The vote occurs as Mayor Sarno proposes wage freeze and furloughs and possibility of layoffs.

File photo | The RepublicanThe Springfield City Council will meet on Monday to consider extending the annual $75 trash fee into the next fiscal year.

SPRINGFIELD – The City Council on Monday will consider extending the trash fee beyond June 30, seen by some councilors as crucial revenue for a city facing increased expenses and reduced state aid.

Council Finance Committee Chairman Michael A. Fenton said Friday he expects the trash fee ordinance will pass and the $75 annual fee will continue next fiscal year. It was slated to expire June 30.

The special meeting is at 4:30 p.m., at City Hall.

The council will also consider approving a home rule bill to allow plans for a Vintage Grand Prix Auto Racing event in Springfield scheduled July 22-24. The bill will also need approval from the state Legislature and governor.

The trash fee would generate an estimated $3 million in revenue, and partially covers the cost of trash collection and disposal, officials said. Some councilors have objected to the fee as being an added tax on homeowners during difficult times.

Even if the trash fee is extended, the city would face a budget gap estimated at $5.4 million next fiscal year, according to Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and his finance team.

Fenton said he agrees with Finance Department officials who said Friday that the budget process is “fluid” and prone to change.

“But the reality is that if the mayor wants to make up $5.4 million, he’s got to look at public safety (cuts),” Fenton said. “That is where most of the money is.”

Sarno is asking the city’s 1,500 municipal employees, including police and firefighters, to accept a wage freeze and a dozen furlough days next fiscal year, which begins July 1, to close the budget gap. The proposed wage freeze and furloughs would affect unionized and non-unionized workers.

Otherwise, basic services will be reduced and as many as 120 municipal employees would need to be laid off, Sarno said.

Council President Jose F. Tosado, who recently announced his candidacy for mayor, said the plan presented by the mayor is the result of poor management.

“The way to prevent a budget crisis is to control spending over the course of a budget year,” Tosado said in a prepared release.

Tosado said the mayor hired hundreds of employees and promoted hundreds more.

Sarno said he has filled essential jobs, including vacancies in public safety and grant-funded positions.

The city has a $533.9 million budget this year, including $223.9 million for municipal expenses and a $310 million school budget. The School Committee oversees the school budget and will consider its own steps for a balanced budget, officials said.

School Committee member Antonette Pepe, who plans to officially announce her candidacy for mayor Tuesday, asked during a council Finance Committee meeting Friday if police might consider sacrificing their Quinn Bill education incentive pay for one year to help prevent police layoffs. Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet said he would not speak for the union.

At the same meeting, supervisors for the police, fire and public works departments warned that layoffs or furloughs would cause great harm to staffing and city services.

Police and fire supervisors said layoffs would jeopardize newly hired firefighters and a police academy class graduating next month.

Fenton said it would be terrible to lose any of those newly trained officers and firefighters.

Public Works Director Allan Chwalek said his department has already had severe reductions in its workforce from budget cuts in past years, and cannot sustain additional losses without major reductions in public work services such as paving, sweeping and winter cleanup.

One team is working on a business that would turn gas into gasoline.

Photo by Michael Beswick / The RepublicanJudge Ann McFarland Burke V.P. of EDC, at the right, listens to Travis Wilson, explain the plan to create gasoline from natural gas whille Andrew Day of "iReggs," and Rachel Norris look on. Teammate Christina Rizer is not pictured. They won a competition recently at the University of Massachusetts.

AHERST - Andrew Day calls himself an inventor entrepreneur.

But when the Longmeadow man approached South Hadley investor Paul Silva with his plan to create gasoline he was talking in terms of “mass and energy balances. I thought I was talking about business.” But to Silva it wasn’t a business at all.

He suggested that Day, now 41, enroll in the Entrepreneurship Initiative class at the University of Massachusetts, a class that Silva helps teach. The class is open to all undergraduate and graduate students in any major and to the people like Day who was neither.

Day did enroll and recently he and three students on his team just won a recent Entrepreneur Initiative competition.

But ironically they did not win any money. That was in part because of their own previous success They recently had garnered $12,000 in grants as well as some other smaller grants. At the competition, they won the accolades of a judge who wants to help them win other funding, Silva said. He added to that the $1,000 in prize money mattered more to the second place winner.

Day is the founding partner of Days’ Energy Systems and has developed a method of that will turn natural or methane gas into gasoline retaining 95 to 100 of the gas in the process. With his process, gas would cost $1.25 a gallon to produce, he said.

Day credits his teammates Travis Wilson, Rachel Norris and Christina Rizer and the class with teaching him how to make a business pitch. “I didn’t know how to sell, I didn’t know how to focus my ideas and which ones to bring forward.”

He said, “it was an amazing course.” He learned how to create an executive summary and elevator pitch that investors would and did listen to. “It doesn’t matter what gizmos” one is trying to sell, “you need to learn what an investor is looking for. I play with carbon and hydrogen” but he said no one understands or wants to listen.

“Students get guided through the process of critiquing business plans” of their fellow students and that in turn helps students “develop critical thinking skills” which helps them improve their own plans, said professor Robert Hyers. And networking is instrumental and so is meeting alumni.

Silva said the class is invaluable for anyone who wants to create a business. “This program is inspiring entrepreneurs.”

“When you start you don’t know who to talk to.” With the competition “you’re on stage, you’ve got to do it.” And the pitch comes before real investors, Silva said.

And that meant the outcome for Day was quite different than it was the first time he met Silva. Silva said “Andy’s a crazy inventor. A year ago no one would talk to him,” and now that’s all changed.

Others in the final competition included a business called Hhorsemanship that will expand a horse training business, a project called Eczema Itches that offers a book and blog and a way to connect people about sharing information about living with eczema, a proposal to create a Portuguese restaurant in New Bedford and another to create a frozen yogurt shop in Boston.

Todd Kittlesen was transported to the Medical Examiner's office in Farmington for an examination.

Republican file photo

GRANBY, Conn.- Police have identified a man who was killed in a car accident on North Granby Road on Friday as Todd Kittlesen, of Granby, Conn.

Police responded to the accident at 8:05 p.m. Friday after Kittlesen's car struck several wooden guard posts and a tree, officials said.

Police said Kittlesen was transported to the Medical Examiner's office in Farmington for an examination.

Anyone who might have witnessed the accident is asked to call the Granby Police at (860) 844-5335.

Two women shot Saturday night in Springfield.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD- Police are investigating a double shooting that occurred Saturday night and sent two women to the hospital.

Police responded to 14 Ringold St. at 11:45 p.m. Saturday where they found two women shot.

The women were transported to Baystate Medical Center. One woman is in serious but stable condition, the other woman was treated and released, officials said.

The case is under investigation and police are looking for a suspect.

Morais Concrete Service is the apparent low bidder to rebuilding aging sidewalks in West Springfield.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The city is poised to award a contract for $740,441 to Morais Concrete Service Inc. for sidewalk reconstruction as part of its annual work upgrading sidewalks. Morais, which is located in Springfield, was apparent low bidder of the six construction companies whose bids were opened Wednesday.

Public Works Director Jack L. Dowd said his office is still checking out references for Morais, a company the city has never used, and if things are in order it should win the contract.

Work is expected to start May 1 and continue through Oct. 30. Dowd said his office had estimated bids would come in at about $950,000 but some were lower because of the poor economy. Because of that, he said the city will be able to replace more sidewalks than originally planned.

The work is part of annual sidewalk replacement that has taken place over the last 10 years.

“We are an older community. There are lots of areas where sidewalks have been in existence well over 50 years, have deteriorated and need to be replaced,” Dowd said.

Mayor Edward J. Gibson said the city has spent about $10 million on sidewalk replacement under his administration, with much of the work taking place in older areas of the city such as the Merrick section. About half the sidewalks replaced last year were in that neighborhood and about 25 percent of sidewalks to be rebuilt this year are in the Merrick section, according to Gibson.

Over the last decade, Gibson said the city has replaced about 10 percent of the community’s sidewalks.

The construction and associated work will be paid for with a combination of about $728,000 in city funds and approximately $250,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant money. Any surplus will be used to replace more sidewalks or rolled over into next year’s program according to Dowd.

The other companies competing for the work and their bids are as follows: Freitas Construction Inc. of Ludlow, $915,972; Caracas Construction Corp. of Ludlow, $928.163; Gomes Construction Co. of Ludlow, $956,059, H.M. Nunes and Sons Construction Corp. of Ludlow, $985,020 and Mass West Construction of West Springfield, $1,137,951.

Work is planned along sections of Bridge Street, New Bridge Street, Bliss Street, Worcester Street, Park Street, South Boulevard, Lathrop Street, Park Avenue.

Also, Southworth Street, Amostown Road, Elm Street, Elmwood Avenue, Fox Street, Maple Terrace, Chestnut Street, Morgan Road and Craig Drive.

For about two years, Douglass has worked with the ADA to raise money for research into prevention and treatment options.

View full sizeLaura Douglass of Easthampton displays an award she received in recognition of her work with the American Diabetes Association in a photo provided by Baystate Medical Center.

EASTHAMPTON – Every 17 seconds, someone in America is diagnosed with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association, and a local woman is doing her part to make sure they receive the care they need.

Laura Douglass was diagnosed with latent autoimmune diabetes of the adult in 2003 when she tried to get a life insurance policy before opening the Apollo Grill, which she co-owns with her husband. She wears a battery-operated insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor.

“My kids call me a cyborg,” she laughed, before becoming serious about the impact treating diabetes can have on the patient and on the nation.

“It’s probably about $250 a month out of my pocket and I have good insurance,” she said. Douglass is the nurse manager of a medical-surgical unit at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

For those with little or no insurance, the prices can be dangerously high. For about two years, Douglass has worked with the ADA to raise money for research into prevention and treatment options.

She began in 2009 with the Tour de Cure, a fundraising bicycle ride, and served on the planning committee for the 2010 Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes. She received an “Outstanding Achievement in Fundraising” award from the ADA for her work on the walk.

In March, she became the first representative for the ADA’s Call to Congress ever to come from Western Massachusetts. She and about 250 other activists lobbied legislators to maintain or increase diabetes research funding.

“The costs of treating the symptoms are just astronomical,” said Douglass. “It’s an investment in the future of this country.”

She met with aides for Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, Rep. John Olver, D-Amherst, and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Malden. She said the congressmen showed support for the cause.

Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, “didn’t give us the time of day or tell us if he supported anything,” but he showed up for a photo op, Douglass said.

“A lot of this money that we’re asking them to support ends up in Massachusetts,” she said. Diabetes research is conducted at hospitals and universities across the state, including the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Although the nation is struggling financially, this research is too important to cut, she said. About 26 million Americans have diabetes and one in three may have it by 2050 if current trends continue, according to the ADA.

If funding is cut, “it’s going to cripple this country,” Douglass said. “Just for practical reasons alone, we can’t reduce the funding for research and the funding for prevention.”

Diabetes does not have to be a death sentence. There are ways to manage it, such as eating properly, exercising and checking blood sugar levels. Preventive measures are also important, Douglass said, such as maintaining a healthy body weight.

Not all diabetes cases are the same, though, and it is crucial to work alongside a doctor.

“If you have diabetes, you should be seeing an endocrinologist,” she said. “It’s not hopeless. It’s absolutely not hopeless.”

The school district needs stability, Michele Manganaro-Thompson said.

Michele Manganaro-Thompson

LUDLOW – A former School Committee member urged the School Committee to appoint two permanent, rather than interim elementary school principals.

Former School Committee member Michele Manganaro-Thompson said that making the principal positions permanent would contribute to much needed stability in the school district.

“We are in a state of flux and change,” Manganaro-Thompson said. “We need stability.”

The School Committee had considered making the principal appointments interim appointments until a permanent school superintendent is hired.

School Superintendent Theresa M. Kane is leaving July 1 to take the school superintendent job in East Windsor, Conn.

“The interim label sends a message of instability,” Manganaro-Thompson said. “There has been too much inconsistency for kids and families.”

Manganaro-Thompson also had been an opponent of an elementary school reorganization plan implemented by Kane to cut costs which did away with neighborhood elementary schools and which critics said contributed to instability for children and families in the school district.

At Manganaro-Thompson’s urging, the School Committee voted to make the principal appointments permanent, but for one year only. Usually, appointments are made for three years.

In answer to a question from the School Committee, Manganaro-Thompson said she would be willing to serve on a Search Committee to interview to fill the principal positions.

Positions are open at East Street School where Brett Bishop is leaving and at Veterans Park School to replace Susan Dukeshire who will retire in October.

Kane said employees of the Ludlow public schools are invited to apply for the positions.

The Search Committees may go back to the “teaching ranks” to fill the principal positions, Kane said.

She said there are many openings in the area for principal positions.

Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan said a proposed $1.2 million cut will play havoc for the parks, forests and beaches.

File photo | The RepublicanIsabella J. Roblero enjoys a ride on the beach on her 6th birthday during a party in her honor at Chicopee Memorial State Park last year. Pushing her in the wheel chair dune buggy are from left: Julianny N. Alicea, 11, Victoria N. Roblero, 8, Richard G. Rodriguez, 10, and Joshua M. Rodriguez, all of Springfield. Cuts to funding for state parks and beaches is being considered by the Massachusetts House to try to balance the fiscal 2012 budget.

SPRINGFIELD – As the state House of Representatives embarks on debate of its $30.5 billion budget proposal this week, residents should be forewarned they could face reduced services – and perhaps some closures – of the state’s parks, beaches and recreation areas during the summer if cuts to Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s spending plan aren’t restored.

The state’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs, Richard K. Sullivan, also warned that elimination of Patrick’s proposed expansion of the 5-cent bottle deposit law from the budget plan could ultimately impact the time it takes to complete environmental permitting processes.

“Budgets are tough; these decisions will impact people,” Sullivan said last week during a meeting with the editorial board of The Republican.

He was asked to address how the House budget proposal could affect the agencies he oversees, including the departments of Conservation & Recreation and Environmental Protection.

Sullivan said he holds out hope that several initiatives filed over the past two weeks to restore some of the funding cut by the House Ways & Means Committee will be favorably received as the House takes up the budget.

If they are not, Sullivan warned, more than 100 employees could lose their jobs among his agencies and there will be “less services,” particularly in the area of parks and recreation.

While he said no specific services or sites are currently in jeopardy, Sullivan said a $1.2 million cut proposed by the House will play havoc for the parks, forests and beaches which saw a 30 percent rise in attendance over the past year as frugal consumers pursued “staycations” for their families.

Richard Sullivan

Sullivan said Patrick level-funded the Department of Conservation & Recreation because attendance – largely due to day-trippers and favorable weather last year – was up.

“I would think you’d see similar numbers this year, at a time when we have people looking to stay closer to home for their summer vacations,” said Sullivan.

Since certain facilities already were closed last year after that fiscal cycle’s round of cuts, Sullivan said he will be forced to cut positions in the labor-heavy agency, including park rangers, lifeguards and other employees.

In addition to parks and forests, the House budge proposal included a dramatic 18 percent cut, about $13 million, to the environmental protection department, which Sullivan deemed “disproportionate” and said it will result in delays in all manner of green permitting.

“We ideally need to permit at the speed of business, but we have to have to people there to do that,” Sullivan said.

If the House budget plan passes, 125 environmental employees will be slated for layoff. Sullivan could not speculate about the level of staffing cuts on the conservation and recreation side as the upcoming year’s finances are still in question.

Sullivan reiterated the “times are tough all over” mantra of these grim economic times, noting state officials are trying to close a $1.5 billion budget gap.

Barbara C. Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, applauded House leaders for holding the line on spending and rejecting tax increases. If any money is restored to items, that money should be offset by cuts in other areas, she said.

“We have to cut,” Anderson said. “There is no more money.”

The full state House of Representatives will debate and approve the budget this week.

Rep. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, said she will attempt to amend the budget to restore money to some environmental programs.

Gobi, the co-chair of the Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, said she is concerned about closures of state parks and a shortage of staff at other parks. She said she also wants to avoid further layoffs in the state environmental protection department.

The Holyoke Easter Drag tradition started in the 1920s.

Holyoke, 4/24/11, Staff Photo by David Molnar -- Maggie M. Evans, of Holyoke, gets a chocolate egg from the Easter Bunny at the walking the drag event. The Easter tradition involves families and friends parading up and down Northampton St.

HOLYOKE– Families dressed in their Sunday best stopped by Nick’s Nest in Holyoke to meet “Nick the Hot Dog,” the Easter Bunny and the Melha Shriner’s clowns.

“It’s been a great day,” said Alison Noyse-Buchanan, of Holyoke who brought her two daughters to the event.

The Holyoke Easter Drag tradition started in the 1920s, when people would dress up on Easter and walk down Northampton Street to Mountain Park. The park used to open for the first day of the year on Easter, according to former Holyoke mayor Michael J. Sullivan, who helped revitalize the event several years ago.

The event is now organized by Holyoke Mayor Elaine A. Pluta’s office, and local businesses including Nick’s Nest open for the day and greet families walking up the street. Families are encouraged to walk up Northampton Street between the Yankee Pedlar at Beech Street and the fire station at Dwight Street.

Sunday’s event also included displays of cars and motorcycles from Summit Cruisers and the Latin American Motorcycle Association.

“I would have to say the blue Thunderbird was may favorite,” Noyse-Buchanan said.

The cars did not stay for the entire event since rain threatened to ruin the paint on the vehicles.

“They saw the first signs of rain and they took the cars away,” Noyse-Buchanan said.

Another big attraction were the fire trucks at fire station No. 3 on Dwight Street.

Isabelle Buchanan, 8, her sister Rosie Buchanan, 5, and their dog Sophie got to check out the inside of the fire truck and talk to the firemen.

“Seeing the fire truck was my favorite part,” Isabelle Buchanan said.

Here is a list of major municipal meetings for the coming week: Agawam: Mon.- Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library. Tues.- Council on Aging, 3 p.m., Senior Center. Agawam Historical Commission, 7 p.m., Captain Charles Leonard House, 663 Main St. School Committee, 6:30 p.m., Roberta G. Doering School. Wed.- Agawam Community Preservation Committee, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public...

Republican file photoHolyoke City Hall

Here is a list of major municipal meetings for the coming week:

Agawam:
Mon.- Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library.

Tues.- Council on Aging, 3 p.m., Senior Center.

Agawam Historical Commission, 7 p.m., Captain Charles Leonard House, 663 Main St.

School Committee, 6:30 p.m., Roberta G. Doering School.

Wed.- Agawam Community Preservation Committee, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library.

Thu.- Conservation Commission, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library.

Amherst:

Mon.- Town Meeting Coordinating Committee, 2 p.m., Town Hall.

Select Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall.

Kendrick Park Design Advisory Committee, 6:45 p.m., Town Hall.

Tues.- Amherst School Committee, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Wed.- Board of Assessors, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall.


Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., Town Hall.
Planning Board, 7:05 p.m., police station.

Thu.- Jones Library Board of Trustees, 5 p.m., Jones Library.

Zoning Board of Appeals, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall.

Chicopee:

Mon.- License Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall.

Human Resources Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall.

Zoning Committee, 6:30 p.m., City Hall.

School Committee Curriculum committee, 7 p.m., 180 Broadway.

Commission for the Disabled, 6:30 p.m., 449 Front St.

Easthampton:

Mon.- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m., Municipal Office Building.

Tues.- Planning Board, 6 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Retirement Board, 1:30 p.m., 199 Northampton St.

School Committee, 6 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Zoning Boards of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Wed.- Public Works, 6 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Finance Committee, 6:30 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Historical Commission, 6:30 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Easthampton High School Council, 2:15 p.m., School Library.

Thu.- Center/Pepin School Council, 4 p.m., Pepin School Teachers Room.

Strategic Planning Committee, 6 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Granby:

Mon.- East Meadow School Council, 2:45 p.m., East Meadow School.

Planning Board, 7 p.m., Junior-Senior High School.

Board of Assessors, 7 p.m., Town Hall Annex, 215B State St.

Tues.- Finance Committee, 6:30 p.m. Aldrich Hall.

Conservation Committee, 7 p.m., Aldrich Hall.

Greenfield:

Mon.- Council on Aging Personnel Committee, 1 p.m., Senior Center.

Tues.- Charter Review Commission, 6:30 p.m., Police Station Meeting Room.

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., Police Station Meeting Room.

Thu.- Council on Aging, 2 p.m., Senior Center.

Hadley:

Mon.- Long Range Planning Implementation Committee, 7 p.m., Senior Center.

Tues.- Board of Health, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Board of Assessors, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Historical Commission, 7 p.m., Senior Center.

Sat.- Finance Committee, 8 a.m., public safety complex.

Hatfield:

Mon.- Planning Board, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Tues.- Hatfield Redevelopment Authority, 7 p.m., Smith Academy.

Wed.- Community Preservation Committee, 6 p.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Holyoke:

Mon.- Board of Health, noon, City Hall, City Council Chambers.

School Committee Rules and Policies Subcommittee, 5:30 p.m., Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St., Fifield Community Room.

School Committee Curriculum and Instruction Subcommittee, 6 p.m., Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St., Fifield Community Room.

Water Commission, 6:30 p.m., Holyoke Water Works, 20 Commercial St.

Tues.- Gas and Electric Commission, 5 p.m., Gas and Electric Department, 99 Suffolk St.

Geriatric Authority, board of directors, 6 p.m., Holyoke Geriatric Authority, 45 Lower Westfield Road.

City Council Personnel Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Holyoke Heritage State Park, Appleton Street.

Wed.- School Building Advisory Committee, 10 a.m., Holyoke High School, 500 Beech St.

City Council Finance Committee, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Charter Study Commission, 6:45 p.m., Geriatric Authority, 45 Lower Westfield Road.

Thu.- Emergency Planning Committee, 7:30 a.m., Fire Department headquarters, 600 High St.

Council on Aging, Building Committee, 1 p.m., War Memorial, 310 Appleton St.

Handicap Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Northampton:

Mon.- Committee on Social Services and Veterans Affairs, 6:30 p.m., Council Chambers.

Tues.- Finance Committee, 5 p.m., Council Chambers.

Wed.- Board of Public Works, 5:30 p.m., 125 Locust St.

Reprincinting Committee, 5 p.m., Council Chambers.

Thu.- School Committee, 7:15 p.m., John F. Kennedy Middle School.

Elm Street Historic District Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall.

South Hadley:

Mon.- Planning Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m. (public hearing 6:45 p.m.), Town Hall 204.

Tues.- Solid Waste Advisory Committee, 5:30 p.m., DPW, 10 Industrial Drive.

Informational Meeting, Fire District 2, 7 p.m., 20 Woodbridge St.

Sustainability and Energy Commission, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Wed.- Public Library Building Committee, 6:15 p.m., Public Library, 27 Bardwell St.

South Hadley School Committee, 6:30 p.m., High School library.

Fri.- Arbor Day, Conservation Commission 50th anniversary celebration, 10:00 a.m., Arboretum behind Smith Middle School.

Springfield:

Mon.- City Council General Government Committee, 2 p.m., New North Citizens Council, 2383 Main St.

Payment in Lieu of Taxes Committee, 5:30 p.m., Room 310, City Hall.

City Council, 4:30 p.m., special meeting, council chambers, City Hall.

City Council, 7 p.m., hearings, council chambers, City Hall.

Tues.- School Committee Buildings and Maintenance Subcommittee, 1:30 p.m., board room, School Department, 1550 Main St.

Wed.- Pioneer Valley Transit Authority Advisory Board, noon, 2808 Main St.

School Committee Budget and Finance Subcommittee, noon, board room, School Department, 1550 Main St.

School Committee Superintendent Evaluation Subcommittee, 1 p.m., board room, School Department, 1550 Main St.

Thu.- City Council Special Committee on Elderly, 2 p.m., Greenleaf Community Center, 1188 Parker St.

License Commission, 5:30 p.m., Room 220, City Hall.

West Springfield:

Mon.- West Springfield Board of Assessors, 4:45 p.m., municipal building.

Community Preservation Committee, 5 p.m., municipal building.

Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Park and Recreation Commission, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Planning and Construction Committee, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Originally forecast at $60 million, the Great River Bridge project is the most costly road construction project in the Pioneer Valley.

The Republican | Dave RobackThe new $500,000 clock tower has been installed just south of the Great River Bridge in Westfield.

WESTFIELD – How much does it cost for a 60-foot-tall clock tower erected as one of the capstones of a now nearly $80 million project to build a new bridge across the Westfield River here?

The price tag for the new clock that’s debuted along Routes 10 and 202 on Elm Street is $500,000. Whether it was federal, state or city money which paid for it isn’t exactly clear; the buyer apparently remains a mystery.

No matter what public funding source paid the bill, though, it’s among the expenditures for a project that’s been four years in construction, four decades in the making and now running at costs nearly 30 percent more than projected when ground was broken four years ago.

Installation of the clock was completed 10 days ago on the south side of the Great River Bridge project. Officials defend the project as a reinvention of the heart of this city.

The clock tower went up the same week that Mayor Daniel M. Knapik scrapped a controversial pavilion, also estimated to cost $500,000, from plans for redoing the other end of the city’s central business district.

That project to recreate the Park Square Green and redesign the intersection of Elm, Broad and Main streets is costing some $14.5 million, funded by federal stimulus money through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

The bridge project, in the planning stages for nearly two decades, was put out to bid by the state Department of Transportation in 2006, and is part of a federally funded enhancement program administered through the state, according to state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield.

“The bulk of the cost came from the federal government through a massive transportation bill that sends money to the states,” Knapik said. “Eighty percent comes from federal aid and 20 percent from state bonding sources.”

But state Department of Transportation spokesman Adam L. Hurtubise, who confirmed that the cost of the newly installed clock tower amounted to $500,000, said the fee for the new timepiece is being paid by the city.

“The amount is $500,000,” Hurtubise said. “The city of Westfield is paying this amount for the clock.”

The state’s willingness to fund the entire ambitious and long-awaited project, Knapik said, was based largely on the city’s commitment to “put skin in the game” by investing in the reconstruction of the downtown area by putting up nearly $5 million for the initial design.

Those plans were laid during the administration of one of his brother’s predecessors as mayor, Richard K. Sullivan Jr.

“The design was paid for by the city using Chapter 90 funds,” the senator explained.

Chapter 90 funds are state money which is distributed annually to cities and towns and which must be allocated to roadway improvements, including resurfacing, crack sealing and drainage enhancement. The funds are apportioned based on a formula that takes into account local road miles, population and employment levels within the municipality; Westfield’s amount for the coming year is $1.225 million.

“As the project went on, the scope needed to expand, and officials saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something on a grander scale,” senator Knapik said. “The money was generally available at the time, but (the project) has since escalated in cost. It was originally estimated at $60 million.”

In addition to the design work, Knapik said, the city paid for necessary land takings in the construction area.

“The city’s responsibility for the project centers largely around the design and land takings, which is customary for projects partnered with the state,” he stated.

“The three major land takings involved the casket company and demolition, which came down last month, a rickety old building at the end of Meadow Street, which is now that new parking lot across from the funeral parlor, and the Blessed Sacrament Church.”

As the project inches toward a late summer or early fall completion date, the finishing touches, like the clock tower, designed with an eye toward conformity with the area’s architecture, are currently in the works while construction crews continue rebuilding the original bridge.

City engineer Mark S. Cressotti says the clock tower was patterned to mirror the area’s architecture and purposely resembles the tower of Holy Trinity Church, which is located across the street.

“There’s a striking similarity between the two,” Cressotti noted. “It was meant to mirror the form of the church tower to keep the same theme in the area. I was standing out there while it was being erected, and I thought it really anchored the space and gave it a sense of balance.”

The clock tower, he added, should stand as a symbol of pride for the citizens of Westfield.

The Republican | Dave RobackThe new $500,000 clock tower has been installed just south of the Great River Bridge in Westfield.

“It is just one piece of a significant undertaking – this was not an easy project,” Cressotti said. “This was an undertaking that did not just stop at functionality, but was intended to reinvent the heart of the city. The tower is an element of that – the central focal image.”

State Rep. Donald F. Humason Jr., R-Westfield, said the construction of the new northbound bridge and park, along with the reconstruction of the old span that will carry traffic southbound, is second only to Boston’s infamous Big Dig as the biggest, most complex roadway project in the state. The project included the razing and rebuilding of the railroad bridge.

Both Knapik and Humason pointed out that the funds for the project were earmarked prior to the current economic downturn facing the country – funds that would not be available today to the extent they were at the time when it was designed.

“This was funded and conceived of before the recession,” Humason noted. “If it was today, the scope of the project would change. It’s been long in the planning and long in the doing, but I’m optimistic that it will be worth the cost, time and inconvenience.”

At the time ground was broken for the bridge project in 2007, the project was forecast to cost $60 million.

For those who believe the $80 million price tag that comes with the entire project is too high, it is important to keep in mind that the end result will attract new residents and businesses and will provide the city with a point of pride that will last for generations to come, Knapik, Humason and Cressotti said.

“Why is there such a thing as ‘too good’ for Westfield?” Cressotti said. “This will impact the self-image of students growing up in Westfield so that the area is not just a burned-out center but a place they can be proud of.”

The “burned-out center” comment was an apparent reference to the still-vacant Elm Street lot where a J.J. Newberry’s store burned more than two decades ago.

The Newberry’s lot and neighboring property, totaling some four acres in the middle of the downtown, were to have been part of an intermodal transportation center and hotel complex that never got off the ground.

As recently as January, city leaders said the project for that area will now focus more on commercial and retail development with some transportation component.

Westfield “will be the place to be once it all takes shape,” Cressotti said. “You can see it on paper, but once you’re there, it’s a whole other experience.”

A 4-year-old boy died in March when he fell from an escalator at the Auburn Mall.

Michael Lorenzo

BOSTON — Three-quarters of the escalators in Massachusetts shopping malls have not been inspected annually in the past three years as required by law.

A Boston Globe review of state Public Safety Department inspection records found that from 2008 to 2010, only 44 out of 188 escalators at the state's major shopping malls were inspected annually.

Inspected escalators were found in need of repair more than half the time, and mall escalators were temporarily shut down 22 times over safety concerns.

A 4-year-old Dudley boy died in March when he fell from an escalator at the Auburn Mall. The death sparked a safety sweep of about 900 escalators statewide.

State Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Gatzunis says while some escalator inspections are not current, the "absolute majority" of escalators are in good condition.

Fight likely as House prepares to debate a $30.4 billion state budget plan that would give cities and towns more control over employee health insurance costs.

BOSTON (AP) — As the House prepares to take up a $30.4 billion state budget proposal, a fight is looming over a plan to give cities and towns more control over employee health insurance costs.

The House Ways and Means Committee includes a proposal allowing cities and towns to change co-payments, deductibles and other aspects of health plans without first getting approval from public employee unions.

But a competing plan backed by dozens of House Democrats would keep collective bargaining rights on health insurance issues.

Debate on the budget is scheduled to begin Monday and last several days.

Budget-writers say tax revenue is expected to increase more than $740 million in the next fiscal year, but the state needs to cut spending and draw on reserves to offset a loss of $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funds.

People can put out as many bags as they want, but the fewer they use, the fewer they have to buy, so it’s in their interest to recycle as much as possible.

Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – South Hadley Town Hall.

SOUTH HADLEY – For years Americans have embraced a throw-away lifestyle. The result: Too much trash.

South Hadley is one of those towns that has found a way to make a difference.

On April 28, Veronique Blanchard-Smith, solid waste coordinator for South Hadley, will talk about a new trash collection program coming to her town, at 7 p.m. at the High School library.

South Hadley's Green Bag Program from SHCTV15 on Vimeo.

“The Bag Lady Talks Trash,” sponsored by Know Your Town, will answer questions residents have about the system that starts on July 1.

The Green Bag program will require residents to put all their household trash into special “Green Bags” that can be purchased at 10 different places around town. They come in a $1 and 50-cent sizes.

Trash will be picked up, as trash is picked up now, every other week. No bill at the end of the month. The price of the bag pays the bill.

People can put out as many bags as they want, but the fewer they use, the fewer they have to buy, so it’s in their interest to recycle as much as possible.

Trash in anything other than the prescribed Green Bag will get what Blanchard-Smith calls a “we’re-sorry sticker.” As in: “We’re sorry, but we can’t take away your trash.”

The Solid Waste Committee has been working for three years to establish this program. Recently Blanchard-Smith learned that a predecessor in her job promoted a similar idea as far back as 1999.

She is getting questions about the new system even before it starts. “The main confusion is that people think it will be more expensive for them,” she said.

It won’t. The current fee for trash is $30 per person per household. “We figure the average person will fill a bag every two weeks. That makes 26 bags per year per person, or $26,” said Blanchard-Smith.

“That’s cheaper. It’s also much more fair. This way, people are paying for the trash they produce.”

The program encourages people to recycle, both at the curb and at the Recycling Center at 10 Industrial Drive. It’s open Wednesday and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Items in good enough condition can go to the “Swap Shop,” and the center accepts (sometimes or a small fee) many other things that can’t go into the trash.

People forget that trash pick-up is for household trash, said Blanchard-Smith. Toxic metals, such as leaded glass, have never been acceptable. Neither have TV sets.

The program on April 28 is free. It will start with a video explaining the new system. A preview is available by going to http://vimeo.com/20609892.

Anyone who wants to avoid a “we’re sorry” sticker had better pay attention.

Western Massachusetts is at risk for severe weather Thursday.

John Suchocki / The RepublicanSusan and Candido Lopes plant one of 900 Fraser first that in ten years will become a Christmas tree at Paul Bunyan's Farm and Nursery in Chicopee.

SPRINGFIELD – A cloudy day with a chance of showers is in the offing for Western Massachusetts, abc40 / Fox 6 meteorologist Mike Masco said.

Temperatures will likely hit the mid-60s although a high of about 70 is possible if enough sunshine manages to break through the clouds, he said.

Tuesday should be sunnier with highs in the mid-to-upper 70s. That warmth, however, could generate more showers and isolated thunderstorms, Masco said.

That pattern will continue Wednesday and intensify on Thursday with a chance for severe weather.

“Everything dries out Friday,” Masco said, adding that Western Massachusetts looks to be in store for a beautiful weekend.

The town expects state aid cuts of about $500,000, not the $1.7 million originally expected.

Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen

AMHERST – Town officials have voted to support restoring $690,000 in previous cuts to the overall town budget now that it appears state cuts will not be the $1.7 million or 12.5 percent as anticipated.

The town expects state aid cuts of about $500,000. Town Meeting will begin deliberating the budget May 2.

With adjustments to state aid, officials will restore $333,271 in cuts or a 1.79 hike over the current level funded town budget of $18.5 million. The town budget includes public safety, conservation, building, planning and public works among other departments but not the schools or the library.

For the schools, $464,188 will be restored.

Finance officials had requested that budgets be level-funded. The current town-wide budget is $63.2 million.

For the libraries, the $103,000 restoration budget means that overall $2.1 million budget will meet the state Municipal Appropriation Requirement, which means the town will not have to apply for a waiver. The town had to apply for a waiver two years ago when the town contribution fell below the state required contribution. The budget is funded by the town, the library endowment and fund-raising.

The decision to restore money to the budgets came following the release of numbers from the House of Representatives supporting Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s proposed state aid budget and a Senate resolution saying state aid would at funded at least at the levels supported by the governor and the House.

The House Ways and Means Committee released a budget earlier this month that included $834 million in unrestricted local aid, down 7 percent, or $65 million from this fiscal year. “The governor, House and Senate essentially are in agreement,” said Town Manager John P. Musante at a Select Board meeting last week.

Police, fire and communications center overtime is restored and a new housing code enforcement position will be created in the building department. That position “will help us in the safe and healthy neighborhood initiative,” Musante said.

Officials have said that office is short-staffed and an additional inspector would be able to address housing violations, such as trash or too many cars on the lawn.

The town will also add a tree and ground maintenance worker in the Public Works Department and money for a part-time energy and sustainability coordinator to help the town with its green initiatives, Musante said. The town is hoping to become a so-called Green Community and be eligible for state grants.

For the library, money will pay for the professional staff cost of living increase and an adult services librarian a position that is vacant.

For the schools, money will pay for a mathematics coordinator as well as mathematics coach among other restorations.

Despite the restorations, Select Board member Diana B. Stein pointed out that “we’re still having to exclude necessary spending.”

The town will be funding the capital budget with just 6.5 percent of the total tax levy when the goal has been to use 10 percent of that levy.

The recommended budget does include the town taxing to its full levy capacity, although town officials had considered not raising it by the full amount.

Last year, the town approved a $1.68 million override but only about $1.2 million was levied. This year officials talked about whether to levy the remaining $427,000.

In an email, Select Board chairwoman Stephanie J. O’Keeffe wrote that while state aid cut “is less than had originally been feared, it is still a cut. Preserving levy capacity at the expense of being able to maintain or reorganize key programs and services was not practical, and would have felt like a self-inflicted wound.” Officials hope that the budget puts the town “in the strongest possible position as we endure this fourth consecutive year of (cuts.)”

A ranking officer confirmed that a vehicle was seen fleeing the vicinity of Chestnut and Worthington streets

The Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD -- Police cruisers hunted for a light-colored SUV seen fleeing the vicinity of Chestnut and Worthington streets after gunshots rang out shortly before 2 a.m. Monday.

Springfield Police Sgt. Jeffrey Martucci confirmed that he heard "one or two shots" while on patrol around 1:52 a.m. in that section of downtown, which is near several late-night clubs.

Reports indicated the sport utility vehicle had Connecticut license plates and was last seen driving at a high rate of speed eastbound on Worthington Street.

The vehicle contained three or four Hispanic males, one of whom opened fire, police said. The shooter was described as a heavy-set male wearing an orange shirt.

Martucci said no shell casings were recovered in the area.

It remains unknown if the shooter had specifically targeted someone or if the gunfire was random. There were no known casualties as of 7:30 a.m. Monday, according to police.

No further information was available.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of a 1:52 a.m. Monday shooting report near the intersection of Chestnut and Worthington streets in downtown Springfield.

View Larger Map

The mayor wants to market the former Lynch School for development as medical or professional offices.

File photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanThis is the former Lynch School at Northampton and Dwight streets in Holyoke.

HOLYOKE – The plan to market the former Lynch School for development was put on hold because the City Council has questions.

Councilors Tuesday referred to committee an order to declare the site at Northampton and Dwight streets surplus property, a necessary step before the city can sell the site, council President Joseph M. McGiverin said.

Councilors want to ask Mayor Elaine A. Pluta about her plans for the site and whether the adjacent Anniversary Field could be included in such a sale, McGiverin said.

The site was last used as a middle school in 2008. It has an assessed value of nearly $4 million and has what officials consider to be an enviable location at an Interstate 91 off ramp.

Pluta said Wednesday she is happy to discuss plans for Lynch School with councilors and reiterated she wants to see professional or medical offices there.

“I don’t want to see retail like a CVS or anything. But I want to get going as soon as possible to see what the interest is,” Pluta said.

As for Anniversary Field, she said she might be willing to include only part of it in a sale.

The field is important because it is used a lot for its baseball diamond and for youth football and soccer events, officials said.

Also, the city is likely to keep Anniversary Field as a park because state and federal regulations require that if a city or town decommissions a park, the community must designate additional spaces for park use to stay eligible for grants. The city lacks such space, officials such as Ward 6 Councilor Todd A. McGee and Parks and Recreation Director Teresa M. Shepard have said.

The gym in the school also is used daily for Parks and Recreation Department and other programs. Sale talks might include a provision allowing continued city use of the gym, officials said.

The School Committee voted in August to surrender control over Lynch School.

The blaze, which broke out early Friday, was caused by a candle on a stove.

EAST LONGMEADOW - No injuries were reported in a kitchen fire that displaced a female resident early Saturday morning on Kibbe Road.

Fire Chief Richard J. Brady said the blaze at 155 Kibbe Road broke out shortly after midnight Friday. Cause of the fire was a jar candle on a stove, he said.

Although fire damage was mostly limited to the stove and kitchen cabinets, there was smoke damage throughout the house.

“I know everything has to be cleaned,” Brady said.

The inmates escaped the prison through a 1,000-foot-long underground passage that had been dug over months.

Associated PressAfghan soldier stands guard outside the main prison in Kandahar, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, April 25, 2011. Taliban insurgents dug a more than 1,050-foot (320-meter) tunnel underground and into the main jail in Kandahar city and whisked out more than 450 prisoners, most of whom were Taliban fighters, officials and the insurgents said Monday.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban militants tunneled more than 480 inmates out the main prison in southern Afghanistan overnight, whisking them through a 1,000-foot-long underground passage they had dug over months, officials and insurgents said Monday.

Officials at Saraposa prison in the city of Kandahar only discovered the breach about 4 a.m., about a half hour after the Taliban said they had gotten all the prisoners out.

The militants began digging the tunnel about five months ago from a house within shooting distance of the prison guard towers. It was not immediately clear whether they lived in the house while they dug. They meticulously plotted the tunnel's course around police checkpoints and major roads, the insurgent group said in a brazen statement.

The diggers finally broke through to the prison cells around 11 p.m. Sunday night, and a handful of inmates who knew of the plan unlocked cells and ushered hundreds of inmates to freedom without a shot being fired.

A man who claimed he helped organize those inside the prison told The Associated Press in a phone call that he and his accomplices obtained copies of the keys for the cells ahead of time from "friends." He did not say who those friends were, but his comments suggested possible collusion by prison guards.

"There were four or five of us who knew that our friends were digging a tunnel from the outside," said Mohammad Abdullah, who said he had been in Sarposa prison for two years after being captured in nearby Zhari district with a stockpile of weapons. "Some of our friends helped us by providing copies of the keys. When the time came at night, we managed to open the doors for friends who were in other rooms."

He said they woke the inmates up four or five at a time to sneak them out quietly. The AP reached Abdullah on a phone number supplied by a Taliban spokesman. His account could not be immediately verified.

The Taliban statement said it took four and a half hours for all the prisoners to clear the tunnel, with the final inmates emerging into the house about 3:30 a.m. They then used a number of vehicles to shuttle the escaped convicts to secure locations.

Government officials corroborated parts of the Taliban account. They confirmed the tunnel was dug from the nearby house and the prisoners had somehow gotten out of their locked cells and disappeared into the warm Kandahar night.

The city's police mounted a massive search operation for the escaped convicts. They shot dead two inmates who tried to evade capture and re-arrested another 26, said Tooryalai Wesa, the provincial governor.

But there was no ignoring that the Taliban had pulled off a daring success under the noses of Afghan and NATO officials.

"This is a blow," presidential spokesman Waheed Omar said. "A prison break of this magnitude of course points to a vulnerability."