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Date: 5/26/2021
CHICOPEE – Before the latest Chicopee City Council meeting, Mayor John Vieau gave an update on Chicopee’s progress with COVID-19 and Gov. Charlie Baker’s new regulations.
According to Vieau, Chicopee currently has 79 active cases of COVID-19. He said that they have not had a number this low in a long time.
“The numbers are finally trending in the right direction,” said Vieau. “We’re excited about that.”
The city has officially moved down to the COVID-19 Yellow Zone instead of the Red Zone, with only nine new cases reported over the weekend of May 14 and only three new cases reported from May 17 to 18.
Vieau also said that the City of Chicopee will be following all guidelines that the Baker-Polito Administration has put forward. This means that COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted on May 29 and the State of Emergency will end June 15. Masks will no longer be required for fully vaccinated individuals except for on public and private transportation, in health care facilities and in congregate care facilities.
According to Vieau, these new mandates came as a surprise to him and other city officials.
“This came very fast. We weren’t expecting this to happen on Monday,” he said. “We were all anticipating a very gradual approach to August and now everything’s been shifted back.”
Because of this, Vieau said the city will do its best to adapt and change, while also working to keep all citizens and employees safe.
On June 1, Vieau announced that all municipal buildings will open to the public as long as COVID-19 cases continue to decline. This includes City Hall. It has not yet been determined when the Council on Aging or the Chicopee Public Library will open.
In order to stay healthy, safe and take advantage of these new guidelines, Vieau urged eligible residents to get vaccinated.
“The vaccine is available and please take advantage of it. It’s the right thing to do,” he said.
The vaccine is available at Chicopee CVS, Walmart, Stop and Shop, The Castle of Knights and now through a vaccine-bus partnership with Holyoke. The bus works to bring necessary vaccines directly into neighborhoods.
“I feel that the virus has run its course in our city with the vaccine being so available, that we can comfortably say we’re excited about being open on June 1,” said Vieau.
The regular meeting of the City Council then began.
A Mayoral Order of $15,000 to the Massachusetts Jail/Arrest Diversion Program Grant was approved during the meeting. This grant works to fund a partnership between the Chicopee Police Department and the Behavioral Health Network. Through this, police personnel are trained in crisis intervention programs.
During the meeting, a recent Utilities Subcommittee was also recapped. According to Councilor Derek Dobosz, the purpose of the meeting was to meet with Chicopee Electric Light and discuss fiber optic internet in the city.
There are currently around 1,000 homes in the city with fiber optic, said Dobosz. Many are on a waiting list to receive it, as Chicopee Electric Light can only hook up between 30 to 40 homes on the network each week.
Dobosz said that there are between 15,000 to 20,000 potential fiber optic customers in Chicopee and Chicopee Electric Light has a goal to get at least 8,000 on the network as customers. There is no cost to install fiber optic to a household and Chicopee Electric Light hopes to have the network built out city-wide by 2026 or 2027. If more money is allocated to Chicopee Electric Light, they could potentially speed this up to 2022.
Dobosz said that he recently received fiber optic and has seen a great increase in the speed of his internet. He encouraged residents to look into Chicopee Electric Light and learn more about this service.
The city council also approved date changes for future meetings. The Sept. 21 city council meeting was changed to Sept. 23 due to the preliminary election. The Nov. 2 city council meeting was also changed to Nov. 4 due to the city election.
The meeting included the unanimous appointment of Delmarina Lopez to the Charter Review Commission.
The meeting ended with routine license and special permit renewals.
Those interested in viewing the city council meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the ChicopeeTV Facebook Page.