Council reconsiders language in resolution on Soldiers’ Home

Aug. 25, 2020 | Sarah Heinonen
sarah@thereminder.com

West Springfield Town Councilor Anthony DiStefano blasts proposed resolution as “wrong” and a “political instrument.”
Photo credit: Access West Side Public Access Television

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The West Springfield Town Council attempted to pass a resolution at its Aug. 17 meeting that condemned the state’s handling of healthcare at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and demands more is done to care for veterans.

Citing reports that understaffing and overcrowding played a major role in the outbreak of COVID-19 at the healthcare facility that caused 76 deaths this spring, the resolution urged the state to fully staff and fund the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, while moving forward with a new, fully-compliant facility to house the veterans.

“This atrocity is one of our country’s worst veteran tragedies and contradicts Massachusetts’s claim of being the best in the nation for veteran’s benefits,” the resolution stated. Director of Veterans’ Services Anthony Ciollaro said he “strongly believed this resolution [should] be pushed to the governor’s desk and that he take full course in enacting funding to ensure that America’s veterans here in our community are served to the best-known possible way they could be.”

Opposing the reproachful accusations in the resolution, Councilor Anthony DiStefano, formerly the chief financial officer at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, insisted that the resolution was “wrong” and contained “blatant inaccuracies.” He said he did not believe staffing was a factor in the deaths.

“I never witnessed or experienced underfunding and understaffing,” DiStefano said of the 12 years he was with the facility, ending in 2014. He also said that while some people are calling for a new adult day healthcare facility, he had commissioned a feasibility study during his time there and found there was “no need” for one.

DiStefano called the resolution a “political instrument” to “gain favor with certain projects that a small group of individuals see as necessary.” Those individuals, he said, were using “an outright tragedy” to “stir emotions.”

The council decided to table the resolution so that language regarding staffing and funding can be redrafted by DiStefano and Ciollaro.

A public hearing was conducted on work proposed by AT&T to install a new utility pole near 273 Main St., on which to put a 25-inch cellular antenna. Attorney Michael Dolan, representing AT&T told the council that the 5G Evolution equipment would address a gap in coverage.

Main Street resident Carol Brocka told Dolan that she had heard through the internet that 5G cell towers cause cancer. Dolan called on Don Haes, a certified health physicist with 43 years in radiation safety who has spoken before the council in the past, to talk about the level of radiation emitted by the towers.

Haes explained that 5G simply references the minimum data transfer speed of the technology. On the other hand, 5G Evolution is a name that AT&T uses to refer to antenna’s on the 5GHz unlicensed frequency band. He said this is the same frequency that is already in people’s homes, schools and offices. Haes described the antenna as a “low-power” transmitter that covers a small area. By his calculations the transmissions are “less than one-half of one percent” of allowable transmissions.

Later in the meeting, Councilor Michael Eger reported that work had already begun on the project despite not yet having been approved by the council, an observation confirmed by engineers for the town. The vote on the project was continued to the Sept. 17 meeting to allow time to get answers from AT&T on the apparent contradiction.

The council approved $137,390 in community preservation funds for the restoration of the White Church in West Springfield. The building was recently purchased by a private couple who requested help with renovations from the Community Preservation Committee. When originally proposed, several councilors expressed concern that if the building were sold in the next few years, any increase in the value due to the investment from the town would be lost in private hands.

The language in the agreement was modified by Town Attorney Kate O’Brien-Scott and Councilor Sean Powers to protect the town. The agreement was passed with the stipulation that if the building is sold within the next 10 years, the amount of CPA funds used for the project will return to the town.

The town also approved two projects that Columbia Gas had brought before the council. One project will replace low pressure cast iron gas mains with medium pressure plastic mains on Park street, Park Avenue, Elm Street, Western Avenue and Main Street. The other project affects Front Street, Main Street, Elm Street, Westfield Street, Mercury Court, Northwood Avenue and Prospect Avenue and involves a safety device that would alert the company when the auto shut-off valve is triggered.

A proposal to create a billboard overlay district was withdrawn by the petitioner. The proposal sought to use land that had been donated to the town by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation for passive recreation to erect a billboard on either side of I-91. A meeting had been called with the foundation to discuss the project.

“Mr. Grinspoon was very adamant that he did not want to have that land utilized in any way, shape or form,” Council President Brian Griffin shared with the council.

Griffin turned to address concerns of the public, saying that he understood that several residents were upset by perceived lack of transparency around a vote taken in July that consolidated polling locations in an effort to reduce the number of poll workers needed across the city. The goal is to limit the amount of people who could be exposed to COVID-19.

For the Sept. 1 primary, precincts 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, will vote at the West Springfield High School, 425 Piper Rd. Those in precincts 1 and 2, will go to the First Congregational Church at 108 Park St. to vote. If the consolidated voting goes well during the primary, it will be used again for the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Griffin said that the council had conducted a study session and a public hearing on the matter, following open meeting law regulations. He also informed the public that 3,000 mail-in ballots had been requested so far and were being sent out. Early voting is taking place from Aug. 22 to Aug. 28, on weekends from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Polls will be open on Sept. 1 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., as usual.

Share this: