Committee Purpose & Deliverables
Following the local impact of Tropical Storm Ida, Mayor Brindle announced the formation of The Westfield Infrastructure Resiliency Committee (WIRC), which will be tasked with assessing the Town-wide stormwater infrastructure and its capacity to handle severe weather events, as well as ensuring that climate resiliency is a major consideration in all infrastructure decisions going forward.
The WIRC will be tasked with establishing their overall mission, scope, and deliverables that will inform the hiring of an outside engineering firm to guide the process. WIRC's main objective will include, but not be limited to, making short and long-term recommendations for how best to fortify our stormwater infrastructure, taking into consideration engineering, current zoning/construction practices, future development, with input from public works and finance.
This committee will be co-chaired by Ward 1 Councilwoman & Town Council Finance Committee Chair Linda Habgood and Ward 3 Councilman & Town Council Public Works Committee Chair David Contract, and will also include:
- Jim Gildea, Town Administrator
- Greg O’Neil, Director of Public Works
- Don Sammet, Town Planner
- Dave Battaglia, Town Engineer
- Frank Vuoso, Construction Official
Resident Appointees
At the October 12, 2021 Town Council meeting, Mayor Brindle appointed eight resident representatives -- two from each ward -- whose perspectives will be extremely valuable to the WIRC as they undertake this effort to assess our current Town-wide stormwater infrastructure and make short and long-term recommendations for how best to fortify it.
Ward 1
David McAlister
Brad Noack
Ward 2
Steve Dombroski
Rich Ellsworth
Ward 3
Robin Browning
Susan Dinan
Ward 4
Adam Marsh
Georgia Marino
It's also anticipated that these resident volunteers will serve as critical liaisons to neighborhoods with historical flooding issues so that the committee has a direct line of dialogue to those most affected. The work of this committee will be no small task, and one that is imperative as the frequency of severe weather events continues to increase. Thanks to these residents for their volunteerism and willingness to assist us with this undertaking.