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Date: 7/26/2021
HOLYOKE – A new acting director of the Wistariahurst Museum was appointed during a recent special City Council meeting.
The meeting addressed just three items. The first item was to receive proposals for the American Rescue Plan Act. The item was approved and sent to the Development and Governmental Relations Committee.
Councilor David Bartley, who serves as chair of the committee, said would take up this item on July 26. He said while they wouldn’t get to it until later in the agenda, the meeting would begin at 6:30 p.m. Councilor Linda Vacon said she hoped that the council would “give strong consideration to infrastructure projects.” She said, “I think that will benefit most in the city for the longest period of time.”
The City Council then went on to discuss the appointment of Penni Martorell as the Acting Director of the Wistariahurst Museum. Council President Todd McGee said Martorell would serve as the acting director until the council appointed a permanent director for the museum. When a permanent director was appointed, McGee said Martorell would return to her position as curator and city historian.
Acting Mayor Terrance Murphy said the previous director of the museum, Kate Priessler, had been hired elsewhere and had recommended Martorell as the acting director. He said Martorell would not be applying for the full time job as “she wants to stay at her current position once this has happened.”
“We have started the process of opening up applications for the new Wistariahurst director, so if we can do this she will have the pay as the acting director and get paid for doing that job while still trying to keep up with her other work,” she said. When asked where Priessler would be going to work, Murphy said she had moved on to work in the city’s Community Development Office.
The last item on the agenda was the acceptance of a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Shared Streets and Spaces Program. Councilor Peter Tallman said he felt as though the council should vote on the item to not lose out on any funding should they wait until their next meeting on Aug. 3. Councilor Joseph McGiverin, who proposed the vote be sent to the Finance Committee, said he felt that the council should have an opportunity to see the grant prior to voting on it. He said the committee was meeting on Aug. 2 and the full City Council was meeting on Aug. 3. Councilor Howard Greaney agreed with this sentiment.
City Engineer Robert Peirent went on to explain that they were worried about the timeline due to the purchase of unspecified equipment that would need to be installed. He said they were expecting to see a wait of 12 to 13 weeks, which would push up against the Dec. 31 deadline of the project. He went on to say that once the grant was accepted, MassDOT would wire transfer the money eliminating the need for grant reimbursement and a potential deficit.
When asked about the timeline, he said they would “do what they need to do” in order to meet the deadline. Councilor Libby Hernandez said she agreed with Tallman and since there was no risk of going into a deficit as well as the manufacturing demands created by COVID-19, she felt as though they should move forward with the grant. Murphy questioned what would happen should not all the equipment be installed by the Dec. 31 deadline. Peirent said it would likely be a “relatively low risk” but cold winter weather conditions would make it difficult to install, but “we don’t know.” He added that MassDOT would likely pull the money back, however, as they needed to confirm it had been spent.
Ultimately, the motion to send the item to the Finance Committee failed during a vote. McGiverin said the grant, which he believed was $73,000, had not been read. A motion was then made by Murphy to reconsider the vote, which was taken again after Murphy’s motion passed. On a second vote, the motion to send the item to the Finance Committee was approved.