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JOHN STEINBECK Low of 55. www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL.Finance 86 NO. 151 Committee continuesTUESDAY, discussion JUNE 27, 2017 of Road Stabilization 75 centsFund By AMY PORTER Surprise, a member of the Finance Committee, said he would Correspondent volunteer to participate in the conversation. “The memo I WESTFIELD – The Finance Committee took up the motion believe is incorrect,” Surprise said, pointing to the City of of Councilors Andrew K. Surprise and Dave Flaherty to estab- Amesbury, which underwent the same process. He said other lish a Special Purpose Stabilization Fund dedicated to road and cities and towns have also done it. sidewalk repair and maintenance, to be funded by the Local “One thing about this memo, it’s not clear what she’s refer- Option Meals Tax and Room Occupancy Tax. ring to,” Allie said. Finance sub-committee chair Dan Allie read a memo from “I don’t think either of us said the Mayor wouldn’t be City Solicitor Susan C. Phillips on whether action solely by the involved,” said Flaherty, who co-sponsored the motion. He legislative branch is effective without any action by the Mayor. said the legislative body can initiate it, and the Mayor could Phillips said the office reached out to Attorney James Crowley sign it or veto it, and the Council could then vote to override it. of the Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services “I think there’s precedent,” Flaherty added. Legal unit. “There are a few parts to this. There is initiating the fund “Our discussion concluded with the Attorney’s advice that itself, and there’s putting the money into it. It has to be the the process be initiated with the Mayor. Obviously this is con- Mayor who initiates spending,” Allie said. trary to the advice relayed to the Finance Committee,” Phillips “Once the funds are in the account, the Mayor can initiate wrote in the memo. (spending),” Flaherty responded. Phillips said the Legal Dept. will continue to review and “This is the legislative branch creating legislation,” At-large research the matter, and requested a member of the Finance Councilor Matthew Emmershy, the third member of the Committee to participate jointly with the DOR in a conversa- 2018 Finance sub-committee: Andrew K. Surprise, Dan Allie, tion on the matter. chair, Matt Emmershy. (Photo by Amy Porter) See Finance, Page 3 Family shares video Southwick of home stove fire Fire Chief By GREG FITZpaTRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – Last Saturday, Southwick firefighters and discusses police officers responded to a stove fire in town. The home- owners were out of the house and one of their pet dogs acci- dentally turned on one of the front burners of the stove when FY19 budget attempting to grab some leftover pancakes that were on the By GREG FITZpaTRICK stove. Within minutes, the stove ignited with flames and for- Correspondent tunately the home had a working smoke alarm that alerted SOUTHWICK – Southwick’s first responders right away. Fire Chief, Russ Anderson, present- “We got there ed his Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget quick and it overview to the Select Board on became some- Tuesday evening. what of a minor Anderson brought forth a budget The Select Board looks over the Southwick Fire Department’s FY18 bud- incident,” said consisting of fire and EMS get with Chief Anderson. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick) Anderson. (Emergency Management Services) The home is that is $281,295 more than last equipped with year’s FY18 budget and a 5% engine truck around $300,000. annual inspections. cameras inside increase from last year’s budget. One item in the fire section of the Anderson also discussed the need the residence The fire and EMS sections consist of proposed budget is the request to add to make some facility and security that captured the the day to day operations for the a part-time inspector. Previously, the upgrades. With the building being 17 incident and the homeowners sent the video to the Southwick department and including supplies, inspector’s positions at the depart- years old, Anderson said there are Fire Department in hopes that the situation can help make the education and training, mainte- ment was only a per inspection posi- security cameras, tables, chairs, mat- rest of the community aware and help prevent fires from hap- nance, etc. tion. This requested position would tresses, and other little things that pening. The larger expense items request- be 20 hours per week. need to be upgraded. “We’ve suspected this happening from time to time, but this ed are not in the fire and EMS por- “There’s a lot of time involved,” “There’s a little bit of everything is the first time we’ve had video proof of what’s happened tions of the budget but rather in the said Anderson. in that case to be addressed,” said while someone’s not home,” said Anderson. “It’s great that capital budget. Some of these bigger In order to make sure the depart- Anderson. message is getting out there.” needs are the purchase of a new lad- ment is always active with safety Anderson said he’s included fire- Anderson highly recommended that residents look to pur- der truck as well as an engine truck. regulations, the part-time inspector fighter’s turnout gear in his proposed chase safety knobs for the front burners on stoves. According to Anderson, the ladder will be asked to look at all the liquor budget. Turnout gear consists of all According to Anderson, the video from the homeowners truck will cost roughly between licenses in town, inspecting items the protective clothing that firefight- was also posted on Facebook and has reached over 10,000 $800,000 and $900,000 and the such as smoke detectors, and doing ers wear when responding to a fire. views. If you have any questions or comments about stove fires, contact the Southwick Fire Department at 413-569-6363. Free program to help combat childhood obesity By DAN DESROCHERS medical director of Baystate General a multi-component program that looks “at all Wittcopp, can include “the whole gamut of Correspondent Pediatrics, said of the program’s goals. three layers of what we know impact people’s what we thought were adult onset diseases.” WESTFIELD—A program from Baystate The program is free to children between 10 abilities to have healthy weight,” which is This includes type 2 diabetes, high blood Children’s Hospital to help battle childhood and 13 years old as long as enrolled by Feb. nutrition, a healthy core and behavior modifi- pressure, fatty liver, high cholesterol and obesity will be expanding to Westfield next 8, and runs every other week on Tuesdays for cation. sleep apnea in children. week at the YMCA of Greater Westfield. six months, with two and a half hour-long Wittcopp said that obesity and weight in sessions. It is held at the YMCA in Westfield, youth are prevalent issues, including in the and participants also get a free family mem- western Massachusetts area. Wittcopp said bership to the facility during the program. that depending on the community, 20 to 25 According to a press release from Baystate, percent of children could be considered the program provides fitness evaluations and obese, with up to 40 percent being considered The MIGHTY Program will be expanded prescriptions, group exercise sessions, indi- overweight. to Westfield, with classes beginning Feb. 8. vidual and group counseling on nutrition, as She said that it is higher in Springfield, The program, which stands for “Moving, well strategies for maintaining health. where the numbers are higher than national Improving, and Gaining Health Together,” According to Wittcopp, the program norms, while lower in Westfield, but that it is provides a number of health-related training includes group-based classes that are both still a “fairly significant portion in our area.” and counseling for children and their fami- age-specific and engage the whole family in She said that while the numbers have been lies. the process. Some of the activities include stable over the last three to four years, the “We’re trying to work with families around hands-on nutrition and visual aids to assist in numbers have been steadily rising over the making long-term changes, what are the bar- portion control. last 20 years. The YMCA of Greater Westfield will be riers to those changes,” Dr. Chrystal Wittcopp, Specifically, Wittcopp said that they utilize Risks related to these issues, according to the site of the MIGHTY Program. PAGE 2 - THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM THE WESTFIELD NEWS 1669 1770 1775 1775 1792 1783 1741 1780 1810 WESTFIELD SOUTHWICK HUNTINGTON GRANVILLE RUSSELL CHESTER BLANDFORD MONTGOMERY TOLLAND AROUND TOWN Submit your Around Town News to [email protected] Where Scholarship Sarah Gillett Services and Fellowship Accepting Grant is The Requests Funds Available Sarah Gillett Services for the Westfield The Horace Smith Fund, now in its Elderly, Inc.