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TONIGHT: Mostly Clear. Low of 53. The Westfield News Search 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 TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 75 cents $1.00 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 VOL. 88 NO. 226 Air Force offers water treatment settlement By AMY PORTER ment for a settlement of a portion of that was found to have been con- Kennedy & Madonna, and S.L. Staff Writer what we’ve done by putting togeth- taminated in the testing laboratory. Environmental Law Group out of WESTFIELD — A Special City er our systems for the PFAS prob- “There’s no evidence that it’s not San Francisco, firms representing Council meeting has been sched- lem.” removing everything,” Billips said. multiple other communities and uled for Thursday, Sept. 26 at 3 p.m. Sullivan said the city has been “Residents should feel comfort- districts dealing with PFAS pollu- in Room 207, City Council steadfast in first making sure the able that the tests we’re receiving tion. Chambers in City Hall. water was safe, and second in going prove the carbon filters are work- Sullivan also said that Westfield The sole item on the agenda, through the process of lawsuits to ing,” Sullivan said, adding that now is not the only one entering into an from Mayor Brian P. Sullivan, is a recoup its expenses. the hard work of the Law agreement with the DOD, but also request for immediate consideration He said they have been success- Department is starting to pay off. other cities and towns that are work- of an Intergovernmental Agreement ful with the water as the results of “What we’re going to deal with ing through the same process. between the city and the United testing will show. Last week, this week is a portion of what we’re Sullivan said that he is asking for States Department of the Air Force Department of Public Works going after, but it’s a first step,” immediate consideration of the IGA providing reimbursement of certain Director David Billips said that they Sullivan said. He said the Law because he doesn’t want Westfield water treatment costs, pursuant to have now tested 130 million gallons Department, working with the out- to miss out on the first round of the Defense Appropriations Act. of water through the GAC filtration side firms they hired are holding the settlements. “The clock is ticking. “That’s some great news coming system on Well 2, with results Department of Defense account- This is just the first part of a long BRIAN P. SULLIVAN in,” Sullivan said. “We have an showing non-detect for the PFAS able. process, but one that is working in Westfield Mayor opportunity to enter into an agree- compounds, apart from one sample The city hired New York-based the right direction,” he said. Protesters gather to oppose mental health unit closures By PETER CURRIER among the protestors was the part- ny, but each one said that the part- Staff Writer nership between Baystate Health nership should already have ended. HOLYOKE — The Massachusetts and a company called US HealthVest, “As a result of recently released Nurses Association conducted a which is facilitating the opening of information, we are conducting a protest Monday evening at the site the new facility. further review of US HealthVest. of the facility in Holyoke that would “Partnering with a national for- Our foremost priority is to assure effectively replace several mental profit like US HealthVest could only that any partnership is consistent health units in the Baystate Health lead to more problems. Our con- with both our mission and our core system. cerns were confirmed last month goals as an organization: quality The “Keep Behavior Health when we learned from a Seattle care, increased access to critical Local” rally was attended by dozens Times investigating that Us health services, financial stability of nurses, mental health profession- HealthVest had been putting finan- and investment in community als, patients, and families who cial decisions above patient safety,” health.” said Mark A. Keroack, believe that moving mental health said Patrick Boyd-Owens, a nurse at president and CEO of Baystate facilities away from local units like Franklin Medical Center speaking Health in August. the Fowler unit in Baystate Noble on behalf of Donna Stern, his fellow Ward 1 City Councilor Mary Ann Hospital in Westfield will be detri- nurse. “The investigation document- Babinski attended the protest and mental to patients. The mental ed patient neglect, documentation said that she and the rest of the health units in Baystate Franklin fraud, and even patient deaths at US council support keeping the Fowler and Baystate Wing hospitals are HealthVest facilities across the US.” Unit open. The City Council recent- expected to close down as well in On several occasions, speakers ly passed a resolution unanimously Dozens of people gathered at the site of the derelict Holyoke Geriatric favor of the Holyoke facility. mentioned that Baystate is review- Authority building where the proposed mental health facility is planned. One of the chief complaints ing its partnership with the compa- See Health Unit Closure, Page 3 (Photo by Peter Currier) Town Health director hours to increase in Southwick By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Assistant Managing Editor SOUTHWICK — The town health director position is likely to become full- time when current Director Thomas Fitzgerald retires. Fitzgerald is set to retire Nov. 1 but agreed to work as a consultant until the position is filled. “I don’t want to leave the town without someone,” said Fitzgerald, who has served Southwick for 22 years. The Board of Health urged the Select Board to create a full-time position. “If we keep this as a part-time position, we will get the same amount of applicants we’ve had since [posting the job] July 16, which is none,” said Board of Health Chair Dr. Jerome Azia last month. Azia said Fitzgerald is extremely busy, particularly with inspections at several home developments in town. Azia said over the past four years Fitzgerald’s work has brought in a substantial increase from inspection fees – from $16,000 in 2016 to $45,000 last year. “We are on track to do $50,000 this year,” said Azia, adding that the increased revenue from fees would help pay for the increase in salary. The Board of Health asked that they be allowed to increase the director’s hours from 26 to 35 and offer a salary range of Southwick Board of Health members Jean Nilsson and Dr. Jerome Azia listen as Health Director/Inspector Thomas Fitzgerald speaks to the $54,000-$63,000. Southwick Select Board. (File photo by Hope E. Tremblay) The Select Board last week agreed addi- tional hours could attract candidates. tional hours and could [the director] be given “This person gets information from compa- Fitzgerald said he was “surprised” no one Select Board Chair Russ Fox reached out extra duties,” said Fox. nies that store chemicals on-site, so that will be applied for the part-time job but was confident to Azia last week to start the process. Fitzgerald said the extra duties would be to an added responsibility but won’t take up a ton they would find someone for a full-time posi- “We started brainstorming about addi- serve as the town’s Right to Know officer. of time,” Fitzgerald said. tion. 7th Annual To Benefit the... TICKETS Being $ 00 Held 25 Per Person at... Saturday • Dinner • Fun • Raffle th 866 Shaker Rd Sept. 28 ~ 6PM • Entertainment Westfield, MA FUNDRAISER Reserve Tables of 6, 8 or 10 Susan: 413-568-9728 or [email protected] ~ CALL AHEAD TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE ~ Sarah: 413-426-0517 or [email protected] PAGE 2 - WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM THE WESTFIELD NEWS Big E food review: The Turducken By PETER CURRIER Staff Writer WEST SPRINGFIELD- Part two of my Big E weird food review took me in a direc- tion I was not expecting, as the name of this food mislead me into thinking it would be weirder than it ended up being. While taking one of many laps around the fairgrounds on Monday, a small restaurant and bar caught my eye for one particular menu item: the Turducken Sandwich. The sandwich can be found in The New England Craft Pub on the end of the Avenue of States closest to the Rhode Island building. The term “turducken” may be a familiar one, as it is a relatively famous dish that con- sists of cooked chicken inside of a cooked duck that is also inside a cooked turkey, or some combination thereof. None of those foods are particularly weird in a vacuum, but once you start putting each one inside of the other, it starts to toe the line of “weird” terri- tory. So I ordered the sandwich and paid my $10. As I waited, I struggled to understand how this epic meal could possibly be con- densed into a sandwich form. It was quickly brought out to me, and I realized that they had simply ground the three meats together to make it work as a sandwich. The outside actually seems like it was grilled like a grilled cheese, which I suppose makes this sandwich a “melt” more than anything. I sat down nearby and took a bite into it, and it is actually one of the best foods I have ever had at the Big E. The three ground meats were sandwiched alongside a cranberry stuff- ing and a kind of cheese I couldn’t immedi- ately identify.

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