WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mayor William Sapelli and Mayor William Reichelt provided updates for their respective cities during the West of the River Chamber of Commerce’s Mayoral Luncheon at Storrowton Tavern in West Springfield.

The luncheon, which was held virtually and in-person, allowed various business representatives in Agawam and West Springfield an opportunity to listen in on what is to come within the next several months.

During the event, Sapelli and Reichelt provided updates on where each city is at with regard to the vaccine distribution process. According to Reichelt, the cities of Southwick, Agawam, Westfield, and West Springfield are all working to establish a regional vaccination site at the Big E.

“We were very disappointed when the state decided to take away vaccinations from our local senior center,” said Reichelt, who said they were only getting 100 a week when vaccinations were occurring. He believes that if the regional vaccination site ends up working at the Big E, then the fairgrounds may open very soon. Reichelt said that he is very “hopeful” the fair itself could open in some capacity by the fall, whether that means less people at a time, or some other form of accommodation.

“COVID has taken over our lives over the past year now,” said Reichelt. “What we’re really focusing on now is that vaccination clinic, but we’re still doing testing.”

Reichelt added that the city’s budget, which he described as looking “good” at the moment, will allow West Springfield to not increase taxes as they head into the new budgetary season. He said that, like every other city, West Springfield has also lost revenue through meals tax, hotel tax, as well as the lack of the Big E fair at the end of 2020.

For restaurants specifically, Reichelt credits outdoor dining for being one of the major lifeboats for all restaurants during the pandemic. He plans on making this a permanent feature for restaurants, even after West Springfield’s full recovery.

“To have [outdoor dining] kind of be forced upon us because it is a pandemic, and it to hear from everyone that it works, gives us a lot of ammo moving forward to make it a permanent feature,” said Reichelt.

Internally, West Springfield is also working on adjusting certain ordinances to make it easier for people who want to start a business in West Springfield or Agawam. “We’re trying to change regulations where we can to just make whatever we do afterwards a lot easier,” said Reichelt.

Beyond that, the city has a few other projects from 2020 that they plan on continuing throughout 2021. “Hopefully we can do a restart as we head into these next few months,” he said.

In Agawam, Sapelli said that the town completed construction at the Feeding Hills intersection near Granger School on Route 57 a few months ago. “It’s been a terrific improvement,” said Sapelli. “We’re glad to see the traffic patterns are much safer and easier.”

There is also a drainage and sewage project currently being conducted on South Westfield Street, along with an over-55 community being built up near Pine Street. “Even during this pandemic, a lot of different things were completed,” said Sapelli.

The Agawam mayor commended the health department for assisting with contact tracing, setting up vaccine clinics as well as monitoring schools and businesses for safety purposes during COVID-19.

Over the course of the pandemic, Six Flags New England has been used as a testing site, while Bethany Assembly of God was used for a regional vaccine site for 11 different municipalities, including some up in the Hilltowns. The site provided 400 vaccines in one day for those municipalities, and another 400 four weeks later.

“It’s very unfortunate the state decided to take those local vaccines and now no longer supply those to municipalities,” said Sapelli.

Agawam will also be allowing outdoor seating under state guidelines through December 2021 at the earliest, and also waived some license fees for businesses and restaurants in the area, including $1,500 worth of liquor licenses.

“This pandemic has hit us all in different ways,” said Sapelli. “it’s been a major challenge in many ways.”

Additionally, Sapelli updated the room on the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge that connects both Agawam and West Springfield. If all goes well, the bridge may be open to traffic by June or July.