AGAWAM – At its meeting on Nov. 16, the Agawam City Council voted to allow special police officers to be appointed up to the age of 70, rather than 65.

The original legislation, which was approved in the Acts of 2002 under the city’s Chapter 80, stated that “the mayor of the town of Agawam may appoint such special police officers for the city as he deems necessary for the safety and protection of the citizens of the city.” Chapter 80 also states that special police officers also have the same power to make arrests and perform other police functions as intermittent police officers in the city.

According to Agawam Police Chief Eric Gillis and Mayor William Sapelli, the city of Agawam had to call outside agencies such the state police, sheriff’s department, and West Springfield Police Department to assist in some of Agawam’s recent projects such as road paving and street light work.

“We didn’t have the specials to cover it [some of the town’s needs], so we had to call outside agencies to assist us,” Sapelli said during the legislative subcommittee meeting on Nov. 16.

By extending the age to be appointed as a special police officer, Attorney Stephen Buoniconti believes that the city of Agawam will have access to more police help when needed.

“In all honesty, we’re still very concerned about COVID breaks with our police department and fire department,” said Buoniconti. “We want to make sure they are fully staffed, and that hasn’t breached yet. Nevertheless, having additional staff on in case sure makes it more comfortable for the mayor to be able to respond to those concerns.”

Councilor Dino Mercadante was one of the few council members who spoke up during the city council meeting. He expressed his support for the age change.

“I think there are a lot of reasons why this is a good measure for the town to involve themselves in,” said Mercadante. “We don’t know what is ahead of us, so quite frankly, more experienced police officers are a good thing.”

Mercadante said that he would much rather have experienced police officers who have been tested for COVID-19, and have gone through proper training procedures.

“Certainly [the new law] isn’t a stress on our retirement fund, because that is calculated up to 65,” said Mercadante. “The town has an administrative fee that it acquires on these police officers for detail work. These police officers have to endure physicals, and meet qualifications in order to continue on the job.”

On the other hand, Councilor Robert Rossi was opposed to this new amendment, arguing that the city of Agawam does not “supplement the Police Department” when needed.

“Special police officers in this town are not called to duty to supplement our police programs in this community,” said Rossi. “What our special police forces do here in Agawam are simply road traffic duty. You don’t need police powers to do that.”

Rossi, who spearheaded the original legislation in 2002, also believes that this new petition is based off greed rather than necessity. He said that he knows people who would want a police officer job, but the department won’t hire them because it would mean less work for everyone involved.

“Now if you want to increase this to 70 years old, then why not increase the whole police force,” said Rossi. “What makes them so special, that they can work until 70, when our regular  force has to retire at 65? This is a dangerous thing what you are doing right now.”

In a unanimous decision, the council also voted against allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections. Many councilors stated that people that age are not mature enough to vote yet.

“I strongly support 16- and 17-year-olds getting involved in municipal government,” said Christopher Johnson, president of the council. “But I don’t know that 16- and 17-year-olds are mature enough to be eligible to vote.”