AGAWAM – The Agawam City Council met Aug. 5 for their first meeting of the month, where they voted to approve a grant for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program and to appropriate thousands of dollars for a year-long Massachusetts Nurses Association Agreement (MNAA) with the town.

The grant, from the Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs, would be for up to $24,000 according to City Council President, Christopher Johnson. It was accepted unanimously with a vote of nine to zero, with two city council members absent from the meeting.

The town was awarded the grant in early July from Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration to help them prepare for any potential climate-related disasters that may take place in the future. Agawam was one of 65 towns and cities across Massachusetts to receive the grant.

The town also voted to appropriate $17,802 to fund a year-long agreement between the MNAA and Agawam. Within the town, the collective bargaining agreements are typically three years. Johnson said in conversation with Mayor William Sapelli he had asked for clarification on why the agreement was only for a year. 

He said Sapelli explained that the previous MNAA contract expired a year ago, however, all other agreements expire this June. By funding a year-long agreement they would then be on the same contract schedule as the other collective bargaining agreements the town has. Johnson said the agreement “bridges the gap.” The appropriation of funds was approved by a vote of nine to zero.

Also discussed, but not approved, during the meeting was the appropriation of $89,295 for the Agawam Police Patrolman’s Association Agreement with the town of Agawam. Johnson said the council had just recently received the interim agreement.

He said he’d asked Sapelli if city council members “could get some cost analysis, as the interim agreement calls for reinstating police career incentives, which were discontinued for officers hired after July 1, 2009.” Johnson also asked for information “relative to what we pay for career incentives versus what other communities do and how our pay scale compares with surrounding communities.”

Due to the city council not having the information they felt like they needed before making a decision, they voted to table the possibility of appropriating the funds until receiving the information requested by a margin of seven to two.

The council also approved the renewal of a junk dealer’s permit and the approval of a Class 2 Dealer’s license during the Aug. 5 meeting. However, there was some discussion among the city councilors about the potential introduction of a late fee or some sort of ordinance that would penalize business owners who renewed their licenses past a certain point in the year in the future.

New business that city councilors decided to discuss during their Aug. 19 meeting include the approval of an intermunicipal animal control shelter between Agawam and Southwick, and the confirmation of Michele Clvanese’s appointment to the Board of Registrars.

Lastly, before the meeting concluded, Councilman Paul Cavallo discussed the need for the crosswalks at the Suffield St. and Silver St. intersection to be repainted. He said, “See what you can do about that, we really need that for safety purposes.”

The next city council meeting will take place on Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Agawam Junior High School.