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Agawam councilor pushes back on new police, fire complex
Updated 10:48 AM;
AGAWAM Now is not the time to spend millions of dollars on a public safety complex, a city councilor told Mayor William Sapelli..
Although no councilor voted against the mayor’s proposed five-year capital spending plan, individual councilors on Monday questioned both the need for a new $30 million police and fire station, and the omission of sewers in southwestern Feeding Hills.
“It’s a luxury. It’s not a necessity,” said Councilor George Bitzas of the public safety proposal, which envisions spending $65,000 on a feasibility study in the coming year, and $30 million for construction beginning in 2026. “With these hard times, all the taxes going up, federal taxes going up, inflation going up, … I don’t think we can use this money for this luxury.”
Agawam City Council rejects voter ID resolution by thin margin
Updated 3:35 PM;
AGAWAM By the thinnest possible margin, city councilors this week rejected a call for more stringent voter identification laws.
The council voted 6-5 on Monday against a resolution that would have petitioned the state Legislature to require voters to produce proof of identity and return to the pre-pandemic rules that allowed mail-in voting only in cases of necessity for medical, religious or travel reasons.
“I really don’t think there is a big problem in the state of Massachusetts, when it comes to elections,” said Councilor Paul Cavallo, who voted against the resolution after having previously described himself as undecided. In local elections, he said, “I don’t think there has ever been any fraud or corruption involved.”