Flood Concerns Discussed at Marijuana Retailer Hearing
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The Westfield NewsSearch for The Westfield News Westfield350.com The WestfieldNews Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIME IS THE ONLY WEATHER CRITIC WITHOUT TONIGHT AMBITION.” Partly Cloudy. JOHN STEINBECK Low of 55. www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 86 NO. 151 $1.00 FRIDAY,TUESDAY, FEBRUARY JUNE 27, 19,2017 2021 VOL.75 cents 90 NO. 42 Flood concerns Low COVID-19 case discussed trend continues Health director still recommends at marijuana end to winter sports By PETER CURRIER Staff Writer retailer hearing WESTFIELD — The Health Department reported 44 new confirmed COVID-19 cases this week to bring By AMY PORTER Westfield’s pandemic total to 2,453 cases. Staff Writer The weekly report, which was WESTFIELD – The RC Retail, dba “Red released Thursday rather than Cardinal,” recreational marijuana shop planned Wednesday, stated there were no for 265 Union St. came before the Planning COVID-19 related deaths in Board on Feb. 16 seeking a special permit, site Westfield in the past week. Sixty- plan approval and a stormwater permit. Red one residents were in isolation Cardinal and the City of Westfield entered into a with COVID-19 as of the report’s Host Community Agreement on Nov. 9, 2020. publishing. The facility is to be located on a subdivided Health Director Joseph Rouse portion of the property at 265 Union St., owned said Thursday morning that there by Clifford Laraway. Laraway, who was present are no clusters of note in the city, on the call, said the house is rented out to an Jack Murphy, director of retail operations and Mark A. Dupuis, and the age range of those infected employee. Director/President of Heka, Inc. in front of interior doorway to dis- is quite wide. While the number of Attorney Bradford Moir, representing the pensary, which reads “A Gift from the Gods.” (AMY PORTER/THE weekly cases fell, Rouse said that applicants, said the special permit is needed due WESTFIELD NEWS) 14 cases had already been detect- to a residential property within 300 feet. He said ed within the next reporting peri- JOSEPH ROUSE the building has to be flood proofed and compen- od. He said the daily spike may Westfield Public satory storage provided due to location in the Heka, Inc. completes cannabis have to do with superbowl gath- Health Director floodplain. erings on Feb. 7. Robert Levesque of R. Levesque Assoc. said cultivation, processing While superbowl gathering he had initially been contracted to work on the cases may cause a slight rise in cases in the coming weeks, conservation issues, and more recently to upgrade Rouse said he believes the numbers will go back down soon the site plans. He said on the southeast side of and dispensary facility after. property is bordering vegetative wetlands. He Individual cases on Westfield High School sports teams said the existing house will remain, but a garage By AMY PORTER from the CCC. did lead to dozens of people needing to quarantine due to and another structure will be demolished to com- Staff Writer Dupuis said he has a medical close contact. pensate for a new building, a proposed 2,010 WESTFIELD – Mark Dupuis, marijuana permit and will be The hockey team as well as the junior varsity and varsity square-foot structure toward the front of Union director and president of Heka, given priority for the license, basketball teams each had positive cases among their play- Street. Inc. announced this week that the which he anticipates receiving in ers, which caused Rouse to recommend to theWestfield Levesque said a septic system will be installed, 42,000 square-foot cannabis cul- 90 days after inspection. Final School Committee that the ongoing winter sports seasons and a perc test is scheduled in the next week or tivation, processing/manufactur- operations are being overseen by be ended to prevent further spread. Mayor Donald F. two. ing and dispensary facility at 98 an individual who helped open Humason Jr. had called for a motion to end winter sports Planning Board Chair William Carellas opened Sgt. T.M. Dion Way has been the second facility in the state in during the Feb. 11 School Committee meeting, but no the public hearing to participation from the pub- completed, and he is ready to Brockton, he said. members were willing to make the motion. lic. apply for a license from the Dupuis is pushing for a May At that time, Rouse said it was believed that just two Melissa Kielbasa of 342 Union St. said they Cannabis Control Commission. 2021 opening. An amended Host teams, hockey and JV basketball, were affected by positive own property south of the applicant on the other Dupuis said Heka, Inc. repre- Community Agreement was slat- COVID cases. After the meeting, it was learned that an side of the brook, and own a right of way to the sents a $24 million investment, ed to come before the City additional case had been detected on the varsity basketball property behind the applicant. She said she didn’t $15 to $16 million spent directly Council on Feb. 18, which team. see the right of way in the plan. on the facility itself and the rest extends the deadline to apply for “When one case pops up, the whole team has to quaran- Laraway confirmed that they have a right of on accruals. He is now waiting a final CCC license until Sept. tine, which can be 15 to 16 people,” said Rouse, “and then way north of the property along the tree line to for a fire alarm permit, which he 19, and a new Failure to Open their close contacts also have to quarantine, which can be cross over to property they just purchased. expected in a day or two, and an deadline of Dec. 31, 2021. The another 11 or 12 people.” Levesque said they would confirm that there’s no inspection for a certificate of current HCA with the city has a While confirmed positive case counts do remain rela- obstruction to the right of way. occupancy from the City of deadline of March 13, 2021. tively low, even among high school sports teams, Rouse “I don’t know if you realize how badly that Westfield which is necessary said that he still recommends that winter sports end because field floods there. We have photos of that field before applying for the license See Heka, Inc., Page 3 of the strain on city resources when dozens of close con- with a kayak in it. Every time we build on Union tacts in a school setting need to be processed at once. Street, it affects the last remaining farmland on The Massachusetts Contact Tracing Collaborative han- that road,” Kielbasa said. dles most contact tracing in the state among the general “We know that area floods pretty significantly. population. In Westfield the Health Department does the The solution has been over the years to compen- contact tracing for schools and city personnel so that there sate for displacement in the floodplain through is little to no lag when informing individuals in those popu- compensatory storage. One way is to demolish lations that they are a close contact. existing buildings, (which is) our plan here,” Levesque said, adding they would be going to the See COVID-19, Page 3 Conservation Commission for a permit, although the date had not yet been set. A letter submitted for public participation was also read by Carellas from a resident on Devon Terrace, opposing the application. The writer said they did not want the business located so close to a residential area, and that access from Union AAA performs Street to their property was already a concern. The public hearing on the application was con- “The Journey of Cannabis” artwork by Scott Murphy is displayed in acts of kindness tinued to the March 2 meeting. the dispensary. (AMY PORTER/THE WESTFIELD NEWS) By PETER CURRIER Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The American Automobile Association (AAA) celebrated National Acts of Kindness Day on Wednesday, Feb. 17 by coming to Baystate Noble Hospital City man launches ‘Cocktails and Scenes’ podcast to donate boxes of snacks and free AAA memberships to health care workers. By HOPE E. TREMBLAY “Reviewing movies was always kind AAA employees arrived at Baystate Noble Hospital Editor of my dream job,” he said. “As the popu- Wednesday morning with supplies of snacks for the nurses WESTFIELD – “Cocktails and larity of podcasts grew exponentially stations in the hospital. AAA Vice President of Membership, Scenes” is a new podcast with a focus on these last few years, I realized that what Marketing, and Travel Sandra Marsian said that the com- – what else? – adult beverages and mov- I really wanted to do was a movie pod- pany is doing this across the Northeast in Massachusetts, ies. cast. I mentioned it to Wayne as I thought Co-hosted virtually by Westfield resi- he’d be the perfect person to do it with. See AAA Kindness, Page 3 dent Will Martin and Pennsylvania resi- He loved the idea and we talked through dent Wayne Lawler, the podcast focuses ideas/brainstormed for the better part of on the movie buffs’ top five movies on a 6-8 months before launching it fully this weekly topic. February.” Martin and Lawler have long been Lawler admitted he was hesitant for movie fans with a special place in their about a minute. hearts for Tom Cruise, evident in the nod “The more we talked about it. the to cruise’s 1988 movie “Cocktail” in Westfield resident Will Martin, co-host more I realized how well Will and I their podcast name and logo.