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Date: 5/14/2019
CHICOPEE – The residents of Bluebird Acres Mobile Home Park who attended Chicopee’s City Council meeting on May 7 were relieved when the councilors voted unanimously to approve a bond of $2,242,000 to build a sewer pump station and sewer mains to serve the park.
“Right now,” said Bluebird Acres resident Katherine Dant, “we have problems with the septic backing up,” into the houses. Dant said she was so happy, “We’ll have nicer roads and everything,” she said.
“We’re moving in the right direction. Two thumbs up,” park resident Bill Belanger said. The park is currently served by septic tanks, which will be abandoned once the new infrastructure is completed.
Ward 6 Councilor Derek Dobosz, who represents the residents in the park, called it “a very serious issue.” He said the changes would be done through a public –private partnership. Councilor-at-Large James Tillotson said $1.1 million would be funded by the city and the other 1.1 million would come from the owner of the park.
Tom Hamel, the project supervisor for sewer upgrades, told Councilor-at-Large Robert Zygarowski, when asked, that the construction is planned to be started before the end of this year and finished next year. Mayor Richard Kos told the councilors that the sewer will serve over 150 homes, whereas the septic system could only serve a small portion of that.
“I certainly think it’s going to benefit the homeowners,” said Tillotson. He said it would pay for itself through sewer fees.
Ward 1 Councilor Joel McAuliffe said the city was “doing the right thing for its residents,” and called Dobosz, “a fierce advocate” for the project.
Kos put before the Council, which had convened in a temporary home at the Senior Center due to an inoperable elevator at City Hall, a request for $608,663 from the city’s Free Cash account to be appropriated for City Hall’s elevator and a survey of the electrical system. Planning Department Director Lee Pouliot said that they had received a Municipal ADA Improvement Grant from the state’s Executive Office on Disability. It is a reimbursable grant, returning nearly 50 percent of the funds to the city, but the money must be spent up front. R.A.C. Builders had the winning bid for the work.
In a letter to the mayor, Pouliot explained that parts of the electrical system in the building had been found to be either inadequate or mislabeled and needed to be gone through.
During the Council’s consideration of the appropriation, Tillotson spoke in favor of it and said that $250,000 would be coming back to the city.
“I think it’s going to be wonderful,” he said referring to the expected uses of the City Hall Auditorium once renovations are complete. Ward 8 Councilor Gary Labrie also spoke in favor.
“Without doing this elevator, we’d be down here forever,” Labrie said of their Senior Center accommodations.
Ward 2 Councilor Shane Brooks expressed concern that the public had the wrong idea about the money being spent and said that though they had approved up to $60 million for the entire renovation, they expected to spend much less than that.
Dobosz reaffirmed that he does not support the project, though he did join the rest of the councilors in voting for the appropriation.
The Council passed an appropriation for $100,000 that Kos proposed for traffic signal maintenance.
“We have old street lights,” said Department of Public Works (DPW) Superintendent Elizabette Botelho. She said that the current “aging infrastructure” and “antiquated [traffic signal] equipment” at intersections were failing. Botelho explained that the equipment at various intersections had been malfunctioning. The DPW has prioritized the intersections most in need and will begin with the intersection at Grattan Street and Granby Street.
Kos said that he would be making streetlight and signal repair a $100,000 line item in the budget for the future, but that this was needed now.
Ward 4 Councilor George Balakier said that the signals had reached the end of their “useful life” and the replacements were important for public safety.
Councilor-at-Large Frank Laflamme asked Botelho if the “loops” – in–pavement sensors that detect when a car approaches an intersection – will also be replaced. Botelho said that the DPW will install cameras where it makes sense and, otherwise, continue to use the loops.
Council President John Vieau asked Botelho if repainting the striping on streets would be part of the maintenance and said the job was not finished last year. Both Botelho and Kos talked about how striping was dependent on weather and temperature and Botelho reminded Vieau that last year’s fall was wet, making striping difficult.
Police Chief William Jebb spoke to the Council during the mayor’s briefing about an elevator at the Chicopee Public Safety Complex that was in need of repair and asked for $82,617 to upgrade everything except the cab.”
In a request sent to Kos, Jebb stated that there had been more that one incident in which the elevator had, “gone out of service while there were riders on board.”
Jebb told the Council, “It’s not good to have a prisoner and an officer stuck on an elevator together.”
In another matter before the Council, the Chicopee Police Department was approved by the state for an FY19 State 911 Support and Incentive Grant, which the department would use to purchase six additional “Computer Aided Dispatch”– linked computers. As it is a reimbursement grant and the work must be done beforehand, Kos proposed the transfer of $39,130.44 for the work to be completed. The Council agreed to appropriate the funds for both projects.
The Council voted to take ownership of two parcels of land that Kos called, “a sliver of property.” The land will be used for the purpose of flood control. The parcels, one of which is 16 ft. wide and the other being 14 ft. wide, run from Lapa Farm Road to Kurtz Road.
“It’s a piece of land that a lot of people who live down there already thought belonged to the city,” Tillotson said.
The mayor's appointment of Benjamin Strepka to the post of Superintendent of Parks and Recreation received overwhelming support from the Council. Strepka is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Isenberg School of Management and previously worked in the Parks Department and the mayor’s office.
“In my opinion this is one of the best appointments the mayor has made,” said McAuliffe.
LaFlamme, who sat in on Strepka’s interview, said that he was given a unanimous recommendation by people within several different city departments.
In other business, the Council appropriated $40,000 to settle Councilor-at-Large Jerry Roy claims of property damage resulting from a March 6 water main break on Wilson Avenue.
The Council also accepted a grant of $8,392.75 for the police department’s Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) and a $5,000 grant from Chicopee Fest of All for the KaBOOM Playground project at John J. Stefanik Memorial School.