm gonna support, uh, the, the two 60 as well as the amendment on that particular motion. Councilor Ali, then Morgan Alley, a Mr. President, and, um, I'm gonna support this as well on committee, on your work. Um, I don't understand how you run a business or an enterprise that on an annual basis the cost went up and to your point comes to me that the report wasn't, and, and this is what it's gonna be this year and we're going to add, rather than taking outta the general fund.
'cause there's no accountability there anyways. And everybody's paying it where it became like, okay, costs went up 3% this year and this figure, and it just aligned in the budget just like anything else. I, I don't how know how you go years and years and years and government does it all the time. Chapter 90 be another point of contention. You know, so you have to pay for business. I mean, I, I don't understand how you keep going like this. This should become a, a rapport every year. And we do the budget. This is what it's reflecting and obviously we're doing it now. This should have been done every year
and it just became a line in the budget. So I'm gonna, and I commend you and your work. 'cause that's, that's important because everybody's gonna get hammered, you know, but this always belonged way. The mayor had mentioned, like, um, in government you can't, like, um, it's not for profit. You have to, well, at least hit your budget. Let's at least put the money in the budget and it, you know, so it's what it is. But I just destroyed a pen. But Council Elli then council, I'm happy either. That's okay. Thank, thank you, Mr. President. Um, yeah, I mean I, I love the idea of giving seniors a, a break. Um, there's other municipalities in
Massachusetts that do that. Um, I just, just googled. I mean, the highest trash fee in Massachusetts is $432, uh, for a year. Um, so I, although I do like that, um, I concur with, uh, council Inky on, on his, his comment that, um, you know, we're, we're doing this. And I do have a, a, a question through the chair if I may. What, what did the mayor say when you, you talked about senior discount. He, he didn't say if he was for or against it, but he says if it passes, he's happy to do the administrative part, which he would oversee.
And just, just to clarify something as far as this goes, this came out of committee with no recommendation. So we're doing this on the floor. Mm-hmm. So this is a committee meeting as we speak. Mm-hmm. So this, you know, and the other thing that I will say is that, you know, there, it's hard to budget for an unknown when you don't know what that fee's gonna be on a yearly basis. And it's gone up exponentially recently. So it's very hard to, to do that, just like what happened with our health insurance. Um, but we've got Councilor Figi. Yeah. I can tell you when this really hit the fan was when I was acting mayor. Um,
So Only two months. And finally we know it. What happened was that's when the recycling no longer was paying and we had to pay the same amount you pay for trash to get rid of the recycling. As an acting mayor, I had no power or authority to do anything, but I did call all the other people from the surrounding areas. We had, uh, representative of Springfield Ag on West Springfield and Chicopee and Hoyo come in and try to figure out what we were gonna do, and that's where we were. But then I handed it off to the incoming mayor.
Uh, but that's when the prices skyrocketed. So it was unfortunate that happened. Uh, but that's where we're at. I'm, I'm going to support this because I can't, I cannot stomach the idea of more cuts, especially if we're talking to the school 43 positions already. And if we have to take more, I don't know, I, I don't know about you, but I can't, I can't live with that. So I'm gonna support this. I think it's a good idea that Councilor Matthews Kane has had. I know we haven't had a lot of time to vent it.
It's coming at us fast, but it, it sounds like it's got some relief elements that people were looking for. So I will be a Supporter. Councilor Fanon, then Melo, then I'm gonna move the question. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I do like the idea of the amendment, but my question is, does this amendment only apply to the two 60 or does it also apply to the 1 75? If the 1 75 was passed? It just applies to the two 60. It's based on the two 60 right now. Okay. So if you vote for the amendment, you're voting for the two 60, You're gonna have a second vote on the, on the actual,
but the amendment is gonna be based on the two 60. Okay. Councillor Harrison, I'm sorry. Councilor Mellow and then Harris. Thank you Mr. President. Um, so I get confused when we do the amendment and then the thing, so I'm, even though I totally support the amendment, I'm gonna say no just to make sure that I'm safe, unless I understand exactly why we need to amend this thing in first place. And so if I hear an answer, then maybe my answer will change. But until then, there is no transparency, there is no honesty, and there is no from me. Thank you
Councillor Harris. Well, thanks, Mr. President. A couple weeks ago when this came in, I said I would not vote for $260 going from $85 a year to 260. I consider something else, but I've already given my word to all the citizens that I will not vote for two 60. The amendment's a great idea, but I still can't vote for two 60. 'cause I gave my word. Uh, I wanna thank the mayor because he did refer to what I had suggested to him. Um, I thought it was just totally rebuffed, but obviously he did give it some thought about putting this
back into the general fund, that your trash fee should be in your taxes and not a separate fee in the water fee. So he obviously did give that some thought and, uh, did not think that that was a good idea. So if you change the figure from two 60, I might be able to do something, but at this point I've given my word. Alright, so we're gonna have a roll call on the amendment, and I'm gonna clarify this. There's two votes, okay? We're voting on the amendment first, and then you're gonna vote on the actual change. Okay? So yes. Last, last time. To
Further clarify though, you could vote yes on the amendment and then No. On the whole motion, correct. Clarify this deal. Okay. I just wanna make sure Everybody knows that Roll call on the amendment. Nick Sullivan. I love the fact that I'm first tonight. So do I just Saying, so that means we're first on the ballot, right? Oh, no. We don't wanna change that rule. Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? Yes. Bill. Randy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Figy? Yes. Harris? Yes. Woods. Matthews Vote Yes. Mellow. Only the amendment right? That's all. Yes. Yes. Morgan? Yes. Eski? No.
Okay. Now to the original, the ordinance, this is gonna be a well call vote. So voting on this now puts it through at two 60 with the amendment in place. Sullivan? Yes. Allie, go ahead. No, they got the, it's the 2 65, right? Sorry? Two 60 with the, with the amendment. Yes. With the senior discount. Yes. Bean? Yes. Shandy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Companion? Yes. Vicky? Yes. Harris? No. Matthews. Kane? Yes. Meow. No. Morgan. Ellie. Yes. Oniskey? No. Okay. Eight, three. So it passes. Passes. It passes.
Um, And Let's see. It's Inordinance. So we gotta do it by first reading by title only. Who has the, uh, document? Does somebody have it? Uh, I've got the doc. I don't have the revised document. I have with the, the amended document. It's an ordinance amending the code of ordinances. City of Westfield, adopted June 17th, 1993. Thank you. You're welcome. As amended. As amended. As amended. Good job. Counsel. You comfortable with that as the reading? Yeah. Why not? Second. Motion made. And second. And any further discussion. Roll call please. Oh, I'm sorry. We're just going to second meeting.
Motion for second or next meeting? Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion. Just Point of order. Just given the necessity that the mayor has put out since the law department is sitting here, is, would it be possible if the council wanted to entertain waiving and doing it all? Or is, does the ordinance and bylaws of the city prevent us from doing it in a single night? In We could do it and then if it's not right, we can put that. And I don't know that the council even has the desire to do that. I'm just asking the question. I guess that would help with the budget. Timing, well
Time-wise for the budget. 'cause otherwise I'd make a motion to suspend Second. Yeah, but the name would count on it because he motion made to suspend a motion. It's gotta have publication suspend. You need a, you need an emergency preamble. Ordinance. You need the two readings. Right? And if you want to waive that, you need an emergency preamble Beforehand? No. Okay. Ex city clerk sitting there. We got an ex mayor and a ex city clerk. I, I would've still done it, but that's okay. So we're gonna moving on to second reading at the next meeting, I guess. Yes, Mr. President. Okay. All in favor? Opposed?
Now on for second reading. Personal action committee. Item 16, councilor Harris. Yep. Thanks Mr. President. Uh, 16 is a reappointment as she read to the Position. First assistant city solicitor for a three year term to expire in May, 2028. And the Personal action committee voted to recommend that reappointment. Second. Second motion made it seconded. Further discussion, councilor Harris. Sure. Attorney Reed has been with the law department for over 15 years. Over that time, she's worked with the city council, city boards and commissions and city departments. Most recently, she's been the chief negotiator for the city
handling the city's collective bargaining agreements, as well as advising on all other labor and employment matters. She does arbitration and matters before the Department of Labor Relations and Civil Service and reviews and approves personal services agreements for the city and schools. Brief summary of her work undertaken since her last reappointment include oversees the work of attorneys and paralegals in the law office. Manages the law department's budget and hiring of outside counsel. Title Examiner Surveyors based on need. As mentioned previously, handles the negotiation of all nine of the city's collective bargaining agreements, reviews
and signs all city and school contracts for goods and services. Negotiates purchase and sale agreements, leases, easements, inter municipal agreements, host community agreements, advises all city departments on any legal matters that come before them, such as health code violations, building code violations, grant agreements, DEP, wetland appeals, personnel policies and procurement. She monitors legislative changes and participates in continued education on the always changing legal field to protect our city. And all the counselors have received all the information in regards to her, uh, position.
Anything further? Just Council Sullivan. Just through the chair. The mayor recommended the reappointment. Yes. Thank you. Anything further? Roll call. Madam City Clerk Sullivan? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? No. Bill Trendy? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? Yes. Gie? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthew Skain. Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Thank you. Item 17. Council Harris, Thank you. 17 Is reappointment of Megan Bristol to the position
of Assistant city solicitor for a three year term to expire in May, 2028. And Personal Action Committee voted to approve that, um, and recommend that re reappointment second Motion made it seconded for the discussion Council? Yes, the mayor has requested the council to confirm Attorney Bristol's reappointment and a recommendation by Attorney Reed for her reappointment based on her knowledge, attention to detail and ability to grasp complex legal matters. Attorney Bristol's been an invaluable member of the law department for nine years, working closely with the treasurer collector on tax foreclosures and is well versed in the negotiation of airport based documents.
Attorney Reed also states that Attorney Bristol can be given any task and that task is handled in a timely, satisfactory manner. Attorney Bristol has detailed in a letter given to all counselors for multifaceted responsibilities, working with the City Department heads and elected and appointed officials to provide them with legal advice on any issue. Laws, ordinances, documents, contracts. She worked with the City Treasurer collector regarding tax related matters including delinquent tax collection and lien foreclosures, which because of recent state law amendments has emerged as an important area of law.
She represents the Board of Assessors and Appellate Tax Board Appeals, including trials. She represents the city in a number of state agencies, state court and federal court actions, which have been necessarily confidential details. She still manages since 2018. The city's water litigation matters. She looks forward to all the extensive work she's gonna have and has done with the airport regarding lease development and negotiations, grants, military joint use, related issues, land use and FAA compliance. Thank you. Anything further? Councilor? All Thank Mr. President.
Um, yeah, I I would like to definitely, uh, commend, uh, Megan Bristol. Um, we worked for about a year and a half on the fire pit ordinance and there was like excessive fines that you can't even imagine for something that is legal and manufactured. And it was a year and a half of the finer of not writing something because it dealt with the atmosphere. Um, and in public health and safety. We actually took it out ano. It was, I think when council was on it and It, It was the craziest thing to deal with, you know,
but the fines were like through the roof and they even slipped in poison pills that we had to deal with. And it was a year and a half of work and she was just amazing because it was, it was not easy to do and we had to pass it. So I like to definitely commend her because, um, it's kind of, it was a weird situation to deal with and it was out of our purview, but yet we still had to try to deal with it. So I'd like to thank her for that. Anything further? Just quick. Councilor Bean? Yeah. Uh, I haven't had a lot of interaction, uh, with, uh, the attorney, but, um, every time
that I have is it's been, uh, professional and she's been very knowledgeable, especially with some of the work on the executive session stuff. So I commend her and, uh, I'm fully support of the Appointment. Anything further? Roll call. Madam Clerk Sullivan? Yes. Allie? Absolutely. Beam? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Yes. Fi Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane? Yes. Meow. Yes. Morgan Elliot? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Zoning Planning and Development Committee. Item 18. Councilor Fanon. Thank you. Mr. President. Um, ZPD met on April 30th, 2025
and we voted two zero to refer this item to the Planning, um, planning board and schedule a public hearing at the earliest practical date. Second. Motion made it seconded. Any further discussion? Council? No. It'll be out Public hearing. Council B? Yeah, Just a quick one. This is, uh, one of the items I brought forward of, of adding some of these, uh, zone, um, by right uses in particular to zoning in with industrial. A uh, I just wanna commend the committee on working on this. Sometimes this stuff gets a little tedious. You, you look at to comes from Morgan Ellie's point with, uh, some of the ordinances in the language and stuff.
A lot of it needs to be updated. A lot of it needs, you know, just a modernization of, of wording and, you know, just the way it's written. So I I and I appreciate the, uh, committee meeting on that particular item and only that particular item at seven o'clock the other night, so I appreciate that. Thank you. Anything further? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Unfinished business Item 19. Council Ky. Thank you Mr. President. I'd like to make a motion for second reading and final passage of an ordinance entitled Chapter eight, health and Environmental Regulations, article seven,
marijuana with an amendment. Second. Second. Motion Made and seconded. Counselor? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, after looking at this, between first reading and now, uh, with, uh, attorney Valdez, uh, section eight point or eight dash 1 71 could have been confusing to, uh, a regular person reading it. It was a bit confusing to me. It legally was fine, but I wanted to clarify it so it now reads, no person shall consume or display marijuana
or cause odors reasonably detectable by an individual with average sensitivity to emit from marijuana in any form on any street sidewalk way in which the general public is afforded access or on any city owned, operated or leased buildings or land. So that, that clarified it in in my claims. Okay. So as amended? Yes. Anything further on? Roll call. Madam City Clerk Sullivan? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanny? Yes. Harris? Yes.
Matthews. Kane? Yes. Mellow? Yes. Morgan Alley? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Thank you. Item 20. Council Ky. Thank you Mr. President. I would like to, uh, have a vote to reconsider Ordinance 1773. Chapter 13. Article five, division two, wetland Protection Ordinance. That was previously passed by city council and it was actually second toed by the mayor. Second motion made it seconded. Further discussion. Counsel, please. Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, there was one word in one location that caused a little bit of, of angst, um,
with this, and that was with open space versus open land. So the new ordinance reads under chapter 13, article five, division two, wetlands 13 dash 1 76. Purpose resource areas values protected by the ordinance. Number 13, open space and passive recreation shall be corrected to open land and passive recreation. It might seem like a minor, uh, minor change, but open land includes grasslands, agriculture, um,
fields, but open spaces actually has a legal, um, uh, there is a legal term about protected conservation land and forested land, recreation land, agricultural land. So there wouldn't be any confusion more than I might be adding right now. Um, when when we do actually use the ordinance, it will be much more clear. Alright, so Councilor Meow and then Councilor Morgan. Thank you Mr. President. Um, I would just like to add that open space is considered a value
that is protected by the state. Um, and so to remove it from this rather than modify it seems like it would be a mistake. And the reason that I say that is because it is predicated on a letter that has a problem with it. Because when I looked up whether or not you can spend, um, community preservation funds on wetlands, it turns out. You can't. So the letter that tells us that we need to change this tells us something that does not turn out
to be a hundred percent verifiable. And so, while I was completely down with amending the ordinance so that the enforcement arm and the regulatory action could be taken, making this change based on a memo that is not accurate seems very foolish, very wrong. And it's going to have some kind of unintended consequence because I wouldn't have a letter in front of me telling me something that wasn't true unless there was something going on. And so I, I am an absolute no to the amendment
because there, there's something not right about it. And I know that I have been doing this long enough to trust my intuition. I know that the amendment is wrong. Thank you, council, Or, Well, I can't, and then you specifically address, you know, your, your question or concern. But the, um, we do have open space regulations in place and in order, hopefully, like I said, not to confuse it, that's, that's why it was removed in this instance.
Right? It wasn't confusing before. Councilor Morgan Elli. Thank you, Mr. President. And through the chair, if I may, um, to the committee, uh, this addresses the concerns, uh, that the mayor had with this As well. Yes. Yeah. Thank you. This again, now this is going back in the beginning. So this is gonna have to be the first reading. No, no, because we can actually make this change now. Mm-hmm. Okay. Because it was vetoed. We can, we can do what we're doing. Anything, counselor. So this is my first time with a veto, so I'm not sure, should we, but are we just gonna do it right now? Yes. Yes. Or can we send it to committee?
It, it, it just, I may, yes. Uh, advisement from the law department. We, we can do it now. Uh, I, I don't see a reason to send it back to committee, uh, for this one explanation here. Councilor Fanon. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, based on Councilor Romeo's concerns about the letter about the wetlands protection, could we send it back to committee and get that verification? That, that sentence in there may not be accurate. I just Check Council, I I'm gonna be a no on that, but
You can counsel, you know, vote For for Sure. Burns. And then Matthew. Yeah. Thank you Mr. President. Just quick question. Is this a nine volt threshold or is it a yes. Mm-hmm. Override A veto? Yes. Override a Veto. Well, we're not overriding it, But it's been vetoed. We're modifying it, But it's been Oh nine vote. I Don't, I don't, yes. Council Think so. Thank you, Mr. President. So I share my counselor across the way's, identical concerns. I just wanna double check. I'm gonna make a motion to send it to committee. I think a second. Second. And I just wanna be thorough, like, just have legal way in.
We'll find the answer and then we'll know. Yeah, I Think we did, if I may. Yes. Eight people just voted on a five minute dissertation about circuit breaker taxes and reducing, uh, you know, the trash fee. You know, does the same lasting apply here? Probably not. What, What was the, what was the question? So there's a motion on the floor to send to committee. Mm-hmm. Roll call please. Sullivan? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? No. Wil. Randy? No. Burns. No. Fanon? Yes. Biggie? No. Harris? No. Matthews. Kane? Yes.
Meow. Yes. Morgan. Ellie, no. Oniskey, no. Seven. No. Is five? Yes. So, yep. The original motion as amended. Any further discussion? No problem. Yes. Council alley. Alright. So first of all, 'cause it, it's not, it's not clear what the problem is. If it was passive recreation or whatever. Um, but these funds, CPA funds can be used, um, in open space for all of these things. Um, so I don't understand the original problem,
but also with the letter, if, if somebody's asking for something that needs to be corrected Okay. Before it comes to us. So there's a little bit of confusion here. Okay? Well this is on the original motion. Two. Well, I'll be a strong no on that. Okay. Roll Call. So can I just point a parliamentary procedure here since I guess we're a little unclear as to whether or not it takes nine votes. But if it does take nine votes, are you saying it's only gonna be seven? Majority It's modified, It's majority according to Attorney Reed to modify a veto To
Accept the modified veto. Accept The changes. Yes. Accept the modification. Okay. 'cause it's nine to override a veto, Correct. Which we're not doing. Okay. Just 'cause if it fails, then you don't get your amendment. That's all I'm saying. Council Morgane? No, just, just to note that we're missing a council tonight. No. Okay. That's a no. So this is on the original as amended. Always. Table roll call. Madam City Clerk Sullivan. Yes. Allie Nell Bean? Yes. Beltran? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanon? No. Figgy?
Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews. Kane? No. Meow. No. Morgane? Yes. Oniskey? Yes. Eight. Yes. Four. No. Eight, Four. We good? We're good. Uh, any announcements? I think you're good. Yes, I have one. I'm not sure. Councilor Figi, Um, there is a new program up at Westfield High School, phlebotomy and the students that are trying to get their license to be phlebotomists need to stick 30 different people. So Wednesday nights from five to seven.
If you would like to volunteer to be stuck, you can call Nurse Karen Saunders and set up an appointment. Um, they have two more weeks to get the total number of sticks in. So I would like to encourage anyone who doesn't have issues getting, I believe you're right. Stuck to go get sticked. Alright, So point of clarification. He said phlebotomy and not lobotomy, correct? No. Lobotomy counselor? No, I, that's exactly how I heard it the first time. So I was just gonna thank the counselor for his explanation because I was a little concerned of
She's step for students. Anything further? Counselor Harris. Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion made it second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Goodnight. I've never seen.