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Date: 3/8/2023
SOUTHWICK — During the Select Board’s meeting on Feb. 27, the three board members approved a number of items, including offering a town native employment as a new officer for the Police Department.
After a brief interview with Dan McClellan, who graduated from the police academy in December, the board unanimously approve hiring him as a full-time officer. He graduated from Westfield State University with a degree in criminal justice.
Related to staffing at the Police Department, Police Chief Robert Landis requested an additional $15,000 to pay overtime incurred by the department’s personnel since the fiscal year began last July 1.
“Staffing levels have taken a big toll on our overtime,” Landis said at the meeting when making the request.
He said that there are currently three employees out, including one on extended military leave.
“That has impaired out staffing levels,” Landis said, adding that he has been trying not to “overwork our people.”
Select Board Chair Russell Fox and members Doug Moglin and Jason Perron approved sending the request to the Finance Committee.
In other salary matters, the board approved increasing the pay for the town’s election workers, at the request of Town Clerk Michelle Hill.
The board approved paying poll workers $15 per hour, up from $14.25; assistant wardens $18.25 per hour, up from $17.25; and wardens $18.50 per hour, up from $17.75.
The board also accepted a donation of $4,450 from Southwick American Legion Post 338 to the Southwick Civic Fund. That donation will be used to install low-voltage lighting at the town’s War Memorial.
Post Commander Darcie Rock presented the check to the board during the meeting, saying is was a “good use of our money.”
During old business, Fox said the town is continuing to formalize a new intermunicipal agreement with Westfield for the use of its sewer system. The current agreement is 20 years old, Fox said.
“The biggest hurdle that we have will be [about] the dollars and cents,” Fox said.
The board also unanimously approved joining the opioid settlement now being negotiated by attorneys general throughout the United States, including Massachusetts, that focuses on drug stores like Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, that allegedly contributed to the opioid epidemic by dispensing the prescription narcotics.
With the Southwick National only months away, the board approved the overall permit for the pro motocross event at The Wick 338. After dropping the permit price because of the coronavirus pandemic, the board reverted to the $1,500 the town was charging before.
Fox reminded everyone that the National – one of 12 rounds of a pro motocross championship that spans the country – will be nationally televised on NBC this year. The event is set for the weekend of July 8.
It was also reported at the meeting that negotiations continue about a community host agreement for a cannabis cultivator seeking to open a facility on Hudson Drive.
There was no action by the board of the special permit it approved for a cannabis cultivator in 2019. The town has been told that the company planning to open the small grow facility was changing ownership. However, the current owners have not formally approached the town about transferring the permit, which could change the host agreement the board has already approved.
Town Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart updated the board on the status of the proposed splash park at Whalley Park.
He said a budget is currently in development for Phase II of the project. An initial $269,000 for the project, which is expected to be completed in June 2024, has already been approved.
He also said the town is working with state agencies now to make sure the splash park project will meet statutory requirements.
Board members also offered their feedback on the annual goals for the Select Board.
Perron said he wanted the town’s website to be more user friendly, identify priorities for the town’s Master Plan currently being developed, think about the possibility of creating a retail corridor in town, and build additional sidewalks.
Fox pointed out the town is working on its sidewalks and connecting to the rail trail.
Moglin agreed with Perron that the town’s website, while much improved, still needs some upgrades.
In other business, the Select Board: