Westfield City Council hears engineering report, OK’s legal funding

Jan. 26, 2021 | Dennis Hackett
dennis@thereminder.com

The Westfield City Council met remotely on Jan. 21
Screen capture by Dennis Hackett

WESTFIELD – During the Jan. 21 Westfield City Council meeting, the council heard a presentation about the city’s annual engineering report, discussed changes to the Water Department’s fee structure, and approved a request for $150,000 for ongoing legal fees.

During the meeting, City Engineer Mark Cressotti presented his overview for the city’s annual engineering report.

“I’d like to just identify the list of projects we’ve been able to achieve in this last calendar year, there was a large paving effort this year, and our budget was suitable, so we were able to do quite a bit of work,” he said.

Cressotti also said the current construction on the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail could be a benefit to the city.

“I want to highlight a couple of important undertakings that are going on in the city that are strategic to the city. First of all, the Columbia Greenway is under construction and that should be ready by the summer and in my mind that is a prime avenue to access some tourist dollars,” he said.

After Cressotti’s presentation, the council discussed hosting a council meeting of the whole to discuss changes to the Water Department’s fee structure and councilor Ralph Figy suggested hosting a committee meeting of the whole.

“I think the only way to do this justice is to have a committee meeting of the whole so everybody can have input and ask the questions that normally would not be answered in a strict committee meeting between the Legislative and Ordinances Committee and Finance Committee,” he said.

Because the change in fee structure would have an impact on the sewer rates, Councilor Kristen Mello suggested to include the Natural Resources Committee as well.

Councilor Cindy Harris said she was against raising the current fees.

“We just raised taxes under the guise of the tax rate staying the same, and I am not for an increase in any fees which are basically taxes. If and when we discuss this, I’d like to find a different avenue rather than increasing people’s taxes,” she said.

Ultimately the council agreed to host a meeting of the whole under the jurisdiction of the Natural Resources subcommittee.

During the meeting, the council also approved six reappointments to city boards and commissions.

After denying a request at the last meeting to transfer $150,000 to the ambulance services account to pay for legal fees regarding active litigation with three firefighters, the council approved it at the Jan. 21 meeting after an executive session meeting before the open session meeting.

“I truly appreciate the executive session information we got earlier. I think it is important for us to do our due diligence to get the answers to make sure we are protecting the taxpayers and the rate payers before we make a decision. I think we got information we didn’t have before and that will make it easier to make a decision,” Councilor Dave Flaherty said.

The Westfield City Council next meets on Feb. 4.

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