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 TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 75 cents $1.00 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2020 VOL. 89 NO. 041 East Mountain Water Tank replacement underway By AMY PORTER sure during the day from Feb. ing tank, so we can keep the water tank should be fully Staff Writer 10 to Feb. 14. existing tank in service and operational by mid-2021. WESTFIELD – Residents The replacement of the switch over without interrupt- The new tank will be 2.1 of the East Mountain Road water tank is one part of the ing service,” Stayton said. million gallons compared to area have noticed clearing in $18 million in bonds for The city plans to finish the the old tank, which is 2.7 mil- the vicinity of the city’s water water system work which water main upgrade this win- lion gallons. “The slightly tank, and last week a notice passed the City Council in ter when demand is lower, smaller footprint allowed us was posted on the city web- 2017 and 2018. The city and then wait until nice to keep the old one online and site that residents and busi- received permits for the work weather for the start of con- still have a good buffer of ness owners may experience on the water tank from the struction of the actual tank. what we know we need. There a reduction in water pressure Department of Environmental Stayton said the pre-cast con- is a good healthy buffer in the and at times, dirty water. Protection and the Federal crete tank will be formed in size of the new tank,” Stayton The reason, according to Aviation Administration, panels onsite. Those panels said. Public Works Systems among others. There are no are then lifted into place with After the new tank is up Engineer Heather Stayton, is wetlands on the site, which is a crane, and the connections and operational, the city will that work has begun to replace not under Conservation between them completed. The demolish the old one and the East Mountain water tank. Commission jurisdiction, tank will then be tied and restore the site to a natural Stayton said the city has Stayton said. reinforced with epoxy seals state during the construction selectively cleared the site of The selective clearing has and resin. season of 2021. trees for the upcoming con- been completed, and what Stayton said the pre-cast Stayton said the East struction, and is currently remains is to remove the trees concrete tank should be fin- Mountain Road water tank working on water main and stumps from the site. ished in one construction sea- keeps the north side of the improvements, which may “The new tank will be con- son, with some finish work Heather Stayton, P.E., Systems Engineer with the Westfield have impacted the water pres- structed alongside the exist- anticipated. She said the See Water Tank, Page 3 Water Department. (AMY PORTER / THE WESTFIELD NEWS) Boys and Girls Club celebrating 50 years with gala event By HOPE bers, including Lenny E. TREMBLAY Dulude who has worked at Editor the Club for 47 of its 50 WESTFIELD – years, and Kellie Brown Growing up, Boys and and Lerryn Godden, Girls Club of Greater among others. Westfield Executive To celebrate the staff, Director Bill Parks was a Club members and every- Boys and Girls Club kid. one in the community who He was a regular at the has had a part in the Club’s Club in Marlborough, success, a 50th anniversa- which was housed at the ry gala is slated for Feb. WHS Junior Suvin Sundararajan took Second place finisher Mackenzie WHS Senior Stefan Goretskiy, Using time in an old movie the- 29 at Chez Josef. Parks first place with his project, Functionalized Rae studied The Effect of Vaping Bioinformatics to Find the Most Suitable ater. said the event will be a fun Polylactide Filament for Additive on the Exhalation Output of the Microenvironment for Differentiating “It’s not about the build- trip down memory lane Manufacturing. (AMY PORTER/THE Human Lungs. (AMY PORTER/THE Stem Cells Into Kidney Cells. (AMY PORTER/ ing, it’s about the staff. It’s for some. WESTFIELD NEWS) WESTFIELD NEWS) THE WESTFIELD NEWS) about the kids,” said “I’m reaching out to Parks. former staff to come, for Parks said some of his former members, and closest friends to this day there are four or five of were made in that old the- the original board mem- Top 17 Westfield science fair projects ater, and he still remem- bers still in the area that bers some of the staff who we hope will be there,” made his experience there said Parks. so impactful that he made Former Club Youth of heading to regional competition his career at the Boys and the Year and other award Girls Club. winners will also attend. By AMY PORTER limited in the number of projects they International competition in Phoenix, “The number one mem- Parks said there are many Staff Writer can send this year due to the new loca- where he won several awards. However, ory of most kids is of a award recipients from the WESTFIELD – The projects present- tion. this year he decided to focus on creating staff member that had an Westfield Club. ed at the Feb. 12 Westfield High School “Students that participated in the 20th biodegradable filaments specifically for influence – it wasn’t the “In the past few years Science and Engineering Fair explored Annual Science Fair did an amazing job! use in 3D printers. building, or even the pro- alone, we’ve had three topics from biodegradable filaments to I was extremely impressed with the “It retains all the biodegradable prop- grams,” said Parks. national award winners,” the effects of vaping. quality of projects we had this year! We erties, and this year adds flame retar- At the Greater Westfield he said. “We’ve had two Science, Technology and Engineering are excited to see how students do at dants,” Sundararajan said. He said the Boys and Girls Club, there Supervisor Lauren Figy said that 243 Regionals March 7th at Smith College,” filament, which he tested for thermal are many such staff mem- See Gala Event, Page 5 students participated with 168 exhibits, Figy said about this year’s participants. properties and tensile strength, has high including 36 students from Westfield First place at the Westfield Science potential in the aerospace industry. He Technical Academy. Fair went to Westfield High Junior Suvin declined to talk too specifically about Final judging concluded on Feb. 13 Sundararajan. Sundararajan said this the manufacturing process, for which he for the top 17 projects, including two year’s project was originally going to be is seeking a patent. from Westfield Tech, that will go on to a continuation of last year’s project “I think I want to be a researcher or a compete at the Regionals at Smith development of biodegradable plastic College in the spring. Figy said they are sheets, which took him to the See Science Fair, Page 6 Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield Bill Parks holds a plaque with the Club’s original charter. The Westfield Club is celebrat- WHS freshman Samantha Adamtsev WHS sophomore Antoinette Reid cre- WTA Aviation sophomores Alec Smith ing its 50th anniversary with a gala Feb. 29. (HOPE E. made an Accessible Tuba by creating a ated a biodegradable plastic bag with (pictured) and Dacota Durkee explored TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS) hands-free stand. (AMY PORTER/THE her project Plastic Particles. (AMY Making Cell Phones Safe on Airplanes. WESTFIELD NEWS) PORTER/THE WESTFIELD NEWS) (AMY PORTER/THE WESTFIELD NEWS) PAGE 2 - MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2020 WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM THE WESTFIELD NEWS CO-OP CORNER Westfield Tech students settling in at Peter Pan Bus co-op By DENNIS HACKETT Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD- While most students start their days by getting ready for school and going to class, the stu- dents in Westfield Tech Academy’s Peter Pan Bus Lines Co-Op start their days by setting up their desks and taking phone calls as part- time customer care agents. Three Westfield Tech Co-Op students working at Peter Pan are juniors. One of the Academy’s former stu- dents has slowly risen through the ranks with the company to become assistant manager. While students typically begin their co-ops in January, both Liam Barrett and Jessica Bush started their jobs at Peter Pan in October. Victoria Krapova, another co-op par- ticipant, started in February. As part-time customer care agents, the students are main- ly answering the phones for Peter Pan. “We’re answering the phones, we’re helping customers rebook tickets, book tickets. We’re taking Westfield Technical Academy Co-op students Liam Barrett, Karen Scott, Jessica Bush and Victoria Krapova in one of the conference rooms at Peter Pan’s complaints and mostly resolv- office at Union Station. (DENNIS HACKETT / THE WESTFIELD NEWS) ing their issues for anything ting an escalated call and WTA. She said, “I really like to work at Peter Pan and feels Pan,” she said. see that from students and they call about,” Barrett said. explaining the policy to them the opportunities it’s opened like she has been welcome Peter Pan’s Customer Care we’re happy to have them While Krapova and Bush and hopefully it works out in up for me.