City to relocate tenants

By Katelyn Gendron-List, Reminder Assistant Editor

WESTFIELD In the wake of the announcement of funding for the Westfield Multimodal Transportation Center on Elm Street and Arnold Street by Senator Michael Knapik (R-Westfield) two weeks ago, tenants are now playing a waiting game until the fates of their relocations are revealed.

According to James Boardman, director of Community Development and Planning for the city of Westfield, the city is mandated by law to provide tenants relocation assistance and benefits in order to help them move their homes and businesses.

"It's not a simple undertaking and what we've seen is that most of the time people end up in better circumstances that they started and that's really what we're trying to accomplish," Boardman said in an interview with Reminder Publications. "Generally the owners are pretty much interested in selling. The residential tenants would prefer that we go away."

Boardman stated that currently 15 residents and 12 businesses are slated for relocation at this time.

However according to many business owners on Elm Street and Arnold Street they have yet to be contacted by the city recently about their impending relocation.

"I heard it through the grapevine that there was going to be a press conference [announcing the funding]," Gail LaGasse, director of the Westfield Service Center of the Salvation Army said. "It would have been very courteous of them to have let us know so that we could have been present at the press conference."

Since LaGasse became director of the 12 Arnold St. location of the Salvation Army five years ago, she stated that she has known that the Multimodal Transportation Center was "in the works." The Salvation Army provides services for the local community such as a food pantry, a Thanksgiving Food Program, a Backpack Program, Coat Drive and Domestic Violence Victims Services.

"We've been here for over 40 years," LaGasse said. "This is really just a place to hang our hat. Hopefully the move will come at a convenient time so that our services are not interrupted."

For John Ash, co-owner of Inspired Hearth and Home at 85 Elm St., he said that he has never been contacted by the city officially and acquires his knowledge of the Multimodal Transportation Center's impact on his business through the newspaper and talking to other business owners in the area.

Ash stated that to relocate and restart is business in a new town or within Westfield would be a "financial blow."

"I've never felt that Westfield is a business-friendly town," Ash said. "Redeveloping downtown just doesn't happen and it's hard to get people to want to come downtown."

He, like LaGasse, also stated that he would have like to have been present at the press conference.

"We'd like to know what's going on without reading it in the newspaper," Ash said.

For James O'Neill, the owner of 80 Elm St., he told Reminder Publications that he "can't wait for them to take the building."

"For the last five or six years they've been saying that 'we're taking it' and that has negatively affected the properties and if I have a vacancy I have to rent it for a lot less value because no one wants to move in when they might be forced out in a few months," O'Neill said.

However O'Neill also stated that none of the owners feel comfortable selling their properties because they are unsure of the amount that they will get from the city.

According to Maureen Hayes, president of Hayes Development Associates, who has been working with the city to draft a Relocation Plan, before any offers are made to property owners the Redevelopment Authority must meet and draft an Urban Renewal Plan containing within it the Relocation Plan.

The Department of Housing and Community Development must then approve the plans before two appraisals of each property can be completed, she added. Only after the appraisals can the Redevelopment Authority make an offer to the property owners to acquire their land.

Hayes also stated that tenants will have 120 days to vacate once they have received notice from the city. She stated that there will be meetings with residential tenants and business owners to identify their needs in order to relocate them to comparable sites. The tenants are also eligible for Relocation Benefits including Technical Assistance and Financial Assistance, she added.

Hayes stated that even though there has been a period of inactivity because of the lack of funding for the Multimodal Transportation Center project she has periodically received calls from tenants and has tried to update them as best that she could.

For some tenants, like attorney William Scanlon, of William J. Scanlon Law Offices at 90 Elm St., they believe that the new transportation center will have only a minor effect on downtown Westfield.

"I don't think that the project is going to make a big difference," Scanlon said. "Effectively what they are doing is creating a bus station and a senior center, which I don't see helping retailers on Elm Street," Scanlon said.

The $10.7 million Multimodal Transportation Center will serve as a "hub" for the Pioneer Valley Transportation Authority (PVTA) bus routes within and out of Westfield. Peter Pan Bus Lines will also stop at the Multimodal Transportation Center during their Springfield to Albany, NY route, according to Mary MacInnes, administrator for the PVTA. The building will also house the Westfield Senior Center.

According to information released by Knapik's office the city is planning on total acquisition of the 5.5-acres of land by January 2008.

MacInnes stated that the completion of the Multimodal Transportation Center is set for 2010.