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Date: 9/10/2019
WEST SPRINGFIELD – There were unexpected fireworks before the West Springfield Town Council meeting on Sept. 3. The Traffic and Safety Subcommittee had met earlier in the evening to discuss, among other issues, parking near Memorial Avenue.
Councilor Bruce Gendron said there was a “record crowd” of more than 20 people in the audience, so many that they had to move from the Council Office to the Auditorium. Gendron was “completely blindsided” when a shouting match erupted between “warring factions” over parking issues on Norman Street, Heywood Avenue, and Exposition Avenue.
"When cars park at the end of those streets – you have to pull out into Memorial Ave. so far [to see around the cars] that it’s not safe,” Gendron told Reminder Publishing. He said it was “long-running neighborhood squabbles” between businesses and residents that boiled over at the meeting. An officer in the room had to step between two residents to defuse the situation.
Gendron said the subcommittee cut the meeting short and promised to post an upcoming meeting to discuss recommendations from the West Springfield Police Department.
During the Town Council meeting, Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates spoke to the council on behalf of Paul & Sandra Seymour, owners of two parcels of property, at 45 Piper Cross Road and 189 Morgan Road.
The Seymours were seeking zoning changes for the land from residential to multi-use family. Western Growers, Inc., a nursery run by the couple is currently located on the Piper Road parcel and the zoning change would allow the couple to convert the land and an adjacent parcel to roughly 26 condominium units.
The planning board had reviewed and recommended the project.
Councilor Sean Powers addressed the concerns of a Morgan Road resident that had emailed the council. The resident was worried about traffic, “protecting the integrity of the neighborhood,” and home values. Powers said with the Windpath Condominiums directly next door to the property, new condominiums would not make much difference. “With less cars and only residents pulling in and out – we’re not really going to diminish what we’re looking for in terms of a neighborhood aspect,” Powers said.
The zoning changes were approved by the council.
Town Attorney Kate O’Brien presented the council with changes to the structure of the Board of Assessors that had been suggested after a review by the mayor’s office.
Currently, the principal assessor is a full-time paid position but also a member of the three-person Board of Assessors that hears appeals. The recommendation would be to remove the principal assessor from the board and add a third part-time assessor. The cost to the town would be a $600 annual stipend for the new part-time position. This would eliminate the conflict in which the principal assessor hears appeals on a decision made by themselves.
The issue will have to be heard again by the council before it can come to a vote.
The budget subcommittee and West Springfield School Committee discussed eliminating athletic fees by using surplus funds before they go into school choice. Counselor Daniel O’Brien said the discussion was “spirited.” He urged parents who didn’t have any fees eliminated to contact the school committee.
The ordinance and policy subcommittee also met and voted to adopt state law which would make veterans eligible for property tax abatements.
Maureen Cragen, secretary of the Hampden County American Legion Auxiliary, invited the town councilors and the public to th e POW Recognition Day service at the Big E on opening day, which is also Military Appreciation Day. The service will be at the meeting house at Storrowton Village.
Jim Borelli, senior vice commander of the American Legion Post 207, announced that the post will be celebrating their 100th birthday on the West Springfield American Legion’s original property, one of the oldest in the state. The celebration will be Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. and will include a motorcycle parade, food, entertainment, and a raffle.
Counselor O’Brien shared with the council that he had attended the service for Master Sgt. Luis Deleon-Figueroa, a green beret with the US Army Special Forces who died in Afghanistan.
“It was, to say the least, the most somber and humbling event I’ve ever been to,” he said. The council held a moment of silence for Figueroa.