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Date: 12/14/2023
WESTFIELD — During the City Council meeting on Dec. 7, a motion was made by Councilor Kristen Mello to request an update on the progress and remaining work to be performed on the Little River Levee to achieve compliance with the Army Corps of Engineers, and refer it to Engineering and the Natural Resources committee, which Mello chairs. A second motion to reappoint commissioners to the Flood Control Commission failed.
Mello said she was aware that trees had recently been taken down, which she called “a huge step forward,” but said the entire 2,500 foot of the levee needs clearing, and said she made the motion as an attempt to get the information.
Ward 3 Councilor Ralph Figy said that he had gotten a full update from City Engineer Allison McMordie on the work currently being done at the Little River Levee, which he then read to the Council.
According to McMordie, J.L. Raymaakers was given the notice to proceed on the culvert repair under the levee, which has been in violation for several years. As of Nov. 27, the company was on site mobilizing equipment and installing timber matting, a construction entrance and erosion controls. Installation of sheeting for the cofferdam enclosure, which will allow the area to be drained, was scheduled for Dec. 11.
The report also stated that Northern Tree had cleared the trees on and 15 to 20 feet from the toe of the levee on the Army Corps’ 550-foot repair area northbound to the end of the levee. Northern Tree had also been given Tighe & Bond’s stamped plans for stump removal, backfill and compaction.
McMordie said the department coordinated with the Army Corps throughout the design process, which the corps had reviewed and approved the design for tree and stump removal. The backfill material specifications were provided by the Army Corps, and the 15 foot tree clearing from the toe of the levee is an Army Corps requirement.
Remaining tree work will be done next year once the culvert repair has been completed and Raymaakers has left the site, Figy said.
Mello thanked Figy for reading the report, but said she is interested in knowing about the structural integrity of the levee after the culvert repairs.
Councilor Mary O’Connell asked that the report be sent to the council’s Natural Resources Committee, to let that committee do their job and report back to the council. The motion was approved.
Mello and O’Connell made the motion to request appointments to the municipal Flood Control Commission in accordance with the city ordinance which established it, and refer it to the mayor. Mello said without a flood control committee, which has not been active for the past year and a half, the public has no access to the information and no minutes to read, and it is up to the public to ask the Engineering Department for information.
Ward 4 Councilor Michael Burns said the Legislative and Ordinance Committee, on which he serves, is in the process of rewriting the ordinance and requested that the motion be tabled.
Ward 6 Councilor William Onyski, chair of Legislative and Ordinance, also said he would not support the motion because he would like to get it worked out in committee first.
“I want to make sure we don’t ask to reappoint people only to get rid of them,” he said.
O’Connell said the mayor has been vocal in stating that he does not want to appoint anyone to this commission, and said she would like to give the mayor the opportunity to publicly respond to their request and state why.
Ward 3 Councilor Bridget Matthews-Kane said she was going to oppose the motion because she has not been able to find another city that has a flood commission, which makes her think it is not a good idea.
Figy said he has gotten more information out of the Engineering Department than the Flood Control Commission.
O’Connell said she worked with the commission the first 12 years that she was on the council and went to all its meetings, and it provided “a ton” of information, along with a report annually.
“They were always available. I am asking the council to give this a positive vote so the mayor could at least respond to our request,” she said. “Westfield is practically an island. We’re not like other communities. Our flood needs are real and they are different from other communities,” she added.
“We are and have been for more than a year in violation of our own ordinances,” Mello said, adding that she would be OK waiting until the Legislative and Ordinane Committee had done its work, but her motion is to ask the mayor to follow the ordinance.
“We’re a city between two rivers that has had devastating floods more than once, and that’s why this matters,” she said.
Councilor Dan Allie agreed that Westfield is extremely low and vulnerable to flooding, and the city is in violation of the ordinance. He said if the mayor wanted to eliminate the commission, it should have been brought to the council.
“That would have been the right way to do that. This is an important issue – for years a lot of our work was neglected. I don’t think we went about it the right way. It shouldn’t be up to just one mayor,” Allie said.
The motion to ask the mayor to reappoint members to the Flood Control Commission failed, with only Mello, O’Connell and Allie in support.