Yep. This is a white driveway? Yes. Just saw that. Good evening. I'd like to call the April 16th, 2026 meeting of the Westfield City Council to order. Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Harris? Here. Knoppich? Here. Mathews-Kane? Here. Mello? Here. Morganelli? Here. Oniski? Here. Adams? Here. Ally? Here. Bean? Here. Veltrandi? Here. Burns? Here. Fannian? She will not be with us. Figgy? Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I think this is new. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Reading of the record of the meeting of April 2nd, 2026. Counselor Bean. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to accept the minutes without reading for April 2nd, 2026. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion on the minutes? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. At this time, I'm going to make a motion to enter executive session pursuant to MGLC 30A Section 21A3 to discuss strategy with respect to litigation, Wolf Aviation Network Inc. v. City of Westfield, MAFAA docket number
16-25-15, as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the public body, and the chair so declares. It is intended the council return to open session at the conclusion of the executive session. So made. Motion made and seconded. Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Harris? Yes. Knoppich? Yes. Mathews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Morganelli? Yes. Oniski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ally? Yes. Bean? Yes. Veltrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Thank you. We will be in recess and be back right after the executive session. We're back in regular order.
Next item is public participation. Anyone wishing to address the city council on an item that is not the subject of a public hearing, may do so by coming forward. State your name and address for the city clerk. We do this in three-minute increments for a total of 30 minutes, which we may extend. Anyone like to address the council? Hello, everyone. It's nice to see you. Nice to see you. First of all, I would like to hear from you, from her, did she tell you what happened to me? On the Broad Street, when I put the flashlight, like a wire, like small sidewalk. I put a flashlight,
walking. Why the car hit me so fast? Without camera. We need a camera to see what the driver doing. And you don't know, we already know by law, like a law text messaging, on the phone, or drinking, or something, a speed, they don't follow the law. Always remember, when Ralph say that Westfield's safe street, how about that? You do something. Where the camera? We need to ask help in state you take the money, camera to see proof.
And I hope you understand and let me know. You want to say something? Yeah, so John was hit by a car right around 59 Broad Street. And, there really isn't a stop sign coming out over there at all. And a lot of the time is there's distracted drivers, they're on their phone or something, and they turn, and there's just nothing really stopping them or kind of getting their attention to pedestrians. And he would like a camera installed there just so if this ever happens again, there's some type of way of actually finding the person who
crashes into them, and a stop sign just to gain their attention before they turn over there. Perfect. And one more thing. You know where the America, the retired, they have a flashlight there. When the driving, leaving from front parking, it's very close there. It's not safe. Why? Because when the car coming from south, they look at the left side. They don't see the right side. What they see?
They don't see. You don't know. You think flashlight's there, people walk there, turn right, right away. You think it's safe? Not safe. They need someone to come check in there to do something, change it. Time to change it. It's not worth it people get hurt. It's not worth it. Thank you for your time, and let me know. Thank you. Do they need to give their names and addresses? I have John's. Anyone else like to address the council? No one else?
All right. I did receive a letter that was asked to be read by a constituent. I'm going to read it real quick. It's, "Dear Mr. Veltrandi, I'm writing to you with concern about the City of Westfield discontinuing the discount to senior citizens for our water bills. For me, this discount is more than $80 a quarter." As a widow on a fixed income, my income is just above tax exemption status for the city. If the city feels this should be enforced, have it going forward, in other words, anyone born after 1961, and not take it away from those who already have this appreciated discount in place.
I'm sure there are many others who are in the same situation. Your attention is appreciated. Regards and thanks, Marianne Auger, 24 Cornish Drive. And I did get a call from a couple of other people as well about this same thing, so I'm sure we're going to see more of it coming forward. Anyone else want to address the council before we move on? Seeing none, communications from the mayor. Item one, Counselor Bean. Thank you, Mr. President. Requesting immediate consideration of a transfer of $44,000 from the Westfield Barnes Regional Airport full-time hourly employee account to the purchase
service account relative to matters which are the subject of litigation. So moved. Second. Motion made and seconded. There is no discussion on this, so roll call, Madam City Clerk. Harris? Yes. Kneppik? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Morganelli? Yes. Oniske? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ally? Yes. Bean? Yes. Veltrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Thank you. Item two, Counselor Bean. Thank you, Mr. President. Requesting immediate consideration of an appropriation of $30,000 from free cash to the Westfield Barnes Regional Airport purchase service account relative to matters which are the subject of litigation. So moved.
Second. Motion made and seconded. Once again, no discussion. Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Harris? Yes. Kneppik? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Morganelli? Yes. Oniske? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ally? Yes. Bean? Yes. Veltrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Figgy? Yes. We're going to take something out of order here. Okay. Counselor Ally, did you want to take an item out of order? Yes, sir. Motion to take, I believe it's item 19, out of order. Second. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, Counselor? Yes. So the City Properties Committee has met and voted two to zero to recommend approval, submitting a resolution to authorize the mayor to enter into an amended lease agreement between the City of Westfield and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater
Westfield, Inc. for an additional 2.2 acres of land to support an expansion at 28 West Silver Street. Second. Can I get a second on the motion to take an item out of order? I'll second it. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, now, after this, any further discussion from the council? Nobody? Okay, so it's a resolution. Would you like to read the resolution by title only? Yep. So a resolution amending the lease between the City of Westfield, along with the Westfield School Committee and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield. Great. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Motion to go back to...
Motion to return back to regular order. Second. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item three, Counselor Oniske. Thank you, Mr. President. Would you please ask Madam City Clerk to read items three, four, and five and refer to L&O? Second. Motion made and seconded. Madam City Clerk. Three, submitting a resolution to accept a grant in the amount of $9,916 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division to the Westfield Barnes Regional Airport Department to repair gate seven. Four, submitting a resolution to accept a grant in the amount of $9,235 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division to the Westfield Barnes Regional Airport Department to complete an aeronautical study and
obstruction analysis. Five, submitting a resolution to accept a grant in the amount of $23,835 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division to the Westfield Barnes Regional Airport Department to complete the construction of the Taxiway B south mitigation area. Thank you. Now to send to... Where are we sending these, please? L&O- Just- And then I'll contact the airport to have a representative. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now in the hands of L&O. Item six, Counselor Kneppik. Yes, Mr. President. Please have Madam City Clerk read items, actually number six, seven, and eight, and refer those to the Finance Committee, please.
Second. Motion made and seconded. Madam City Clerk. Six, appropriation of $200,000 from the Community Preservation Undesignated Reserve Balance account to the CPA Cabot Road Group Home account for the construction of a new home for four adult individuals with brain injury. Seven, requesting acceptance of an in lieu of taxes contribution in the amount of $552,397 from the Westfield Gas and Electric Light Department for fiscal year '27. Eight, requesting acceptance of an in lieu of taxes contribution in the amount of $1 million from the Westfield Gas and Electric Light Department for fiscal year '27. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye.
Opposed? Now in the hands of Finance. Item nine, Counselor Oniske. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules for immediate consideration of item nine. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now under suspension. Counselor. Thank you, Mr. President. Item nine is submitting a resolution to accept a gift donation in the amount of $300 from the College Highway Insurance Agency, Inc. to the Westfield Animal Shelter, which will be used to cover costs associated with upcoming projects to improve the quality of stay for the animals at the shelter. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion from the council?
Yes, I'd just like to say thank you very much to the College Highway Insurance Agency for their donation. Anything further? Would you like to read the resolution, sir? Yes. If I may, by title only, resolution of the City Council of the City of Westfield for acceptance of a gift to the Animal Control Department. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Petitions, remonstrances, and other papers. Item 10 is a continued public hearing on an application for an amendment to the City Council Special Permit C-68-05 to include trailer storage at 81 Service Star Industrial Way, Westfield, Mass, as submitted by R.
Levesque Associates on behalf of Mark Pignataro. Public hearing is reopened. The floor is yours, Mr. Levesque. Thank you, President Beltrandi and councilors. I'm Rob Levesque from R. Levesque Associates here this evening representing Mark Pignataro. Also with Mark Pignataro is Charlie Pignataro and also Marie Scarfo from the Scarfo family. As mentioned at the last public hearing, we are basically looking to amend the existing special permit. The existing special permit allows for a number of items under a contractor's yard use.
I was able to communicate with Karen Fanni and the ward councilor, as well as Kristen Mello, with regard to potential concerns related to the existing use, as well as some of the ideas that we talked last time about incorporating safeguards related to stormwater and other related matters with the existing permit. I was able to submit a letter earlier today to Councilor Mello. I'm not sure if Councilor Mello has had an opportunity to review it. I also sent it to the president. But essentially what we did is we looked back at the 2005 permit that was
issued and looked at what we could do with the existing site improvements that were made and could we improve the stormwater. There are improvements that we can make, but I had explained generally to these councilors that this would be a band-aid fix. It certainly, to be transparent, would not meet the current 2008 standards. We talked about what the permit in 2005 included, specifically some concerns related to the fact that there was crushing, asphalt, brick, and concrete was allowed. If you remember at the last public hearing, the
Pignataros said that they would be willing to forgo that permit if they were allowed to use this for trailer storage. So I kind of explained in this letter, and in talking to the councilors, we talked about putting together something that would enhance the water quality to some extent. Certainly wouldn't be a state-of-the-art system, so to speak, but would enhance the water quality. So we talked about including hooded catch basins, which would allow the existing catch basins be retrofitted with hoods that would prevent floatables from exiting
into the adjacent wetland. That was one approach. Also, we talked about a filter strip. Generally speaking, that would be an area that is treated and kind of has a cross-section that allows water to flow off towards the stormwater basins and be treated by grasses and other shrubs. And we talked about using native plants with deep roots. There is some detail in my letter. I won't bore you with reading it unless you would certainly like me to. But generally speaking, the idea behind this memo that I provided would be to,
for lack of a better term, pull back on the existing permit from a use standpoint and also at the same time enhance this without causing a financial catastrophic issue. So right now, if we were to bring this completely up to speed, and this is a very transparent process, so we're being very transparent about this, they potentially would have a lease for this property for about 10 years at the very least, which is good for them, allow them to maintain the property properly, and utilize the property pretty much as is with these
enhancements. These enhancements are not wholesale changes to the site. They're not hundreds of thousands of dollars. They're tens of thousands of dollars, and it would allow them to make this work for them for this property, kind of a continuation of the family use. The two families have known each other for 50 years, and this is kind of a nice continuity for them. That said, as part of the request, they have agreed and would agree, if they were able to do the trailers, they would agree to take away the crushing completely so that it can't be done now and couldn't be done in the future, which to me, to be totally honest, is a little crazy because it's like
waterfront property for those types of permits. But they are willing to do that because that's not really the business they're in. They're willing to do that. We've also talked to Mr. Adams. At the last hearing, he came up and spoke, did a nice job of explaining his concerns. There is a number of improvements that will be made to the access as part of the permit, certainly could be conditioned, and that would, based on our discussion, if that area gets regraded and paved a little bit, that would prevent any sort of issues he's having with his very important
CNC machining equipment. So we'd be happy to handle that as well. So we're here basically explaining that we can't do wholesale changes from a financial standpoint, but they would like to, if it's palatable to the council, to adjust the permit. And the discussion that we had over the phone was essentially the current permit is way worse thandoing the trailer storage. And we can add some enhancement, and then we'd just have trailer storage, and we wouldn't have to worry about potential contamination in a sensitive area on the north side. That's generally the discussion, and certainly, I hope I didn't
misrepresent our discussion with Councilor Melo. So thank you. Questions from the council. Councilor Melo, you're up. I do have a couple. Rob, when you were searching through the plants, I'm looking at your letter now, a lot of these are exactly what Penn State Extension recommends- Okay ... for removing the metal pollutants and other dissolved contaminants, and even some of the organics that might come off the outside of a truck. So I'm really happy to see exactly the same species. I'm wondering if there are any natives that would also benefit. I haven't compared with the NHESP
information, but if there are any native host plants for a habitat that we're in or near anyway, if that could be selected as well, I think that would be a benefit. So a question is, can you add that option? Yes. And I also, if I may make a statement instead of ask a question, I just want to say that I did reach out to Councilor Rovinski, and discuss it with her too. And while the most wonderful thing to do for the north side is to let the whole thing re-wild except the houses,
we know that that is not an option in the world. And we agreed that filtering out what DEP best management practices can't filter out and avoiding the catastrophic nightmare of thinking that you got PFAS contaminated soil, and we're crushing it there on the permit that didn't have any stormwater filtration, just that little bin, the two basins. We agree that it is, while not ideal for the environment, the lesser of the evils that could be done, and we recognize that the permit
as it stands could be very dangerous to the local water dripping into Armbrook. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Councilor Matthews-Green. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the discussion about the stormwater. At the last meeting, I asked for a list of things that are allowed under the 2005 special permit that would not be allowed today under local, state, and federal guidelines. And you've discussed, like stormwater, it would require a major upgrade. Are there other things that were allowed under the 2005 special permit that would not
be allowed today? Well, so the asphalt brick and concrete processing, so if that came before you today, I don't know that you would allow it. I think that would be very difficult. And the reason I say that is that's a tough permit to get. It really is. Councilor Beltrandi certainly knows. And I've had multiple contractors in the area tell me that they would kill for that permit. And it does exist, so there is value to that. So if it came before you today, I don't know if you guys would approve it. They would certainly have to have different controls.
As far as other noxious uses that are allowed there, that's probably one of the more noxious uses that we have. Normal contractors' yards don't always have the ability to process material. Not only is there noise, there's dust, there's the potential for contaminants being in this material that gets processed. It gets sifted through at the site, processed, crushed. Different types of materials are created from it. So there is certainly a potential for contamination, not to mention metals, et cetera. So I think I would be surprised if that got
permitted now. I would. So I don't think there was anything else, there was nothing outlandish in the permit that I saw. A contractor's yard typically would be allowed, but the material processing is the trick. Okay. And nothing else? I don't think so. I have it, and I'll look. Is the question related to what the zoning allowed then or what was put in the permit? Well, when you originally filed, you had filed for a new one, and then-
Yes ... now you're asking to change the 2005 permit. And my question was, is there something else that I can't imagine that was allowed in the 2005 permit that wouldn't be allowed today? The big difference is stormwater and the ABC processing. Okay. Yeah, I think that's fair to say. Okay. Yeah. Thanks. Any other questions from the council? Oh. Councilor Melo. I thought of another one. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah. Is there an expiration date on the 2005 permit as it stands, or can it be transferred to another land purchaser as is now? Yeah, my understanding is it can. It doesn't say it expires.
Actually, the original permit was issued to David Wilcox and then adopted by the landowner, Mr. Scarfo. So yeah. So there's nothing in the permit that says it extinguishes with the owner and that it has to be transferred. It does say if you're going to do something with the permit, and I think we did submit that letter, we have to notify the council within 30 days, I think, of the land transfer. That's what it was. So it was a notification process. It wasn't necessarily that it expired. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions from the council? Any questions from anyone
in the chamber of fact for the applicant? Questions of fact. None? At this point, anyone in the chamber like to speak in favor of this application? In favor. Going once. Anyone like to speak in opposition of this application? Okay, nobody. Now, let's see. Who have we got on ZPD? Dan, are you on ZPD? I am. Yes. You are, Councilor Harris? Dan is too. Okay. You want to do a motion? Sure. Motion to close this public hearing and refer item to the Zoning, Planning, and Development Committee. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any further discussion? Seeing none. All in favor?
Aye. Opposed? Public hearing is now closed. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Let's see. Item 11, Councilor Ownesky. Thank you, Mr. President. Would you please ask Madam City Clerk to read item 11 and refer to L&O Law? Second. Motion made and seconded. Madam City Clerk. 11, a notice of intent to convert and sell land classified as agricultural or horticultural for use for zero Pochasic Road, submitted by David B. Bugsywski for city's first right of refusal, pursuant to MGL 61A, Section 14. Okay, so this is to send to L&O Law. Just L&O? L&O Law. Ash, do you think we should do Conservation
on this one? And- They were filed with Conservation. They filed already? Mm. Okay. I'll just get their- Opinion ... opinion then. Anything further? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item 12, Councilor Burns. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilor Burns, submitting petitions for street acceptance of Alexander Place and Daniel Ridge. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, Councilor? Yeah. This has been another one of these streets or streets, both streets. It's been about eight years now, since I've been on the council anyways. I've been working with Mr.- Grady. Grady. With Grady. Mr. Grady. We call each other every week, so yeah.
We call each other every week, since he retired. But basically, last year we met. The engineer, myself, Mr. Grady, and DPW, we met at the... There was a sinkhole there, and it's been there, I don't know how long, but that was what's holding it up. They were supposed to shoot it with the camera, which never got done. They've been maintaining the street. This street was built in the early '90s, and the bond was returned after the project was done to the, uh... So, basically, this again. I think recently, they
actually filled out the petitions for the temporary repairs, which it's not going to work. That's not the way to go with this. Spoke with Randy Brown. At this point, he said the sinkhole is not going to be that much of an expense to the city if they have to fix it. So, with that being said, I make a motion to refer to Planning Board, Public Works, Engineering, Law, and L&O, and hopefully, back to us. Thank you, Mr. President. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion on that? How much? I can keep going if you want.
Wow. Yeah. It's been eight years. We got a lot of ground to cover here. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now in the hands of everybody. Reports of committees. Legislative and Ordinance, Councilor Ownesky, item Thank you, Mr. President. L&O met, and on a 2-0 vote, voted to approve a resolution to accept a grant in the amount of $14,971.52 from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and the Department of Fire Services to the Westfield Fire Department under FY26 Firefighter Safety
Grant Program to purchase public safety equipment for the fire department. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, Councilor? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. This is a no-match grant, and it is going to be used to replace the heavy lift airbags on the rescue truck. These are the ones that, well, they inflate, and they'll be able to lift the vehicle up. The ones they have now are beyond their useful life from the manufacturing standpoint. You're not supposed to use them forever. So, this'll replace those.
Any discussion from the council? Would you like to read it by title only, sir? If I may, yes. A resolution to file and accept a grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and the Department of Public Safety and Security, and Department of Fire Services to the Westfield Fire Department. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item 14, Councilor Ownesky. Thank you, Mr. President. L&O met, and on a 2-0 vote, voted approval of a resolution to authorize the mayor to approve and execute an intermunicipal agreement between the Town of South Hadley,
their fire districts, and the City of Westfield for dispatch services. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, Councilor? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. What this resolution will authorize is the mayor to sign an agreement that will take on another city through our emergency response, our 911 groupSo right now, we currently have Southwick and Westfield working under that, and this is adding the Town of South Hadley.
We've got it with three groups. One is the Town of South Hadley, and then the two fire districts, but it's in one intermunicipal agreement. The fire districts, which was news to me, are run by a water district. Because I guess back in the day, because they were using the water, they became part of the fire department. So that's just a fun fact. Anyway. What this agreement- South Hadley ... will do is, we will get $200,000 annually from South Hadley. It also opens us
up to a support and incentive grant of $290,354 from the state, which partially will be used for upgrading the fiber between the two city and town. And it will also pay for a microwave link between South Hadley and Westfield. When they start this off, they plan to do it without that equipment. So if we get a call in from 911 from South Hadley, we will call the South Hadley Police Department on the phone until this
equipment is installed, and they will dispatch the people. That's expected to go on until around August or September, whenever we can get the grant and put the other equipment in. Let's see. The fiber will cost 200... Or I'm sorry, 2,000, microwave 83,000. If this all goes through, beginning August 1st, all the 911 calls will come to Westfield. And we've got extensions. Let's see. Extensions every three years. They could go... I'm sorry, let me see here.
Three-year extensions, two times, and it's unlikely that they will actually leave Westfield. Westfield gets money from the state, just like we do when we added Southwick. Actually, the state pays for these regionalization centers, and although we budget money for our emergency dispatch, we get the majority, if not all of it, back from the state. So it's a win-win situation. South Hadley gets out of a mess, which I probably heard of in the news recently. Westfield gets paid and will also get subsidized by the state.
That's it. Councilor Mello. Thank you, Mr. President. Is there word that the amount we'll get paid will cover the dispatchers that we might need to add? Yes, there'll be one dispatcher that'll be added, and that will cover it. And there's enough, like it's okay? It's not too much load on our dispatchers? No. They're going to be adding a fourth dispatcher. Right now, there's three. They're going to be adding a fourth. They each have their number one designation, so one'll be trained to do South Hadley, let's say, but everyone else will be also trained to do it. So if a call from South Hadley comes in, and the South Hadley
dispatcher is busy, then it'll go to one of the other three dispatchers. It all just goes around, whoever's- But the money's enough ... free takes the call. The money's enough for their personnel needs? Oh, yeah. Okay. Thank you. And our personnel. Councilor Adams. Yeah, I wasn't at the meeting, but I was at the previous meetings about this dispatch. But the state is making it very difficult for single towns to do their own. It's getting very expensive. So what's coming for us down the line here is we're pretty much full where they are at the tech center. So I believe the plan is going to be for them to get a bigger
space. It's very advantageous for us to do this because we're all certified, and there's a lot of money that comes through from the state. However, we're pretty much to capacity. So if we're going to go get another town, I believe the plan is, what I've heard, is they want to go to the police station once the police station is built on the north side. Now, that's going to be a topic for a discussion. Yes. Councilor O'Nisky. If I can respond to that. Sure. You're right. This is the last group that could come in, the last city or town that could come in under that current facility. If they add anything else, then
we'll have to go somewhere else. By adding this group, it also puts us up a level for receiving state grants for things like this. So that may also help pay for refurbishing, buying a building, expanding building, so we'd be at the top of the list for that. Sure. Thank you. Anything further? Would you like to read the resolution, sir? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. A resolution approving an intermunicipal agreement regarding dispatch services with the Town of South Hadley. All those in favor. Aye. Opposed. Thank you. Item 15, Councilor O'Nisky.
Thank you, Mr. President. Sorry. Too much stuff here. You may resolve. All right. Let me take yours. You may have that. Thanks. A resolution-LNO met and upon a two zero vote, voted for approval of the resolution to petition the Senate and House of Representatives of the General Court of Commonwealth of Massachusetts relative to the amendment of Chapter 62 of the Acts of 2004, as requested by Lieutenant John Parrish, Chair of Traffic Commission. And we had a positive recommendation. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, Council?
Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. What this is doing is allowing or changing what we now have for the Traffic Commission. Right now we have to have on the Traffic Commission, a city engineer, a business representative, DPW commissioner, and the police chief. So right now, we're in a little bit of a situation where the city engineer is also the DPW director. It should be the other way around. The DPW director is doing the city engineer's job. So what that
means is we've lost a person, essentially, on the Traffic Commission because, in this case, Randy Brown couldn't vote twice, once as a city engineer and once as the DPW director. So what this is doing is applying for a charter change or authorizing the city to apply for a charter change to have the city engineer be able to have a representative instead of the exact city engineer. Does that make sense? Probably not. Yes. But if you have questions, I'll be happy to- No. It would make great sense.
Yeah. Answer. Exactly. Councilor- That's all it would do is add a designee. That's it. Yeah. Yes, Councilor Matthews-King. Will the designee come from the engineering department, someone else in engineering? Yes. Okay. Anything further? This is an ordinance, so we need a first reading by title only. Gosh, here we go. Sorry. Thank you. Petition- One second. Cut. There's no conflict with that, though? Your boss is sitting next to you on a board that votes items? We didn't see of any, but- He's the guy. I'm allowed to vote twice since we're here.
We good? Yeah. Mr. President? They just didn't want to have a four- Yeah ... he can't vote. 15, item 15. It says resolution? Yes. Yes. Yeah. So 15 is a resolution by title only. Petition to the Senate and House of Representatives of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts relative to the amendment of Section 62 of the Acts of 2004. Yes. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? The next one is an ordinance, Council. Item 16, Councilor Allie. Thank you, Mr. President. The Legislative and Ordinance Committee has met and voted two to zero to recommend approval
of an ordinance amendment to Chapter 17, adding Section 17-95, General Vehicle Weight Regulations, as requested by Lieutenant John Parrish, Chair of the Traffic Commission. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, Councilor Allie. Yes. So currently, we do weight regulations, but if there's a fine assessed to a vehicle being overweight, half of the money goes to the state. And this would basically change so that we could do it under a city
ordinance, and we would get to keep the funds. So there are vehicles that will go over some of these bridges and stuff like that, and they're overweight. And so this would help, we actually take in money by doing this. So, we just need to make it so that's a city regulation or a city ordinance. Questions from the Council? This is first reading by title only. Yes. Would you like to read it, sir? Yes. An ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, City of Westfield, Massachusetts, adopted June 17th, 1993, be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Westfield as follows. And then the changes, and we'll just
stop there. Okay. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion for second reading and final passage at a next meeting. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now on for second reading. Item 17, Councilor Allie. Thank you, Mr. President. The Legislative and Ordinance Committee has met and voted two to zero to recommend approval of an ordinance amendment to Chapter 17, Section 17-116, Parking Prohibited at Certain Times on Certain Streets, as requested by Lieutenant John Parrish, Chair of the Traffic Commission, by
adding no parking on the west side of Malone Avenue and Allen Avenue from Franklin Street to West School Street during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, Councilor? Thank you, Mr. President. So this would basically create a situation where there's only walk parking on these two streets. This is across the street from the Westfield River School.So you can tell by the hours that this is just when the school is letting in and that sort of thing.
So you have a lot of parents that are parking, but if they're just parking willy-nilly on the streets, this makes it so that they have to park on one side of the street during those hours. Any questions? Read it please, sir. Yes. By title only. Yep. Thank you. Yes. So this is an ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, City of Westfield, Massachusetts, adopted June 17, 1993. Be it ordained by the City of Westfield- ... by the City Council of the City of Westfield as follows, and basically changing the Code of Ordinances. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?
Okay. Motion for second reading and final passage at our next meeting. Second. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now on for second reading. Item 18, Counselor Allie, you're on a roll. Okay. Okay, so the Legislative Ordinance Committee has met and recommend favorable approval on an ordinance amendment to Section 1773, stop signs designated, as requested by Lieutenant John Parish, Chair of the Traffic Commission, by adding a stop sign at Crane Avenue
at Mill Street. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, counselor? Yeah. So, there's a redesign coming up- Mm-hmm ... for this section. Should be completed by the end of this year. And, he described it, but basically, there really is no stop sign there now. So that's not good. And so, basically as part of that redesign, there needs to be a stop sign there, and then the actual traffic flow will be different as well, but... Counselor Burns? Yeah. Counselor Allie covered that. That redesign's been happening, again, for a long time.
And, last I checked on it, it's still a design. So I want to thank the Traffic Commission, Elano, and hopefully us tonight, for putting a stop sign there. They're very much needed. Counselor Figgy? Part of that redesign is to take that island out of the middle of the intersection- Mm-hmm ... to straighten it out. Yeah. So it is something the council, the wards two and four councils, have been working on for quite some time, and it has been out in the public to view. Perfect. Anything further? Long time. Long time. Counselor, you want to read the ordinance by title only, sir?
Yeah. Be happy to. An ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, City of Westfield, Massachusetts, adopted June 17th, 1993. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Westfield as follows. And then Chapter 17, the Code of Ordinances amended. Second. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. A motion for second reading and final passage at our next meeting. Second. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now on for second reading. We already did the next item. Unfinished business, item 20, Counselor Oniski. Thank you, Mr. President. Motion for second reading and final passage of an
ordinance entitled Ordinance Chapter Eight, Article Five, Litter Section 8-153, definitions, and 8-159, violations. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion, sir? No. But if I may read by title only? Please. An ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, City of Westfield, adopted June 17, 1993. Thanks. Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Harris? Yes. Kneppik? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Morganelli? Yes. Oniski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? Yes. Velshindi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Thank you. Item 21, Counselor Oniski. Thank you, Mr. President. Motion for second reading and final
passage of an ordinance entitled Chapter One, Section 1-9.1, increasing fine for illegal dumping and garbage on sidewalk or streets. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, council? Seeing none. If I may read by title only? By title only, yes. An ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, City of Westfield, adopted June 17, 1993. Thank you. Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Harris? Yes. Kneppik? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Morganelli? Yes. Oniski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? Yes. Velshindi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Thank you. Any announcements?
Mr. President? I just wanted to mention that, and a thank you and congratulations to Fire Chief Pat Egloff on his many years' tenure here in the city of Westfield. He recently had a ceremony about that, and he's been a pretty good force on the fire department all these years. And I know there's a bit of a transition going on, and I know that he loved that job for sure. And we're gonna be sad to see him go in some ways, but it's a new opportunity for the new chief. And being the liaison to the fire department, I've been part of
seeing what that transition's going on, and I think Pat's done a great job getting his team ready for this transition. It's not like every day this happens. I think it was seven full years that he was in the chief's position. So, congratulations to him. I hope he has a long and healthy retirement. Counselor Figgy. I just wanted to update the council that the new softball field had the ribbon cutting this week. The turf is going down on the stadium. They are making tremendous progress at the site. Absolutely. Anyone else? Counselor? Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to remind everybody that Earth Day Cleanup is
coming up. It's April 25th on Saturday at 8:30, and you can sign up on the city's website if you're interested. Terrific. Anyone else? Seeing none, Counselor Harris. Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? We are now adjourned. Thank you, everybody.