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Date: 6/5/2015
CHICOPEE – Residents of the Fairview section of the city secured a commitment from city officials to address ongoing concerns about the behaviors of Westover Job Corps students in their area.
Mayor Richard Kos conducted a neighborhood meeting on June 1 as a forum to hear about problems and concerns in the area. About 40 people turned out for a meeting at the Castle of Knights on Memorial Drive.
Mark Farrell represented a group of residents living in the Preston Park area who called for a meeting with Job Corps officials.
“We need a ward forum,” Farrell said.
Kos said that members of the Job Corps leadership had been invited to come to the neighborhood meeting and City Councilor Frank Laflamme said he would file an order for a meeting of the public safety subcommittee he chairs and invite them.
Farrell said Job Corps students have been cutting through residential areas as a shortcut to the stores on Memorial Avenue, something they are not supposed to do. They are also traveling in large groups rather than just by groups of four.
Previous meetings with Job Corps officials established that students were not supposed to travel on any side streets.
Kos said his office has not been receiving complaints about Job Corps students and some of the residents said they have not called police, as they did not know what the police could do.
Police Chief William Jebb urged them to call the police if they have concerns.
Jebb said the students could travel in groups of four. If there is a larger group, the police can stop them, identify them and get Job Corps to come get them.
“It’s not arrestable,” Jebb said.
“It may not be crime, but it’s a nuisance,” a resident said.
Neighbors complained of public profanity and students going to a section of woods to party. Cutting through a neighborhood to a shopping area is one thing, a resident said, but hanging in the woods all day is another.
Kos said the police would review calls logs to note the number and type of calls. Jebb added if a Job Corps member is arrested, the student is expelled. There are no statistics that correlate Job Corps members with crime in the neighborhood, Jebb said.
The police chief said the safety officers, polices and directors at the Job Corps change every three or four years. He said he would also be happy to arrange a meeting with the Job Corps management and the neighbors to address the current policies.
Residents also spoke about traffic and infrastructure needs. One person asked the city replace a missing stop sign at corner of Keddy Blvd. and James Street. “Duly noted,” Kos said.
The mayor then noted the public should use See Click Fix phone app that allows people to photograph an infrastructure problem, sending it to city officials for action. People can then track the progress of solving the issue.
Another resident described there is a “keep right” sign at the traffic island coming out of Johnson Road onto James Street, that is missing and has never been replaced.
“I’ll look into that tomorrow,” Jeffrey Neece, superintendent of the Department of Public Works.
One resident complained about the grass not being cut in the Memorial Drive rotary and addressed her concern to the representative of state Sen. Donald Humason Jr. The state is responsible for cutting that grass and has left the litter that has accumulated there.
Another resident expressed concerns over unregistered forklift trucks traveling on Telegraph Street. Jebb asked the resident to make an appointment to talk to him about the problem.