Southwick Water Ban Lifted
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TONIGHT Partly Cloudy. Low of 65. Search for The Westfield News The WestfieldNews Search“F REEDOMfor The Westfield OF SPEECHNews Westfield350.com The WestfieldNews AND FREEDOM OF ACTION Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIMEARE IS THEMEANINGLESS ONLY WEATHER CRITICWITHOUT WITHOUT FREEDOM TONIGHT AMBITIONTO THINK.”. ...” Partly Cloudy. SearchJOHN for STEINBECK The Westfield News LowWestfield350.com Westfield350.orgof 55. Thewww.thewestfieldnews.com WestfieldNews — BerGEN BALDWIN EVANS Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIME IS THE ONLY VOL.WEATHER 86 NO. 151 TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 75CRITIC cents WITHOUT VOL.TONIGHT 87 NO. 187 TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018 75AMBITION Cents .” Partly Cloudy. JOHN STEINBECK Low of 55. www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 86 NO. 151 BlandfordTUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 75 cents receives police chief interest; thanks Sheriff for support By AMY PORTER Correspondent BLANDFORD – In the two weeks since the resignation of the Blandford police department, the response to the posting for a temporary police chief has been good. At Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, interim town Hampden Country Deputy Sheriffs Frank Ott and Barry W. Ross. (Photo administrator Joshua Garcia said he has received more than by Amy Porter) ten resumes so far, from as far away as Boston and New istrator applications. Garcia’s position ends August 31, and negotiations are RANDY BROWN York City. Southwick DPW Director currently being conducted with the top selection from the search committee He’s also had many inquiries for part-time police offi- for the TA position. cers, but Garcia has told them the town wants to hire a chief Selectman William Levakis said he thought the interim TA should vet the first. resumes, and come up with the top three candidates. Levakis also offered Cara Letendre, who chairs the board, asked whether they to help with that process. Letendre said she also knew a qualified resident should reconvene the committee that reviewed town admin- that could be called on to assist in the vetting process. The selectmen Southwick agreed, and planned to consider the top three candidates at their next regu- lar meeting on August 27. Letendre said that Chester Police Chief Dan Ilnicky has offered to give the town hours every two weeks for residents seeking firearms identifica- water ban tion cards and license to carry permits in the interim, and that she would be meeting with him next week. Prior to the resignations, the towns of Blandford and Chester had been discussing the possibility of sharing police forces. lifted Selectman Eric McVey said he was asked for the information that day, and gets questions two to three times a week about how to obtain permits. By GREG FITZPATRICK Also present at the meeting were deputy sheriffs from Hampden County Correspondent Sheriff Nicholas Cocchi’s department. The deputies were sent to make sure SOUTHWICK – DPW Director Randy the meeting, which was packed with residents, was orderly. Brown announced on Monday afternoon that McVey said that on July 30, the night that Blandford temporary police town water use restriction has been lifted. chief Roberta Sarnacki and the three part-time police officers on the force If the flows in the Westfield River fall below resigned, Sheriff Cocchi called Selectman McVey. 174 cubic feet per second for three consecutive “(That) Monday night, we were in executive session and the phone starts days, that’s considered to be too low and there- ringing. We didn’t know what was going on,” McVey said. He said Sheriff fore cause a water-use restriction. Brown also Interim Town Administrator Joshua Garcia and Selectmen Cocchi immediately offered his help, and asked for the town’s permission noted that the long-term forecast seems favor- Cara Letendre, Eric McVey and William Levakis at able and it isn’t projected to be hot and dry. Monday’s meeting. (Photo by Amy Porter) See Police Chief, Page 3 According to Brown, the water flow in the Westfield River has reached levels above the minimum thresholds resulting in the ban being lifted. On July 14, an outdoor water-use restriction was put in place due to the test of the mean Restoration planned for daily stream flow in the Westfield River falling below 174 cubic feet per second for three con- secutive days. Initially, the restriction was Southwick Old Cemetery expected to be in effect until September 30. The restriction is focused on non-essential By GREG FITZPATRICK gave them a presentation explaining the water use, which includes the following: Correspondent project and what needs to be accom- SOUTHWICK – Dating back to plished. With assistance of the Friends • Irrigation of lawns via sprinklers or auto- 1770, the Southwick Old Cemetery has of the Southwick Cemetery, the Select matic irrigation systems plenty of rich history. In order to pre- Board has been informed of the restora- • Washing of vehicles, except in a commer- serve that rich history, the Old Cemetery tion and preservation of the Old cial car wash or as necessary for operator needs drastic maintenance. The last Cemetery. safety or to prevent damage and/or maintain time maintenance was done was from The Friends of the Southwick performance of agricultural or construction 1975 to 1977. Cemetery is working with the Select vehicles or equipment Recently, an effort has been made to Board to hold a town meeting in an • Washing of exterior building surfaces, restore and preserve the Old Cemetery. effort to use CPA funds for the project. parking lots, driveways or sidewalks, except as Gene Theroux, who is heavily involved Throughout this process, the Select necessary to apply surface treatments such as in local veteran’s organizations and Board has approved two separate funds paint, preservatives, stucco, pavement or knows a number of people who are laid of $250 and $300 to help Theroux pur- cement to rest at the Old Cemetery, has taken chase a D/2 Biological Solution. The However, there are water-use activities that the initiative and will lead the project. solution is a chemical product that will are not subject to the restriction and they are “The Southwick Old Cemetery is not clean the headstones, footstones, and listed below: only a place of burial, but it provides a monuments in the cemetery. A quart of • Irrigation to establish a new lawn and new vivid record of community history,” the biological solution will clean about plantings during the months of May and said Theroux. “This cemetery is an four to six headstones that are 24 inches September important part of our town’s cultural by 36 inches. Over time, moss and • Irrigation of parks and recreational fields landscape.” algae have grown on several of the Moss and algae has grown on several of the grave- by means of automatic sprinklers outside the According to Theroux, he began this gravestones and that needs to be stones. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick) hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (early morning process last October, logging thousands cleaned off. Theroux added that he’s of hours at the Old Cemetery doing used some of the funds from the Select or late evening Theroux is also actively seeking volunteers. Some • Irrigation of gardens, flowers and orna- inventory, documenting, and cleaning Board to purchase brushes, plastic monuments and headstones. With sev- scrapers, epoxy, mortar, lead spacing, of the tasks for volunteers include doing inventory of mental plants by means of a hand-held hose, monuments, documentation on a master database on soaker hose or drip irrigation system eral grave markers damaged by trees or and pigments for repairing some of the mowing equipment, or depleted over monuments. the computer, monument cleaning, headstone reset- • Irrigation of lawns by means of a hand- ting, and other miscellaneous duties. If anyone is held hose only time, Theroux has taken close-up pho- In an attemp to improve the restora- tographs of the markers in order to have tion and preservation efforts, Theroux interested in volunteering, they can reach Theroux at • Irrigation with harvested and stored storm- 413-627-3475 or email him at gene.theroux@verizon. water runoff record of the ones that need mainte- is looking to have Ta Mara Conde nance. Theroux acknowledged that the assess the Old Cemetery. Conde, of net. • For health and safety reasons Once word gets out Theroux is optimistic that the • By regulation biggest threat to the Old Cemetery may Historic Gravestone Services in New be the overgrown trees, with many Salem, Mass., is a professional stone public will take part in restoring and preserving the • For the production of food and fiber Old Cemetery. • For the maintenance of livestock being diseased or dead. conservator. Conde assisted the Friends Recently, Theroux met with the of the Quabbin Park Cemetery in Ware, See Restoration, Page 3 See Ban Lifted, Page 3 Southwick Cemetery Commission and for their project in October of 2017. PAGE 2 - TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018 WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM THE WESTFIELD NEWS Westfield State holds third annual Westfield farm-to-table fundraising dinner Barnes Hired as Graduate Assistant Creative Arts: The Westfield State University Department of Communication will hold a WESTFIELD – The Westfield New Classes farm-to-table dinner on Sunday, August 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. on the grounds of State University athletic department the Horace Mann Center located at 333 Western Avenue in Westfield. has announced the hiring of Nate for Fall Titled “Dinner at Henry’s Garden,” the event honors the late Dr. Henry Barnes as a graduate assistant work- Westfield Creative Arts Wefing, professor emeritus of communication, who served the University for ing as both an assistant baseball is excited to announce is 30 years. Proceeds will benefit the Henry Wefing Journalism Scholarship, coach and in the sports administra- Fall Session beginning on which has been awarded annually since 2016.