(The Westfield News/MassLive – Cliff Clark) A $100,000 grant secured by state Sen. John Velis will allow the Police Department to upgrade its gym, replace the station’s security doors, and purchase new equipment for the police boat.
“He’s been outstanding to the Police Department,” said Capt. Steve Dickinson about the support Velis, a Westfield Democrat, has provided to the force.
Velis secured funding from the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security as part of the state’s Coronavirus Recovery Fund. The City Council received notice of the grant at its Aug. 17 meeting and referred it to the council’s Finance Committee.
Capt. Jerome Pitoniak said he reached out to Velis several months ago asking for some assistance to help “upgrade some things to get by,” he said referring police station facility, built in 1973, that has reached the end of its useful life.
The city is trying to settle on a site to build a new police station. Once ground is broken, it can take up to three years to build a new one.
With the realization that the department won’t be moving anytime soon, Pitoniak said the one of the first things they wanted to get done with the grant was replacing the facility’s security doors.
As Dickinson and Pitoniak walked through the halls of the police station on Washington Street, they pointed out light coming in from around the doors’ frames.
“They have problems closing and locking,” Pitoniak said pointing one of the door’s casings.
They are also replacing the doors, as the department transitions away from using keypad panel locks to a fob, or keyless, entry system for officers entering the building. The new doors will also be more energy efficient, Dickinson said.
To maintain the force’s physical fitness, the department has a small gym in an area of the basement, in what was once a firing range.
The gym was built by the Westfield Police Association and since it opened, its equipment — benches, treadmills and elliptical machines — have all been “hand-me-downs,” Dickinson said.
Part of the grant will be used to purchase two new ellipticals and three new treadmills, Dickinson said, adding about half of the department’s force uses this gym regularly.
Part of the grant will also be used to purchase a small utility vehicle. The police currently share a UTV with the Fire Department, Dickinson said.
Police will also purchase a sonar device that will be installed on the boat officers use to patrol Hampton Ponds. The device scans the bottoms of lakes and ponds, and is often used when searching for drowning victims, Dickinson said.
While walking through the facility, Pitoniak and Dickinson said the building is showing its age.
During the power outage that occurred in early July, when the electricity generator started up, its exhaust line broke and exhaust poured into the station.
Moisture in the building continues to be an issue, they said, pointing out new industrial-sized dehumidifiers in the basement.
They also said there are still occasions when water will seep up into the basement from the ground below.