AGAWAM – William P. Sapelli’s first official day as Agawam’s fourth mayor began on Jan. 2 – replacing the town’s longest-serving mayor, Richard Cohen. Sapelli told Reminder Publications he has been meeting with department heads since he was elected back in November, and has a number of priorities he wants to tackle in the coming months.

Sapelli soundly defeated former Agawam City Council President James P. Cichetti in the Nov. 7 election – winning 68.5 percent of the 7,832 votes cast. His run for mayor marked the end of his longtime career as an educator in Agawam Public Schools.

The former superintendent said the themes of his campaign were based on the concepts of “unity, courtesy, and respect” in all levels of government.

“I don’t know if it was because of the national election, but it seemed like everybody was kind of at each other and pointing fingers,” he said. “And that’s not what a community like Agawam is about.”

The new mayor said he believes his previous experiences with Agawam Public Schools, and his familiarity with many of the council and department members, attributed to a smooth transition from his role as superintendent to mayor.

Once elected, Sapelli began meeting with department heads, supervisors and directors.

“What I wanted to do was show them that I wasn’t bigger than them, or more important than them, so I actually went to their offices and met them instead of calling them and summoning them down here,” he said. “I think that was important to set the tone that I’m approachable – that I’m out there and willing to talk about any and all issues.”

Sapelli said he has a number of priorities he wants to address over the next few months.

Budget: Establishing a budget is one of the mayor’s top concerns, he said.
“The budget is a big deal to people,” Sapelli explained. “They want to know where their tax dollars are going.”

The budget deadlines for each department were due on Jan. 12.

Sapelli said he plans on meeting with each department and his budget team soon – his team consists of personnel, the assessor, the auditor, the treasurer and his executive assistant.

In the past, the mayor said there has been concern, from both the community and the Council, over the “transparency” of city budgets.

“I think we have to be better prepared to explain specific line items and spending,” he said. “One of the complaints was that the town budget wasn’t as easy to understand as it could’ve been – there should’ve been more background and explanations.”

Sapelli said his goal is to make a budget that is “completely transparent” and makes more sense to the city council and residents. He hopes to have a budget in place soon, he said.

Infrastructure: Another priority for Sapelli is infrastructure – specifically maintenance and repairs for the roads and sidewalks.

“People have kind of put roads and sidewalks on the back burner, and now it’s gotten to the point where, over the years, we didn’t maintain them as much, or as well, as we could’ve and now they are in such disrepair,” said Sapelli.

He wants to set a precedent for more preventative measures in the future, he said – like filling in the cracks and other maintenance work – instead of continuing to have reactionary responses.

Economic development: Although the stock market is “soaring,” retail is still struggling, Sapelli said.

The new mayor attributes the closing of several “well established” companies – like Macy’s, Sears and JC Penny – to the internet.

He said he realizes people want more retail stores in Agawam, but that the industry isn’t flourishing like it used to. Sapelli wants to re-focus on attracting more service industries, and is looking at certain tax incentives to draw in new businesses.

Stormwater: Stormwater issues are also high on Sapelli’s list, he said.
In Agawam, the Public Works Department (PWD) maintains around 5,000 street drains, 122 miles of drain pipe and 2,352 manholes. These systems direct storm flows to the town’s 512 outfalls, which lead to the waterways.
Because most of the stormwater systems are underground, it’s hard to understand the importance of the maintenance for these structures, Sapelli said.

According to the PWD, 83 percent of the town’s piping is over 30 years old.

“We have some piping that needs to be repaired,” said the mayor. “Those are things people don’t see when they’re driving around town. People are wondering, ‘Why don’t you just keep maintaining those pipes like you did in the past?’ Well, the problem is, they haven’t been maintained for a long time and they’re getting old, so they need a lot of repairs.”

Sapelli also touched on the federal government’s newly updated Clean Water Act, which requires water quality sampling within the sewer system, promoting stormwater management practices that emphasize soaking up rainfall rather than conveying and providing frequent street sweeping.

The mayor said he wants to focus on sweeping the streets at least once or twice a year to prevent sand and soot from running off into the pipes, on top of addressing other stormwater related issues.

The city plans to work with the 10-member Stormwater Advisory Task Force to identify the needs and costs of this maintenance, and to figure out how to better fund the preventative work.

“We want to be equitable with it,” he said. “If somebody has a business that is fairly large – with a lot of parking lot blacktop area and a large building with a large roof that sends a lot of that water down these storm drains – they need to pay more than that homeowner that is on a quarter of an acre. So, how do you do that fairly and equitably? Those are all of the issues we’re going to be dealing with.”

Overall, Sapelli said he is excited to be in his new position and believes he has had positive feedback so far.