Good evening. I'd like to call the June 4th, 2026 meeting of the Westfield City Council to order. Roll call, please, Madam City Clerk. Morganelli? Here. Ovnitzki? Here. Adams? Here. Ally? Here. Bean? Here. Beltrandi? Here. Burns? Here. Fannion? Here. Vicky? Here. Harris? Here. Knapick? He will not be with us this evening. Matthews-Kane? Here. Mello? Here. Thank you. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. 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.
Cue reading of the record of the meeting of May 21st, 2026. Council Bean? Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to approve the minutes without reading for May 21st, 2026. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion on the minutes? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now comes the portion of the meeting for public participation. Anyone wishing to approach and talk to the city council may do so by stating your name and address for the city clerk, and we do this in three-minute increments, which may be extended. Please feel free to come up.
Chris Patton, Five Long Pond Road. I'm speaking for the Hampden Ponds community. We've had a long relationship with the Westfield Police Department, our city councilors, to solve some problems that were happening there, disruptive behaviors and so forth, and it's been a real effort between Councilor Ovnitzki, first of all, has been wonderful, our ward councilor, working with the Westfield Police Department, with DCR,
state agencies, with state law enforcement to eliminate some of the rowdy, unlawful behavior that was happening. The road, Old Applemont Way, I believe is a Westfield public way. And people were gathering there right near the homes and on the shoreline, partying and drinking and letting children in the water where they're not supposed to be. And that has been resolved with the help of Captain Dickinson and his crew and the DPW to
prohibit parking there and making frequent runs and patrols of the area, and it really has made a huge difference. So we're hoping as the season opens, because of the weather, it's been very quiet. But I see that we're going to have these problems, and they will have to be addressed. So I'm hoping that as the council considers and listens to Captain Dickinson, that you'll take under consideration that we really do need policing.
Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council? My name is Donna Leesey, 287 Shaker Road, Westfield. First of all, I'd like to thank the council for unanimously voting so we could have a public hearing on the 18th. And likewise, I hope you all unanimously vote for the moratorium, of course, so more adequate research can be done on all the data center effects, especially concerning public health. We are all feeling the effects of the rising cost of everything in our lives.In my opinion, housing a data center here
would detrimentally impact both the mental and physical health of Westfield residents, and it would also become an economic burden. In an article by Frontiers in Climate on February 2026, they discuss how past studies have shown that energy poverty, which data centers produce, forces vulnerable families to choose between paying for energy and meeting essential needs such as food, healthcare, and education. Additionally, due to the increasing frequency of hot days, there
is also a rising demand for residential cooling systems like air conditioning units. Rising energy costs may prevent low-income households from accessing adequate cooling, risking heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and worsening pre-existing conditions. Families may choose using cooling units over purchasing quality foods, resulting in malnutrition. I believe that many people are already in this situation all
over the country. Let's not unnecessarily add to their distress with the installation of a data center. Let's rightly put mental and physical health of Westfield residents first and minimize the economic burdens on families. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council? Just a little. Good evening, everybody. My name is Mary Ann Hiatt, 235 Berkshire School Road, Sheffield. I'm president and CEO of Berkshire County Arc and acting on-- speaking on their behalf. And I just want to thank the city council again for their
reconsideration of the $200,000 from the preservation account for the Cabot Road project. I'd just like to say a few words. I know you've heard us say these before, but thought I'd like one last effort again. Thank you for consideration, considering this grant, this important grant. First and foremost, this is a new home we are building for four individuals who need support to be able to come into a community instead of living their lives in a rehab facility or a nursing home.
They may be current Westfield residents, or they may become your newest Westfield residents. While this is a home, it is also an economic investment for the city of Westfield. This house will employ over 12 full-time staff for decades to come. These are jobs with full benefits, including 80% of their healthcare. These are not entry-level jobs. We require experience and post-secondary degrees for our managers. This will be our fifth house in the city of Westfield. Each house has been an investment for the city, an economic
engine since 1985. This agency brings contracts to-- Berkshire County Arc brings contracts to Westfield valued annually at over $4 million. These homes provide money to be spent in Westfield. For example, $35,000 every year for each house is spent on food, lawn maintenance, general maintenance, appliances, all with local Westfield vendors. For five houses, that's more than $150,000
per year, every year, for decades. I'd like to say a few words about the cost of the house. I know there was some concerns. First, I'd like to say that this is a $1.2 million house, not a $1.7 million house. That $500,000 difference is money we had to spend on the land, the purchase of the land, engineering, architecture, consultants, and other items needed for this kind of project. And yes, $1.2 million sounds high, but there are state regulations that drive these costs.
For example, the footprint is larger than normal to allow for handicap accessibility. The site has an oversized driveway for accessible vehicles. There is special framing to handle a lift system in the bedrooms and bathrooms if needed. All the doorways, hallways, bathrooms, and kitchen are fully accessible for wheelchairs. There is a full gas generator, a full electronic fire alarm, and sprinkler systems. The entrance doors to the house are powered. There is full solar installation, and the list goes on.
In closing, I would just like to say that we located this house in Westfield because this area is in need of these services. This is a one-time request. Since becoming part of the community 40 years ago, Berkshire County Arc has never asked the city for money, and we don't expect to have to do this in the future. Finally, without this grant, we cannot build this house. It would make our expenses too high for us to afford to operate. Again, thank you for your reconsideration. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council?
Sorry I'm late. Hello, everyone. Happy Thursday. Happy Thursday. I talk about the e-bike. You already know I happy e-bike crashed two weeks ago. Last week, something like that. But I'm not happy about e-bike. They use in the sidewalk. I walk with the dog, turn around, using the street more space. Even my girlfriend, deaf person, she walked to Big
Y and come back homeThink along with it. Sidewalk good for handicapped people, old people, and the mother walk with a baby. They have to respect. What happen the boat, e-bike, car hit somebody else? Do they have insurance? They don't have any insurance. The person get hurt, going to the hospital, pay the bill, they're going to sue again, that person, they don't have any insurance. Same thing that you have car insurance, hit somebody else, same thing, insurance.
Same thing. We need a law that the person should have a insurance. You don't want to pay insurance? Cannot buy e-bike. What happen if the person hit somebody else? When the police take e-bike, take it away, keep the record bike shop. The bike shop want to see your name, see the record. Bad name, has mark. They ask somebody else buy the bike different name. They giving them an e-bike. Ride bike, accident again.
Think twice. Think twice. I hope you give vote starting soon possible. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council? Good evening, Council. My name's Chris Velinsky. I'm the vice president of Berkshire County Arc Residential Services, and I'm here to talk about the County Road for a few minutes. I just want to talk about our individuals and how valuable they are to your community. We have 16 individuals, and hopefully we'll have 20. They are citizens of Westfield. They do actively participate in all the community things that we all do. They vote. They go to church. They're very social. They're out in the community. I just also want to talk about, I've been with the
agency for 40 years, so I've been traveling down to the Pioneer Valley, the Westfield area, to support and overlook our programs. And, I just want to say what the investment we made in Westfield, and will continue to make at Westfield. There's a lot of service people, as Marianne stated, there are folks that need services. And Westfield is an area that we are going to look at in the future, moving forward. So we are a part of your community. We want to remain part of your community. And, like I said, we made some serious choices as an agency to be part of the community. We have an area office in Westfield, where we could've
been anywhere in the Pioneer Valley. Our staff are participating in two weeks at Stanly Park. We rented that out where all our staff, our individuals are going, they're having a picnic, and we're going to celebrate in Westfield. We run a big program. All these programs could be anywhere in the Pioneer Valley. We chose Westfield as being the base for these programs. So I just want to let you know, we are invested. We will continue to be in Westfield. And we're hoping that you might be able to fund the project. So, I thank you for your time. Thank you. Good evening, folks. Steve Dugan, Butler Street, here in Westfield.
I'm here to quickly talk to you about something that has become a hot topic since I've moved back to town. I'm retired United States Army after 25 years of service. I am a combat veteran, I am a disabled veteran, and now I'm an attorney at law. So specifically, the conversation is regarding that I'm going to be putting forth a proposal to raise the abatement for disabled veterans within this town from $1,000 to $2,500, which is authorized by the state through the Hero Act. I already know for a fact that my request is going to be met with oppositions, because I've already had conversations with the mayor. As a matter of fact, unfavorably, the mayor told me point-blank that the
$1,000 was put in place before he became mayor, so he decided to leave it alone. Which indicates to me that if he had the choice, he would remove it. Similar to what he's done with the senior discount with the water bills. He kind of elaborated that in not so many sense. I've had conversations with Councilor Adams. Councilor Adams has actually expressed to me that he and the mayor would be curious to know how many disabled veterans that we have in town. Unfortunately, Mr. Adams, and to Mr. Mayor, under Federal Code 38 USC subsection 5701, you don't get to ask that question.
That's private and privileged information that's protected by HIPAA, and is protected by federal law. So I'm going to be putting together a proposal, and being the attorney that I am, it's probably going to be read and read like an attorney wrote it. But it's going to be because I myself am a disabled veteran. I served for 25 years. And we are a special class of individuals, that we don't feel that we're discriminating against anybody else because we get a discount or rebate or tax rebate. These are things that were put in place by our state, by our government.
Yes, I get VA disability, but at the same time, a lot of people do. You also mentioned, Mr. Adams, you could have possibly the VSO here in town, the Veteran Service Officer, possibly find out those numbers. She actually cannot. Her primary function is to administer Chapter 115 benefits to the veterans in town, and only those veterans who sign up and ask for assistance, not ones who just moved to town and randomly she doesn't get to look those up. So unfortunately, I revert back to the federal rule. So again, I will be putting this forwardI'm going to be asking for sponsors within
this, because we are one of the very few towns around here that don't have that limit of $2,500, which was put forward by our governor. Last thing that I will touch on was a hot topic that was brought to me, being a disabled veteran, being a local business owner, being an attorney who represents a lot of veterans for free, was this whole conversation most recently regarding the flying of an American flag on the same pole as other banners. And I'm just not going to disclude any banner. I'm going to say banners. The federal flag
flying rule says that no American flag will fly lower than any other flag. I had this conversation yesterday with the mayor. He had some very good points, but my suggestion to him was remove the American flag. If these are poles put up by the electric company, and they have banners signifying whether it's a certain type of month, or game, or a company, or a team, that's fine. My understanding, those flags were put up for Memorial Day, and the mayor felt as though that he would catch a lot of flak and heat if he took down the American flag. So he's examining right now possibly raising the American flag to get
it higher than the banners that are fixed to the poles. I don't necessarily agree with that. I feel that those flags are themselves, because they're ultimately temporary, they could justifiedly be removed to save the whole conflict that may be happening within the town over these flags. And I've seen, I'm sure some of you have seen the social media posts, but I'm saying that as a veteran, that flag was put up, as I understood, for Memorial Day. Memorial Day has passed. We could take the flag down and stop with the conflict about flags flying at certain heights. And does it violate federal flag flying rule? Yeah, it does.
So take the American flag down. Remove it or raise it, like the mayor had suggested. I just think raising it is going to be a lot more effort than it is just to take it down. So that's all I have for you folks, and I look forward to looking over my proposal. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to address the council? Anyone else for the last time? Moving on, communications from the mayor, item one, Councilor Bean. Thank you, Mr. President. This request is for immediate consideration and approval to accept a grant in the amount of $89,486 for the Community
Compact Municipal Fiber Grant program to the Department of Public Works Water Division to expand fiber connectivity between the water treatment facility and Southwick and the reservoir in Granville. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, council? My apologies. I left my glasses in the car, so I apologize for that. I know, right? So the reason for the immediate consideration, it is time sensitive. Oh, you're the best. For immediate consideration, this is a time sensitive grant, and that's the reason why it's an immediate consideration.
What this is going to do is the water treatment plant right now is serviced by Comcast. We would switch it over to Whip City Fiber, and then the extension would go all the way over to the Granville Reservoir, to the main gate. And our portion is, if you can check your shared drive, is $4,710. That's it in a nutshell. Again, it's just time sensitive. That's why we're doing it now. Anything from the council on this item? Councilor- I just have a quick- Thank you. I find that this grant is encouraging. Our DPW director's only been on the job four or five months,
and he's already bringing in grants. So this is something that the council has been looking for for years, and it's nice to see it happening. So congratulations to him. Thanks, Jim. Councilor Allie? Thank you, Mr. President. So I just have a clarifying question. So this would be coming out of the water division because of location of- Yeah, it is budgeted money right now, so there's no additional funds that are needed. Right. Not budgeted, but they'll find the money within the budget. All right, because I was just curious why it's coming out of the water division portion of it, but is it because of the location of that gate? Yeah. Okay. Right. Thank you. All right. Good? Yep. Thank you. Anything further? Roll call. Morganelli?
Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Allie? Yes. Bean? Yes. Galtrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fannion? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. Item two, Council Bean. Thank you, Mr. President. Could I have items two, three, and five, and refer to finance, please? Second. Motion made and seconded. Madam City Clerk. Two, submitting the ratified successor agreement between the Fire Department Supervisors Association and the city for the period of July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2028. Three, submitting the ratified successor agreement between the United Public Service Employment Union and the city for the period of July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2028.
Thank you. Any discussion? You want it? Seeing none. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now in the hands of finance. Did you do five, Kate? Nope. Okay, so let's go to- Two, three, and five ... let's go to four. Two, three, and five. Sorry. Five, submitting a resolution to allow Department of Public Health to establish a revolving account titled Solid Waste Bags for the Pay As You Throw program. Okay, thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Item four, Council Morganelli. Thank you, Mr. President. Please have Madam City Clerk read item four and refer to Personnel Action Committee. Second. Motion made and seconded. Madam City Clerk. Four, requesting appointment of Jesus Torres Jr., 41 Orange Street, as a member of
the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities for a term to expire in February of 2029, replacing Mickey Monjan-Dyer Thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now in the hands of PAC. Reports of city officers. Number six is Captain Steven Dickinson from the Westfield Police Department, giving us an overview on plans for community policing for the upcoming year, with focus on Hampden Ponds, Walmart, Columbia Greenway, Rail Trail, Bike Trail, and Core District. Sir, you have the floor. Thank you, sir. Thank you, City Councilors, for having me here tonight and to speak with you regarding your police department.
I'm here on the request of Councilor Bean to discuss these items. And I do have a few notes for you that I'll be passing out shortly, and to answer any questions that you guys may have regarding those issues. Currently, for those of you who don't know, I am the captain of operations. I'm responsible for the patrol division, community policing, traffic, and the detective bureau in our police department. And currently, we've had some downtown meetings to discuss community policing and the manpower going forward. Currently, we just put in, and I talked to Councilor Bean,
we just put in a community policing sergeant, Sergeant Sean Smith, who's now in charge of community policing. So currently, we have three community policing officers and a sergeant in charge. I would love to expand that, but because of manpower issues, we're not able to. So I have Matt Price. Officer Price is in charge of the Union Street area, and these are based on calls for service and needs in the community. So Matt Price is down there in Powder Mill Village. He also shares that office with our BHN co-responders and sometimes the animal control officer.
So they work out of that one-bedroom office down there. Officer Chris Coach is-- So we have Elm Street divided up into East and West. So Elm Street East, Meadow Street, I believe Councilor Figgie's area. Mechanic Street, that's Officer Chris Coach, our comfort dog officer. And then Elm Street West is Officer John Blaschek, your ward. So when problems arise, we've met the challenge on certain areas. We had Hubbard Street, I think was pretty successful. In fact, I spoke to one of the residents down there the other day, and once we put that speed bump in, he said
things have done great wonders down there. But that was just having a meeting and listening to the residents down there, which is what community policing is. Any questions regarding community policing before I move on? Go ahead. Well, I can just-- I know you're going to be touching base on some of the areas, but-- And I'm more focused on the drag and the draw that Walmart has, the bike trail has. Oh, I was going to get to- You'll get into that ... I was just talking about the downtown area. Okay. No, that's fine. No other questions regarding downtown? That's okay. When we do have enough officers out, and that happened
earlier this year, probably early to mid-spring, when we had enough officers. When we have enough officers out there, they will park and walk. I had them walking the bike trail, I had them walking downtown, and then getting back in their cruisers, or when we had bike officers. So we were able to cover some ground on that when I have enough officers, and we'll touch on that a little bit. Walmart. Walmart, when I first took over as captain, we had some issues with communication between our department and Walmart. And we decided to meet with them quarterly to iron some things out.
I think communication's been much better, and I think I'm going to have my partner here pass out some paperwork for you to take a look at. But currently, I believe the calls for service are up a little bit. So every 2.5 days, we'll get a shoplifting or an arrest or a disturbance at Walmart. Green lady. Thanks, partner. Thank you very much. So every 2.5 days, roughly, and I think I have it written on the bottom there, we have calls for service down at Walmart. Majority of the issues that we-- And those are calls for either shoplifting, disturbances, or arrests.
And I know questions have come up about Walmart hiring, if we can put pressure on them to hire police officers. That's a whole another subject I don't want to discuss right now because it would take too much time. But in a nutshell, the corporation will only hire police officers if there are violent disturbances, people getting injured down there. We don't reach that threshold. But with that said, every 2.5 days, there's a police call down there. When we go down there, we have to send two officers at a minimum because we've had officers hurt before in shoplifting cases.
So that takes two officers away. If you're not familiar with how the police department runs, that's why I gave you my lineup sheet. That's what I go by every day. So each sheet, you have shift A, shift B, shift C, and you'll see the total number of officers that we have that are working. So the city, we divide the city up into four quadrants: northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, and inner city. And then if we have an extra guy, we'll put him in radar. We do have a minimum manning. So when you're talking about two guys going to a call at Walmart for a shoplifting or an arrest,
and sometimes more than that, that's tying up resourcesThat we have going down there. Other parts of the city aren't affected. Majority of the arrests, majority of the people we're dealing with are not from Westfield. If they are from Westfield, we try to follow up with them with our BHN co-responders or our community policing unit. So we try to reach out to them. Why are we shoplifting? What is the issue? Is it a common theme going on down there? So that's a whole other subject, but we are working hard on that. I think the communication's gotten better with Walmart,
so I think there's a better working relationship now with that. But it does take a toll on us when you're going down there. Now, when you make an arrest down there, you're talking about one or two guys being tied up for an arrest as well, so that arrest comes back to the station. And so, that takes time and then resources away from other parts of the city. Any questions on Walmart at all? Okay. The rail trail, I believe I spoke with Counselor Oniski. That should be coming out next meeting, the rules and bylaws-
Yes ... city ordinances. It'll be second reading at our next meeting. Second reading. So that's the final passage if it gets the votes. Okay. So once that gets in effect, I believe that also covers downtown as well. Yes. Actually, it covers the entire city. Okay. Downtown area would be no bikes, skateboards on the sidewalks- Right ... unless there's an anomaly across the street with a multi-use path- Right ... which they will be allowed. Okay. So I know Lieutenant Parrish, our traffic division has been working hard on that, put the wording together with Sergeant Mejia prior to her retirement. So hopefully, we're looking forward to getting guys out there to enforce, and
again, that creates manpower issues, trying to take resources away from other parts of the city to address issues on the rail trail. And we are working on a game plan. We've already been out there educating the public, passing out flyers. Our community policing unit's been handing out coupons for ice cream for kids that actually are following the law and have helmets on. So that seems to be a big hit right now. So hopefully, that'll spread. But we'll be out there with our bike officers and ATV units to spread the word, educate, and then we'll start enforcing on the rail trail
and the downtown, which would probably answer that gentleman's issue about downtown and bikes and e-bikes on the sidewalk. Any questions or concerns about that? As of right now, are there any questions regarding any of the issues? Oh, the Hampton Ponds. Hampton Ponds, I'm sorry. And thank you, Ms. Patty. I didn't pay her for that, by the way. She did a great job. We're in communication all the time.
She emails us, she emails Lieutenant Parrish, and Counselor Oniski. Sergeant Matt Schultz is our boat captain now. He's in charge of the boat unit, the boat patrol. He's putting that out. I believe they're out. The boat is up, and the guys are putting details out on the weekends. Again, those are overtime, and it's based on our budget. So when we can afford that, we can do that, and we try to put the guys out there. Mm-hmm. And I'm going to touch on the overtime in a minute to try to explain a few things. But I think ever since we first started up there in the ponds years ago by changing the gate
hours, and operating that way, I think we've had pretty good success, with working with other state agencies, the DCR, the state police, EPOs up there. And unfortunately, when you have one cruiser in the northwest sector of town, and there's an issue up there, that takes some resources to go up there and out of the way. So it is difficult, just like Walmart, when you're only dealing with two officers on the street in that corner. It's tough, and it takes resources away from other parts of the city in any emergency.
We do have, even off hours on the dog watch, our patrolmen or officers are doing building checks in the downtown area and outlying areas, and they're at the boat ramp as well after midnight checking on things. And believe it or not, they are catching people up there and s******g them and getting them out of there. So we are out there patrolling and doing what we can. We do have a dive team now. I don't know how far along they are in certifications yet. But that came from that tragedy we had a few years ago up there, and we decided to put a dive team together, so we have three members on our dive
team. Two of them, I think are almost fully certified to do what they have to do and working with the boat patrol unit. They're also part of the regional task force, so they can call in, and the fire department as well, regional task force, if we needed more manpower for issues. So that's trying to get a quick response to any issues, medical issues up there on the water. Any questions at all regarding- No. No. Counselor Allen. If I may. Thank you. I'd just like to thank Lieutenant Parrish for the work that he did on the e-bike ordinance. I think Westfield did an outstanding job in producing it, and I think other cities are actually looking at it, because he
did an amazing job with that. Good. Great. Yes, Counselor Finn. Thank you, Mr. President. Your dive team. Yes. Does the fire department have a dive team as well? I believe they have one or two individuals that are on, so we wanted to make sure that we had more peopleYou know, based on vacations, emergencies, sick time, we want to make sure we had a team that was ready to go. So we are working with the fire department. Oh, yeah. They're constantly in communication, and they're working with the regional dive team as well. So yeah, we're all on board with the same. Yeah. Councilor Bean. Yeah, just a quick one. And I've talked about this before, but
are you happy with the assistance you're getting from other state agencies down at Hampden Ponds? I mean, this is a state facility, right? So- Yeah ... I know I'm sure they get pushed and pulled in other directions as well, but I'm not happy with it personally. So is there a way for us to put some more pressure on other organizations to be more present down there on a given day? Especially in the good weather, right? It's mostly summertime, right? That's when that place really pops. So- Right. But it is a state agency, just like
the facility on East Mountain Road is a state facility. Mm. But when you're calling the state police and there's nobody close by, we're the people that are responding. Same thing with Hampden Ponds. I don't know where the EPOs are when the emergencies occur. The sheriff's department was helpful in supporting us with supplying manpower because we can't put one guy on a boat. So if we have one guy, we could call the sheriff's department to back us up. I don't know where that stands now with their budget cuts. Sounds like their division's going away. Right. But yet we still have that issue-
Yeah ... so we want to still maintain that. Yeah, so I don't know if that answers your question. Yeah, it does. State police are spread thin from here, and then by the time they get there-- Mm. I mean, they do back us up when we need them. Mm-hmm. But that backup is a while away. Mm. So that takes our resources away. Does that answer your question? It does. Okay. Thank you. Just real quick, just to touch on the manpower. If you look, again, this is that lineup sheet that I passed out for you. That's what I go by every day. And you can see, if you do the math real quick, we're supposed to have 66 patrolmen. Currently, we have 55 working patrolmen. As of right now, 55 working patrolmen.
And that's because of a variety of reasons. You have sick time, you have officers injured, you have military is a big play on that. If you look at that list, you'll see that it's pretty spread out throughout our shifts. We have three, probably, military personnel on each shift, but sometimes we've lost... I think we have three or four right now on long-term military, which we can't hire to back that up, so that comes out of overtime. And if you look at the overtime list on there, you'll see fiscal year 2024, '25, and '26. '26 isn't done yet, and you
can see what that cost is. So when we ask, and again, the police department thanks you very much for your support and voting on 70 officers. You can see that money there, and if any of your financial people here can figure that out, you could probably hire two or three police officers with that funding. Which would help us. That money there is just for putting patrol officers on the street to keep the minimum manning. That's it. That is not any other overtime. That's just to put people in patrol.
And if we had the extra patrolmen to help offset that, that number would go way down. And we could use that number for the boat ramp, for the rail trail, for putting extra people downtown. That would be helpful. And the ATV patrol, we also have that as well. So, that's really all I have. If anybody has any questions, I would love to answer them. Councilor Bean, just a quick one. I don't know if this will help, but what's your opinion on cameras, security cameras, in certain areas of the
city, like core district or even rail trail in certain spots? Cameras are awesome. They help with investigations after the fact. You wouldn't be able to sit there and watch it live. You'd have to hire somebody with the cameras that we're already looking at now throughout the city. There's no way. But they are helpful in illegal dumping or helping us with issues that do occur on the rail trail. Yeah, more cameras would be helpful. Anything else for Sergeant Tickner? Sergeant, we go back a long way, remember? Yeah. Call me whatever. I've been called worse.
We were together on the license when you were sergeant. Yes, the license commission, that's right. Thank you, Captain. Yeah. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Reports of committees. Finance Committee, Councilor Bean. Thank you, Mr. President. Which one am I doing here? Finance Committee has met with a three-zero vote of approval for the appropriation of $2,432,242.42 for free cash to Department of Public Works snow and ice control account to cover the
FY25 deficit as follows. And the finance did vote on these particular numbers below, but the auditor would like us to amend on the floor. So I guess I'll read the amended numbers, and we can amend. Sure. Is that okay? Yes, please. So the amended numbers for the first one is $1,782,648.17 to purchase a service account, and the second one is $500,308$536,357.33.
So moved. Second. That's all we have for amendments? That's all we have for amendments. Okay, so let's vote on the amendments. Yeah. Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ali? Yes. Bean? Yes. Beltrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fannion? Yes. Figgy? This is for clarification. This is for the first amendment number? Just the two amendments on the amount. So we're voting on two numbers? Yeah. Yes. Both numbers. And then we'll vote one to approve. Okay. Yeah. I think they should be individual, but- Oh, we can do them individually if he feels- Yes. ... weird. So we're just amending the motion, and then we're going to be voting and discussing the actual- Okay. Oh, I see. Okay. Yes. Thank you for that clarification.
Yeah. Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. So it is now amended. Council would be? Yes. Obviously, this is something we do every year. This is the only account that we can deficit spend in. And, obviously this number has increased dramatically considering what we're used to throughout the years. Snow levels weren't that high this year. I think there was a few inches below average, but the ice and the prep and just the cost of goods has really risen this number. Plan on for what I've been talking to with Randy or talking to Brandy about, as
the DPW superintendent, is that this number is not going away. So we need to prepare moving forward. As you know, the number stays pretty steady, but this is a significant jump from years past. Thank you. Yeah. Anything further from the council? No. Councilor Ali. Thank you, Mr. President. I would think what distinguished this winter was the sustained cold. I don't think we've ever seen a winter where we would go that many days and never go above freezing. This was unique. Yeah. Anything else? Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski?
Yes. Adams? Yes. Ali? Yes. Bean? Yes. Beltrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fannion? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. Item eight, Councilor Harris. Thank you, Mr. President. Eight is appropriation of $28,131.40 from free cash to the fire department purchase service account for body work repairs on the repair vehicle. We voted three-zero in the finance committee to recommend that item. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, councilor? Yes. Fire Chief Bishop states it's been determined that the repair vehicle has experienced significant body rot and deterioration, resulting in water intrusion
into the doors. This ongoing exposure to water and road debris is causing damage to the mechanic's tools and equipment stored within the vehicle. The repair vehicle, which has accumulated over 80,000 miles, serves as a critical mobile repair unit and responds regularly to emergency incidents. The mechanic supports structure fire responses and ensures that fire apparatus remain operational during fire suppression activities. Because vehicle breakdowns can occur at any location, the repair vehicle must be dependable and capable of responding wherever needed. Additionally, the mechanic's gate has lost its structural
integrity, and its replacement is included in this quote. Based on the mechanic's assessment, replacing the vehicle body is a more economical and practical solution than fully replacing the vehicle. A body replacement would significantly extend the service life of the vehicle while avoiding the higher cost of purchasing a new unit. Also, it was pointed out that when it needs to be replaced, the rest of the body needs to be replaced, that that body can go directly on the chassis and that will be a significant
savings. He also showed us pictures, and it's on the share drive, of the extensive rot on this vehicle. Anything further? Seeing none, roll call, Madam Secretary. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ali? Yes. Bean? Yes. Beltrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fannion? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. Item nine, Councilor Harris. Thank you, Mr. President. Nine is the appropriation in the amount of $26,568 from free cash to the fire department supplies account to replace six sets of turnout gear that have exceeded their service life, and we voted three-zero to
recommend that item. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, councilor? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Fire Chief Bishop states that six sets of turnout gear, coats, and pants have exceeded their service life and are now expired. Firefighter protective gear is rated for a maximum service life of 10 years, and several sets are currently beyond that expiration date. Over time, the protective materials deteriorate and gradually lose their ability to provide adequate protection against heat, flame, chemicals, moisture, and other physical hazards
encountered on the fire ground. The turnout gear serves as the first line of defense for firefighters, providing critical thermal and safety protection during emergency operations. Replacing the expired gear will ensure personnel safety and maintain compliance with applicable NFPA standards. I have to say, it is ironic that I'm doing these two fire items because yesterday we had a big fire two houses down from me, which required many engines and many police officers, cruisers to be there. Everything turned out okay,
but it was just kind of ironic that this is coming up tonight. They do a great job. Anything further? Councilor Figgie Thank you. I was at the finance meeting and talked with Chief Bishop afterwards, and I commended him for discovering this error. This should not ever have happened. We should never have our firefighters out there in expired gear. Mm-hmm. So, I know he's only been there a month- Right ... but he's already discovering things that should've been done years ago. So I want to kudos to Chief Bishop on discovering this, because the last thing we want is an injured firefighter.
Councilor Melo. Thank you, Mr. President. This would be the part where I would ask whether or not this is PFAS-free gear that we're buying, except for the fact that the PFAS-free gear that has been sold has been proven to have PFAS. So, I'm not asking that question because we don't need to spend extra money on stuff that isn't what we want it to be. It's really important that the gear be within its window because it sheds PFAS and becomes less effective over time. Mm-hmm. So I would like to add that I really hope that these old sets of gear are disposed as the hazardous materials they are,
because they really are. And appreciate everyone protecting our service members. Thank you. Thank you. Anything further? Roll call, ma'am, please. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ally? Yes. Bean? Yes. Belchandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fannion? Yes. Figgie? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthew Skein? Yes. Melo? Yes. Thank you. Item 10, Councilor Bean. Thank you, Mr. President. Finance committee has met with a three-zero approval for the transfer of $124,380 for the police department full-time hourly account to the additional small equipment account for the purchase of
87 body-worn cameras, WWBC units, and associated software, data storage services, and all the sworn officers for the Westfield Police Department. So, moved. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, councilor? Yeah, I think we had a pretty good, robust conversation about this item when it came to the grant. This is the additional funds to purchase these cameras. I think the good news on this is that it will help protect the officer, the citizens, and the city on the
liability side, but also just to be safer all around. We all can appreciate that. All the unions have not negotiated wearing these particular body cameras yet. We were optimistic that it would get done soon. But because of the grant being time sensitive and this particular buying of this contract with the 87, we needed to move now to get this locked in place. So at this point, the good news is, again, more good news, it's a five-year contract, so this won't
come up again for five years. Questions? Councilor Morganelli. I'll defer to Councilor Adams first, please. Councilor Adams? No, just a quick thing. The police have actually held off a little bit on this because what you don't see in here is so much manpower behind the scenes that have to review all these body-worn cameras. I absolutely agree that every one of them should have one. We had a little bit of issue with the negotiations. Now, my understanding, as long as you intend to go into negotiations, they can put these on tomorrow. So these can go into effect right away as long as there's an intent to go into
negotiations. Do I agree that the police should get something to wear them? They probably should. Most other communities did it with ARPA funds. It wasn't out of the taxpayers' money. It came from the ARPA funds, which I wish we did that back then because it wouldn't be costing the citizens tax money for the police department to wear these. Unfortunately, we didn't. And it takes several men and women at the police station to go through all of these things. So with the police department being short on help, they've held off on this, hoping they were going to get more help to come in and more
officers to make these as effective as they can. So, it's a step in the right direction. I don't know when they're gonna negotiate, and I don't know when they're gonna start wearing them, but I believe that most of the officers I've talked to want to wear them because it protects them more than it protects anybody else, and that's what they want, is protection. That people say that, "You're doing this to me," and they actually aren't, and it can be proven. And I think I said this before, I went to look at 10 police departments when we looked at the police department in Westfield. Every single chief said nine times out of 10, it's the public saying the police officers are doing
something, they're not doing it. And this protects them, and I'm glad that this is coming down because I think it's only better for our citizens and our department to have these units on them. It certainly has helped with the state police, so I can't see how it wouldn't help with our local police also. Councilor Morganelli, did you have something? Yeah. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, just a couple of questions for the committee is just, did any pros and cons come up in the discussion about wearing it and not wearing it, from the officers? From, obviously, the leadership.
We have the letter to the mayor from Captain Hall, saying that he's advocating for this, and he would like to see this happen. So that was one question I had, and the other question is: Is there gonna be a cost to the city?During the five years or after the five years? Do we have to maintain these? Do we have to do software upgrades? What's the long-term projection on cost for this, and can we afford that? So, I think Captain Hall came in here and gave us a presentation on that. Did he not? Yes. There was a grant associated with this, and it was good for five years.
Yes. And I think he answered that question during the- This will be it for five years. Good? And any officers give feedback on it in the committee meeting or? Not that I'm aware of. There's nothing. Thank you. Everybody good? Roll call. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ally? Yes. Feen? Yes. Filchandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fanyon? Yes. Figgy? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. Legislative and Ordinance Committee, item 11, Counselor Oniski. Thank you, Mr. President. L&O met on June 2nd, and upon a 3-0 vote, recommended an ordinance regarding the use of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, ATM machines in
Westfield. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, counsel? Yes, thank you. Just a brief background on this. Worked with Detective Williams. Bitcoin is a digital bank-free form of money that exists entirely on the internet. It's not controlled by government or bank, runs on a global network of computers. Bitcoin ATMs are also called BTMs. It's a physical kiosk that allows you to buy and sometimes sell cryptocurrency using cash and a debit card. Unlike traditional bank ATMs that connect to a checking
account to dispense or deposit local currency, BTMs connect directly to a digital crypto wallet, which essentially acts as a bank account. The problem. The problem is that a high percentage of transactions are fraudulent in nature due to scams. No exact number, but the training that Detective Williams learned in attending classes on this estimate it to be as high as 80 to 90% of all transactions being fraudulent. What scammers are doing now, where it used to be gift cards,
now it's scammers will get an amount of money from a person, typically an elderly person, that can be transferred quickly into a Bitcoin ATM, and the transactions are irreversible. There are no governing refunds, limits, protections against overseas accounts, prohibitions against waiving rights as users, and the ATMs typically get their kick at 20%. And they prey on people who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrency, and heavily skewed to
our most vulnerable population. So, what'll happen during the scam is someone pretends to be from the IRS, tech support, a bank, Amazon, Apple fraud department, law enforcement. They'll tell the victim that it's very urgent that they get money and go to a cryptocurrency ATM and provide them with a QR code. The person puts in their ca-- They go to a bank, get the cash, put it in the Bitcoin ATM, and then it goes directly into the scammer's wallet. National statistics, FTC reported
$12 million of losses in 2020, and now it's estimated $333 million of losses in 2025. The older adults accounted for over 70% of the scams. Most of them were due to government impersonation, business impersonation, tech support scams. Some of the statistics in Westfield, there's at least a dozen machines in town. They're located in convenience stores, liquor stores, gas store stations, or gas stations, sorry, grocery stores. Since 2024 in Westfield, there's been several dozen reported
cases. Losses range from $200 up to $15,000 plus. The average loss is $7,000, and the age of the person losing the money typically is from the early 20s to mid-80s. The average age is 63. Detective Williams believes this to be much higher because people don't report these crimes once they get scammed. They're embarrassed, and they're not going to report it to the police, especially since they know they're not going to get their money back. Waltham, Gloucester, Haverhill, Ipswich, South Hadley are some
of the cities and towns in Massachusetts that have banned them. Indiana and Tennessee banned them statewide. The ordinance we have will give 60 days to remove these Bitcoin ATMs, and there'll be daily fines after that. After one of our meetings, I went over to Stop & Shop to get lunch meat, but there was a coin redemption machine there. Mm-hmm. Which I thought was always just a coin redemption machine. You throw in $100 of quarters, and you get $85 worth back. But
if you drill down into that, which I did, that is also a Bitcoin ATM. So there's several functions to that machine. I thought it was just to change your change into cash, but it's not. And I drilled down. There's several warnings on there that make sure you're not scammed and things like that. But the predators who actually make the calls to the people getting scammed say, "Tell them that they're going to see these warnings. Ignore them."And recently,
within weeks, there was someone actually living down my street that was almost scammed out of money. Someone happened to be there and overheard a conversation and told this person, "Stop it. Don't get any money out. You're getting scammed. This is what's going to happen." So, it's all over the place. People get preyed upon because of fear. Their child's been hurt, their grandchild's in the hospital, somebody's arrested, somebody close to them. And this is just a way to get the money, completely
untraceable, and I think it needs to stop. Thank you. Anything further? Councilor Allie. Thank you, Mr. President. One of the things, really some of these losses are really devastating to some of these folks. You're talking significant amounts of money. There really is no legitimate use for this because of that 20% fee that Councilor Mnatsakanian mentioned. If you're going to trade in Bitcoin, you don't have to pay that kind of crazy money. And one of the things, most of the towns that he mentioned are in the eastern part of the state. So by Westfield, and the detective
mentioned this, by Westfield passing this, it can be used to promote other towns to get the word out that this is a problem. Because a lot of us didn't realize how bad it was, that this was going on. So, by Westfield passing this, it would be something that the police department could use to promote to get other towns to do the same thing, and help to get the word out to people. Good. If I can. Oh, okay. Councilor Moe. Thank you, Mr. President. So, I got to tell you, this is the first I have heard of this. Okay. Is there some educational material that we could maybe support so that
people know what these machines look like, or that it's in a Coinstar? Because, who'd have thought Coinstar did anything more than count your coins? I did not know. Is there more material that we could be sharing about this? This is what I have. The police department can- Yeah ... share information, but they're not going to be doing it in Westfield as this ordinance passes, because these machines won't exist. Okay. Thank you. Would you like to read it, sir? If I may, by title only? Yes, sir. Ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, adopted June
17th 1993, by adding Article, I guess that's 60, Cryptocurrency Automated Teller Machine, ATMs. Very good. Anything further? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Councilor. Thank you, Mr. President. Move 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 12, Councilor Allie. Thank you, Mr. President. So, the Legislative and Ordinance Committee met on June 2nd, and recommended favorable approval of an ordinance amending the Code
of Ordinances, City of Westfield, Chapter 16, Article 2, Division 4, Storm Water Management. Second. Motion made and seconded. Councilor, further discussion? Okay. So this was something that was actually started back before the pandemic. This is just adding clarifying language to match with the Department of Environmental Protection, the federal law, which is what it derives from. And so, DP Director Randy Brown and the City Planner Jay Binsky, did an excellent job clarifying this. And they also created a chart that specifies the triggers for a special permit and
that sort of thing. So they did an amazing job of clarifying this. So there was a lot of discussion on it, but basically just lining up with federal law. Any questions? Would you read it by title only, sir? Sure. So, an ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, City of Westfield, that Chapter 16, Streets and Sidewalks. Am I reading the right one? Yes. Article two of Westfield Code of Ordinances, be it hereby amended, replacing the Division for Storm Water Management in its entirety with the following. Thank you. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye.
Opposed? Councilor. So, motion for second reading and final passage at our next meeting. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Now on for second reading. Item 13, Councilor Allie. All right. This one here. I believe this is a remaining in committee, right? Yes. Yeah. Sorry. So, Legislative and Ordinance Committee met, and on item 13, there was a motion to remain in committee. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion on remaining in committee? No. Good. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item 14, Councilor Fanion.
Thank you, Mr. President. The L&O has met, and they gave a positive recommendation for a motion to schedule a public hearing on the order of taking by eminent domain for Michael Drive. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion, Councilor? Yes. Michael Drive, Victoria Circle, and Woodsong Road, the other two items on the agenda, are all in Ward One. I have been working with the residents of these streets. We have petitions signed to have these streets go to public ways. In working with them, the process has changed to the eminent domain taking. I have also worked with them and explained this eminent domain taking process to
them, and they were all still in favor of it going to eminent domain. And also, all three of these streets have positive recommendations from the Planning Board, Engineering, and Board of Public Works. Okay, so you're going to do them all at the same time? We can do them each one separately, it's fine. Okay. So this is just to schedule a public hearing. Yep. So you want to do them individually or just schedule a public hearing for all three? So moved. They're separated on the agenda, so we'll do three. So you want to do them individually? Yes. Okay. So the eminent domain taking for Michael Drive. Anything further? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item 15, Councilor Faniel.
Item 15. Thank you, Mr. President. LNO has met and gave a positive recommendation for a motion to schedule a public hearing on the order of taking by eminent domain for Victoria Circle. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any further discussion? Same discussion. Okay. Anything else? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item 16, Councilor Faniel. Thank you, Mr. President. LNO has met and gave a positive recommendation for a motion to schedule a public hearing on the order of taking by eminent domain for Woodsong Road. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion? Same discussion. Anyone else? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Personnel Action Committee, item 17, Councilor Figgie.
Thank you, Mr. President. Personnel Actions Committee has met on the reappointment of Eric Valdez, an assistant city solicitor for a term to expire July of 2029, and on a 2-0 vote, voted to recommend this reappointment. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, councilor? Thank you. This is Eric's first reappointment. He was first appointed in 2023, came to Westfield from a private practice in Vermont. Currently, he provides opinions to other departments as requested. Also, he is the primary litigator for the city.
80% of his job is litigation. 20% of his job is contract reviews and giving advisory opinions. Attorney Reed gives her full support for this reappointment. Thank you. So roll call, Madam City Clerk. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ali? Yes. Bean? Yes. DelChandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Faniel? Yes. Figgie? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. Item 18, Councilor Figgie. Thank you, Mr. President. The Personnel Action Committee has met regarding the appointment of Cynthia Fillion, 25 King Place, as a Ward 3 commissioner to the Parks and Recs Commission, replacing Vinnie Olinsky for
a term to expire February 2029, and on a 2-0 vote, voted to approve this appointment. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, sir? Yes, thank you, Mr. President. First of all, we'd like to thank Mr. Olinsky for his many, many, and I mean many- Many, many ... years of volunteering for the Park and Rec Commission. I have known Cindy since her days at Agawam High School, where she was a standout basketball player. She played Division I basketball on a full ride to St. Joe's in Connecticut. She has worked with youth since graduation from college, first as a special education
teacher in Hartford. Raising four children made for a break in her employment. She is currently working for the early intervention TOM program here in Westfield, working with children with developmental delays, ages birth to three. Cindy sees the Park and Rec program in Westfield as a vital part of life in Westfield. She has many years coaching as well as playing. She's a former varsity girls basketball coach at Westfield High and assistant coach at Westfield State University. She is hoping to help the Park and Rec grow and expand here in Westfield. Councilor Matthews-Kane.
Thank you, Mr. President. I'd just like to echo the thanks for Vinnie Olinsky. He has worked with youth forever. When I went to the YMCA afterschool program in the '70s, he was in charge of that. You're dating yourself, you know that? Yeah, I am dating myself, but he's just been committed to the children of Westfield for a really long time, and I'm grateful for his service. Councilor Morganelli. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I concur with the councilor across the way. I mentioned at the meeting about Vin and his passion for youth, his passion for athletics and parks and recreation, and how he's been so dedicated. And meeting
Cindy, it was wonderful. I think she's an incredible fit. She's an athlete, and she has that same passion and joy for sports and parks and recreation. So I think she has big shoes to fill, but she's going to fill them very, very well, and she's pretty tall anyway, so I think she's going to fill the spot very well. Yeah, she's 6'2". Yeah. Anything further? Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ali? Yes. Bean? Yes. DelChandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Faniel? Yes. Figgie? Yes. Harris? Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. Item 19, Councilor Morganelli. Thank you, Mr. President. PAC met on June 1st, and on a
vote of 2-0, we were in favor of an appointment of Kyle... Sorry. On a 2-0 in favor, we decided to hold the appointment of Kyle Therriault of 136 Western Avenue as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, replacing Pete Argiro for a term to expire in February 2029 in committee. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any discussion, councilor? No, it's just that he was not able to make it that night, and we'd like to give him a chance to participate and tell us about his appointment and his desire to do that. Thank you. Very good. Anything further? All in favor?
Aye. Opposed? Item 20, Council Morganelli. There we go. And PAC has met June 1st, and on a favorable vote of 2-0 for the appointment of Jessica Hoffman, 302 Russell Road, as a member of the Conservation Commission, replacing Kyle Grove for a term to expire February 2029. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, councilor? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. So yesJessica has an extensive background in lab work and is a lab technician. She was a
lab technician in Inorganics back to 2010 to 2013. She worked for Eurofins Spectrum and Analytical, incorporated in Agawam. She has done lab testing, managed a team of project managers at Pace Analytical Contest Labs in East Long Meadow. She's done photoionization, groundwater, and water sampling, indoor air, and soil sampling as well. She worked for O'Reilly, Talbot, and Okeen Associates doing that, and she has her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from the
University of Maine, Machias. And she's got just extensive experience in environmental issues, and she really has a desire to serve the city. We think she's a really good candidate. And that's why we voted in favor of approving her appointment. Councilor Figgie. Sounds great. Thank you. I'd also like to thank Carl for his many years of volunteering on the Conservation Commission. This is a very busy commission, and the time he has taken away from his life to commit to the city is commendable. Thank you, Carl. Yeah. Thank you. Anything further?
Roll call, Madam City Clerk. Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? Yes. Adams? Yes. Ally? Yes. Bean? Yes. Beltrandi? Yes. Burns? Yes. Fannion? Yes. Figgie? Yes. Harris? Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Yes. Thank you. City properties. Councilor Harris. Thank you, Mr. President. The 21 is an order transferring care, custody, management, and control of a certain property known as Fort Meadow School on White Street from the school department to the city for the purpose of declaring the property as surplus and disposing it in accordance with MGL Chapter 30B. And tonight, the City Properties Committee met,
Chair Ali, Councilor Fannion, and myself. We voted three, zero to have a positive recommendation on this item. Second. Motion made and seconded. Further discussion, councilor? Yes, very briefly. School Department on its May 4th, 2026 meeting voted to declare the property as surplus as the department has no use for the property. And Section 15A of Chapter 40 of the Massachusetts General Laws requires the school department give notice to the city council that they desire to surplus property that is no longer needed. Upon receipt of this notice, a council may, by a two-thirds vote, accept said property, and the Massachusetts General Laws require approval
by the City Council of the surplus and the disposition of municipally owned property. Thank you. Anything further? Councilor Bean. Yeah. You're good? Okay. Just a quick question, and I don't know if it was brought up on this particular site, but there's a playscape there that's in great shape. Does anybody know where that's going? Is that just staying with the property? I do not know. But perhaps Councilor Figgie, do you? As far as I know, that's staying with the property. Oh. To take those apart and relocate them is a major issue, and more times than not, they get damaged in the process.
So the neighborhood is appreciative, and I'd like to also say thank you to the school department for mowing the lot before they gave us the building. Mm. Councilor Fannion, then Councilor Mello. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to say that there is a policy that they do not move playscapes, just as councilor said, because they do get damaged. So it'll probably just stay there. Councilor Mello. Thank you, Mr. President. Is this one of those properties that has hidden stuff we don't know about yet? Is this asbestos stuff? Is there some kind of oil tank underneath the bottom? Are we accepting a pile of problems if we
take this? Councilor Figgie, would you like to address that? I don't know for certain. However, knowing the age- It's old ... of this building being over 100 years, if there wasn't asbestos in there, I'd be shocked. That's what I was thinking. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Anything further? Since this is an order, would you like to read it by title only? Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. An order transferring care, custody, management, and control of certain parcels in the city of Westfield on White Street. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Councilor. You up for second reading? Second reading. Yeah. We need a second reading? Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Then I make a motion for a second reading.
Yeah. Final passage. Yeah. Second reading? Yes. Motion. Second. Motion made and second. I didn't write that part down. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All on for second reading. Good teamwork. Unfinished business. Item 22 is a reconsideration of an 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. We discussed this at the last meeting, so we're just going to vote. A yes vote is to approve it. A no vote is to not approve it. Roll call, Madam City Clerk.
Morganelli? Yes. Oneski? No. Adams? Abstain. I have business conflict. Ally? Yes. Bean? No. Beltrandi? No. Burns? No. Fannion? Abstain. Personal conflict. Figgie? No. Harris? Yep. Yes. Matthews-Kane? Yes. Mello? Five yes, five no. What do you got? Five yes, five no. You needed seven. Five yes, five no. Motion fails. Fails. Motion. Motion fails. Any announcements? Yes, I do. Yes, Councilor Mello. Oh, you can go first if you want. Ladies first. Oh. Ladies. I just wanted to say there were huge sun flares that happened, and so tonight, after the sun goes down, if you look north, you may be able to see aurora
today, tomorrow, or the next day. So after dark, go outside, take a look. You might be able to see the northern lights. Oh, what time? Councilor Morganelli, then Councilor Bean. After this item. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. I did check that aurora forecast. It's probably not tonight, maybe tomorrow, but I don't think it's going to happen tonight. But Sunday, June 14th is Flag Day, and it commemorates the adoption of the first official United States flag by the Second Continental Congress in 1777. Just wanted to mention that. So Flag Day, fly your American flag on Sunday. Thank you.
Councilor Bean. Yeah, I just wanted to say congratulations to all the WTA students tonight who are graduating. Right. And in particular, Jack Kannapic, who is Councilor Kannapic's son. Yes. Thank you. Councilor Figgie, did you have something? Yes, I did. I'd like to also congratulate tomorrow night's Westfield High School Bombers on their graduation and wish them the best of luck in their future. Anybody else? Seeing no one, Councilor Harris. Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion made and second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? We're now adjourned. Good night, everyone.