Digital billboards approved for I-91 in West Springfield
Updated Mar 17, 2021;
WEST SPRINGFIELD Electronic billboards will be allowed in one small corner of town, far from retailers and homes.
Town councilors this week voted to allow the large signs on a handful of industrial properties between Interstate Drive and Interstate 91, just south of the Holyoke city line. They rejected a citizens’ petition request to allow the billboards along two sections of Riverdale Street (Route 5).
“I want to be pro-business, but I also want to respect the people who live in West Springfield and not create some kind of Las Vegas here,” said Councilor Nathan Bech.
Agawam, West Springfield councils vote to oppose Comcast data cap
Updated Feb 20, 2021;
Agawam and West Springfield are signing on to the network of cities opposed to Comcast’s now-delayed plans to charge data fees to its broadband internet customers.
“This is an example of corporate greed in the middle of a national and statewide declared emergency,” said Councilor George Kelly at the Tuesday meeting of the West Springfield Town Council. “I wish the attorney general of Massachusetts would look into this, because that is a criminal offense.”
On the same night, the Agawam City Council also lent its support to the movement, which calls for the television, telephone and internet conglomerate to abandon its plans to surcharge heavy internet users starting this summer. Agawam voted 10-0, with one councilor not present. The vote in West Springfield was unanimous, 9-0.
West Springfield Town Council ready to vote on racism declaration
Updated Jan 27, 2021;
Several councilors again faulted the language of the proposed order at a study session Jan. 25, but said they didn’t want to delay the start of a town-wide effort to gather information on racial disparities and promote equity. They also said they had started to think deeply about systematic racism after reading the studies and news reports that Reichelt researched before writing the order.
“I had some serious issues with this when I read it the first time, and when I read it the second time, but since then, I’ve kind of changed my mind,” said Councilor Nathan Bech. “I think of racism as some jerk saying some horrible things to someone, but there’s a whole lot more to racism. That’s what I’m understanding in this whole process.”
West Springfield councilors concerned over ‘inflammatory’ wording in mayor’s anti-racism order
Updated Jan 24, 2021;
WEST SPRINGFIELD Town councilors will meet Monday to discuss “inflammatory” and “accusatory” language in Mayor William Reichelt’s executive order declaring racism a public health crisis.
They’ll also consider an alternative wording drafted late last week by Council President Brian Griffin, intended to preserve the mayor’s goals while toning down the rhetoric that some councilors found objectionable.
“The wording in it, to me, is inflammatory,” Councilor Daniel O’Brien said of the mayor’s proposal. “I don’t understand where you’re basing the facts of this document, … how it ties in with West Springfield, and the West Springfield that I know. I find this to be accusatory.”
West Springfield council has questions on proposed business advocate
Updated Jan 20, 2021;
WEST SPRINGFIELD Businesses will need help bouncing back when the coronavirus pandemic subsides, but the Town Council is split on whether funding a new government office would help.
At their meeting Tuesday, councilors could not reach a consensus on whether to back a proposal by Council President Brian Griffin and Mayor William Reichelt to hire a temporary economic recovery administrator with a $35,000 salary for the five months remaining in the current fiscal year.
“Oftentimes a business just doesn’t know where to turn,” said Griffin. “Having a direct individual for our business community to go to for this technical advisory assistance will go a long way toward us recovering. It’s going to take years for us to recover. This is one of the best hires we could have in this time.”