Westwood has moved away from CODE Red and is now using ALERT Westwood for all emergency notifications. Once enrolled, residents have the option to receive phone calls, text messages, emails, or a combination of those three options. It is our hope that with a more advanced software, we will be able to communicate with residents quicker than before.
To enroll in ALERT Westwood, please click here.
The John J. Cronin Public Service Award is named for the late John J. Cronin, Town Treasurer, who for many years selflessly gave his time for the betterment of the community, both as an elected official and in numerous volunteer activities within and outside the community. Nominations are now being accepted for the 2021 John J. Cronin Public Service Award until March 8, 2021. The award will be presented at the 2021 Annual Town Meeting, scheduled for May 3, 2021.
Nominees should possess leadership; exceptional service to the community; years of dedication; strong work ethic; diversity of service; volunteerism; and dedication to the Westwood community.
Please contact the Select Board Office at selectboard@townhall.westwood.ma.us or at 781.326.4172 with any questions. Nomination forms can be mailed to the Select Board Office at 580 High Street, Westwood MA or submitted via email.
Find more information on the John J. Cronin Public Service Award here.
Regulations for Animals
There has been an increase this past year in residents raising chickens. Keeping chickens and other animals such as goats and horses requires a permit from the Board of Health. The permit must be renewed each year and there is a $10 fee.
Please refer to our website for more information in the regulations regarding the number of chickens allowed; dogs are licensed by the Town Clerk and this regulation does not apply to them.
Regulations for the Control of Animals
Westwood Board of Health Private Well Regulations
Please be advised that if you have a well on your property the water must be tested prior to a change in ownership. This regulation requires that a copy of the results are forwarded to the Board of Health office. This applies to both drinking water and irrigation wells. If a well is no longer in use, it must be properly decommissioned. Please refer to our website to review the Private Well Regulations, for more information on the required tests.
Private Well Regulation
If you have any questions please call the Jared Orsini, Health Director (781) 320-1026.
Winter Weather Power Outage Tips
While power is often restored in a reasonably short time, history has shown that more destructive storms can cause prolonged power outages because restoration is hindered by downed trees and wires and the utility companies’ ability to address issues. MEMA offers the following tips for preparing for, and dealing with a longer term power outage:
- Check flashlights and portable radios to ensure that they are working.
- A radio is an important source of weather and emergency information during a storm.
- Flashlights are safest for lighting, unlike candles which can be a fire hazard.
- Fully charge your cell phone, laptop, and any other devices before the storm.
- Ensure that you have extra batteries as part of your family’s emergency kit.
- If you own a car, purchase a car phone charger so that you can charge your phone if you lose power at your home.
- Download the Massachusetts Alerts free app to your smartphone to receive important weather alerts and messages from MEMA.
- Consider purchasing a generator to provide power during an outage. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and guidelines when using a generator.
- Always use outdoors, away from windows and doors. Carbon Monoxide fumes are odorless and can quickly accumulate indoors.
- Never try to power the house wiring by plugging the generator directly into household wiring, a practice known as “backfeeding.” This is extremely dangerous and presents an electrocution risk to utility workers and neighbors served by the same utility transformer. It also bypasses some of the built-in household circuit protection devices.
- Do not call 9-1-1 to report your power outage or to ask for information; use 9-1-1 only for emergencies. Contact your utility company to report the outage and get restoration information.
- Check in on friends, family, and neighbors, particularly those most susceptible to extreme temperatures and power outages such as seniors and those with access and functional needs.
MRC Volunteers Welcome
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a community-based network of volunteers that assists public health efforts in times of special need or disaster. The Norfolk County-8 Medical Reserve Corps was established by the local Boards of Health/Health Departments in Canton, Dedham, Milton, Needham, Norwood, Wellesley, Walpole, and Westwood, in order to strengthen local public health, improve emergency response capabilities, and build resiliency. Residents with medical expertise as well as those with other important skills are needed to assist the Westwood Health Department and the community in the event of a public health emergency. In addition, volunteers can also help with other local public health events, such as the potential need for a COVID-19 vaccination program at some point in 2021.
Please contact the Health Department if you would like to join the MRC or get more information, 781-320-1027 or email: health@townhall.westwood.ma.us.
Westwood Youth & Family Services is on the move! In Mid-December we closed up our offices in the Islington Community Center (ICC) and moved temporarily into the lower level of the Westwood Town Hall. We will remain in Town Hall until the Wentworth Hall project in Islington is completed and we are able to move into our new offices in the first floor addition slated for summer of this year. Before we moved, we took time as a staff to share stories and snap a few photos to memorialize our time serving Westwood children and families in the ICC.
Due to the COVID-19 public health crisis Town Hall offices are currently closed to the public. WY&FS staff members continue to work, providing remote counseling service and community programs to children and families. Staff can be reached by phone (781) 320-1006 and by email.
For more information, please visit our website:
https://www.townhall.westwood.ma.us/departments/youth-family-services
For more information, please contact Jane O'Donnell:
781-314-1994 or jodonnell@townhall.westwood.ma.us
Dog licensing for 2021 began on January 1, 2021 & continues through March 31, 2021
- You may license your dog online, or by mail, provided you include a copy of a current rabies certificate.
- If you are licensing your dog for the first time, proof of spay or neutering is also required.
- Licenses will be valid from January 1, 2021 until December 31, 2021.
- You must license your dog on an annual basis.
- If you own more than 4 dogs this is considered a “Personal Kennel” per MGL c. 140 §136A.
- You must go through a special permit application process through the Zoning Board of Appeals to license a kennel. You must initially contact the building inspector at 781-320-1091.
- Failure to license your dog on or before March 31, 2021 may result in a fine of $25.00, per town bylaws §184-10, B. (1).
- Please be sure to include the correct licensing fee. If you are unsure, Please contact the Town Clerk’s office at 781 326-3964 or townclerk@townhall.westwood.ma.us.
Licensing Fees are as follows:
- Online convenience fee: $2.00
- Postage fee: $1.00
- Dogs not Neutered or Spayed: $15.00
- Dogs Neutered or Spayed: $10.00
- Residents ages 70 or older, the fee is waived for one dog per household
- (proof of age is required)
- Kennel Fees-please contact the Town Clerk’s office
- (special permit is required)
The 2021 Annual Town Census will be mailed to each household this month.
- It is extremely important that each household fills out the census form and returns it within 10 days of its receipt.
- The completed, signed form can also be scanned and emailed to:
- census@townhall.westwood.ma.us.
- Failure to return the Annual Town Census may cause a voter to be designated as inactive on the voting list (M.G.L, Ch.51, § 4).
- You may not register to vote or change your political party on the census form. To register to vote or make changes to your voter registration please click here.
Annual Town Election Information:
- The Annual Town Election will be held on Tuesday, April 27, 2021
- Nomination papers are available through Friday, March 5, 2021 for any registered Westwood voter who would like to be a candidate for a town elected position.
- You may contact the Town Clerk at 781-326-3964 or townclerk@townhall.westwood.ma.us to schedule an appointment to obtain nomination papers.
The following Elected Offices will appear on the Ballot:
- Board of Assessors - 1 Seat - 3 Year Term
- Housing Authority-1 Seat- 5 Year Term
- Library Trustee - 2 Seats - 3 Year Terms
- Moderator - 1 Seat - 1 Year Term
- Planning Board-1 Seat-1 Year Term to fill a vacancy
- Planning Board - 2 Seats - 3 Year Terms
- School Committee - 1 Seat -3 Year Term
- Select Board - 1 Seat - 3 Year Term
- Sewer Commission - 1 Seat - 3 Year Term
- Town Treasurer-1 Seat-3 Year Term
The Westwood Senior Center will be closed throughout the winter of 2021.
Staff is still available remotely (in the office Monday through Friday 8-2pm) if you need us; just call us and let us know how we can help you. If we don’t answer, just leave a message on the mail line.
The good news is we continue to grow our virtual programs. Cable classes include yoga, exercise, line dancing, music; our zoom classes include current conversations, cooking classes, Pilates, book group, drawing, bereavement, and tai chi. And we now have special programming every Tuesday and Thursday from 12-1, a virtual lunch and learn (bring your own lunch).
Below is our cable schedule.
All of these programs can be found on local cable Comcast 8 & 12, and Verizon 32 & 42.
Please call us if you are interested in any of the Zoom classes.
Cable Classes this winter:
Monday
9:00-9:45 - Cardio Strength & Stretch
10:00-10:45 - Line Dancing
11:00-12:00 - Music Matters
Tuesday
8:00-9:00 - Floor Yoga
9:30-10:30 - Chair Yoga
11:00-12:00 - Music Matters
Wednesday
9:00-9:45 - Sit and Get Fit
10:00-10:45 - Line Dancing
11:00-12:00 - Music Matters
Thursday
8:00-9:00 Floor Yoga
9:30-10:30 - Chair Yoga
11:00-12:00 - Music Matters
Friday
9:00-9:45 - Cardio Strength & Balance
10:00-10:45 - Line Dancing
11:00-12:00 - Music Matters
Special Cable Programming - Virtual lunch and learns
We have partnered with Big Y Pharmacist Eddie to offer a special cable program to discuss “COVID - 19 is there a cure? And what to know about the Vaccine.” This special program will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays at noontime. We are also working with the Audubon Society (for winter bird watching) and Attorney Maria Baler (getting your legal responsibilities and information updated) and hopefully these will be available by early February.
Meals on Wheels continue to grow; any Westwood resident 65 or older needing a daily meal please calls HESSCO at 781-784-4944. We are also available to grocery shop for homebound at risk elders, just give us a call at the Center. PLEASE NOTE: If you are feeling food insecure, please let us know, we can confidentially help you!
Transportation Update: We grocery shop on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, offer medical rides on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and errands on Fridays. A COA winter newsletter went out with all details and can be found on the Town’s website or call us and we will send you a copy. Our goal is to keep everyone safe (seniors and staff) during this pandemic.
Fuel Assistance: If you need help filling out your application or need more information, please call the Center and speak directly to Karen Segreve. If she is not in the office, you can leave her a voicemail or write her an email.
A few samples of our zoom programs that may interest you:
History lecture by author Henry Quinlan
We are pleased to introduce a new speaker, Henry Quinlan, who comes highly recommended. Henry owns his own publishing company and has a very varied 40+ year career.
Tuesday February 9 at 1pm
USSR- Russia
Myths, Mysteries and Spying
A one-hour presentation based on Henry’s 30 years’ involvement with the former Soviet Union and Russia including living in Moscow for five years during the demise of the USSR and the rise of the new Russia. The presentation will entertain and educate you. Accompanying power-point with 62 panels.
Please call the Center to sign up and we will send you the Zoom link.
Cooking classes with Roberta (held via Zoom):
Classes begin at 1pm
February 8 - Comfort Foods for the cold winter months - This pasta dish has it all - Greens, Beans and Sausage Pasta - then we will make Tourtiere - a French Canadian Meat Pie (perfect dinner for a cold night) and of course a delicious Carmel Walnut Tart for dessert!
Lectures with Historian Gary Hylander
Gary is back!!! If you have heard his lectures before, you know he brings history alive, if you have not heard him and enjoy history, you must sign up to listen to his stories. And with Zoom, you can do this at home, with a cup of coffee, on your couch!
President Theodore Roosevelt & his times
Tuesdays January 5 & 19 at 10 a.m.
President Roosevelt was a man of his times - Elected after the Spanish American War, he wrote “Americans voted for me because I get things done”. This two-part series will explore his presidency, his accomplishments and his disappointments.
The Civil War Amendments
Tuesday February 16 at 10a.m.
The Civil War is over and reconstruction has begun. Gary will discuss how Amendments 13, 14, and 15 played into the rebuilding of America.
Please call the Center with your email address to sign up and we will send you the Zoom Link.
AARP TAX HELP for Low and Moderate Income Seniors
Mondays 9 a.m. -2 p.m.
February 8 – April 12
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Strict COVID spacing and cleaning protocols will be followed
There is no cost to this program but appointments fill up fast so please sign up early
The Westwood Senior Center will host AARP Tax Preparation to any low or moderate income seniors who need help preparing their Federal and Mass income tax forms. AARP Tax Aides will be on hand every Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. APPOINTMENTS FILL UP FAST, so please call the Center and schedule your appointment soon. Please bring your tax returns from last year, any current tax documents, your driver license and/or Social Security card and all other necessary information with you.
The Westwood Community & Economic Development department is always striving to improve all of Westwood. A list of current projects can be found on our website, including the Islington Center Development Project.
For information on the Islington Center Development Project, please click here.
For the latest update about the Islington Center Development Project, please click here.
Didn't receive the 2021 Trash & Recycling Brochure in the mail?
Click here to view and print your own copy.
December 1st – March 31st Overnight Parking Ban/Restrictions
Starting December 1st – March 31st, there is a Town wide overnight parking ban. In order to ensure snow plows can efficiently clear roads and emergency vehicles can quickly reach their destinations, it is imperative that you do not park on the street. The Public Works Assistant Director or the Chief of Police, for the purpose of removing or plowing snow, or removing ice, from any way, may remove or cause to be removed any vehicle interfering with such work. If you violate this ban you are subject to ticketing and towing. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Snow Removal Information- What You Can Do to Help
Snow Clearing and Clearing of Hydrants:
Please do not lay, throw, place any snow or ice on any town street, sidewalk or on top of Hydrants as this can create a hazardous condition of public safety concern.
- 355-5 Placement of snow or ice; penalty.
- No person other than an employee in the service of the Town of Westwood or an employee in the service of an independent contractor acting for the Town of Westwood shall pile, push, plow, or blow snow or ice onto or across a public way which is plowed and/or sanded by the Town or deposit snow in such a way as to obstruct the operation of any fire hydrant. Violations of this section shall be subject to a written warning for the first offense; a fine of $50 for the second offense; and $100 for third and each subsequent offense.
Town Layout:
Nothing damaged by the Town that is constructed, built or placed on Town layout will be repaired or replaced, i.e.: driveway pavers, fences, stonewalls, etc.
*Please remove all basketball hoops, sports nets, etc. from the roadway!*
Storm Drain Cleaning:
There are over 2200 catch basins (storm drains) in the town, making it almost impossible to clear snow and debris from all. It would be much appreciated if you could keep the drain in front of your property clean as to not cause street puddling or ice hazards.
Monthly Focus: Recycle Holiday Greeting Cards
Before throwing your holiday greeting cards in the trash, consider recycling them:
Repurpose into tags, gift cards, scrapbook/journal embellishments, turn the tops into postcards or donate (used greeting cards can sometimes be donated to local prisons, rehabilitation centers or other state-run facilities. These entities often have craft times where residents or inmates can refurbish the Holiday/or any occasion cards, either for profit or to pass the time).
St. Jude’s Ranch for Children accept fronts of card to provide teens with life and work skills.
*Hallmark, American Greetings and Disney are not unacceptable due to copyright laws*
Download the free Recycle Coach App for all trash & recycling reminders, schedules, events, do’s & don’ts at your fingertips
Please visit https://www.townhall.westwood.ma.us/departments/public-works for more information and any updates
All administrative staff are working remotely. Any questions or concerns can be emailed directly to:
lfiske@townhall.westwood.ma.us - Administrative Assistant
khiggins@townhall.westwood.ma.us - Interim Administrative Assistant
cbarenth@townhall.westwood.ma.us - Office Manager
jmccarthy@townhall.westwood.ma.us - Facilities Manager
bryan@townhall.westwood.ma.us - Assistant Director of Public Works
tkorchin@townhall.westwood.ma.us - Director of Public Works
For more information, please visit:
https://www.townhall.westwood.ma.us/departments/public-works
Public Notice
The temporary special education records for students who graduated, or turned 22 without graduating in the 2013-2014 school year, will be destroyed on March 1, 2021. Any students interested in receiving their special education records must call (781) 326-7500, x1345 to make an appointment to pick them up before this date. Due to COVID protocols, District Administration Offices are open by appointment only. Records can be picked up from the Westwood Public Schools Administration Building at 220 Nahatan Street once a mutually agreed upon time is scheduled and the records are retrieved.
How has the Fire Department been dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic?
We have been committed from the beginning of the pandemic in taking a pro-active approach to keeping our members healthy and safe in order to continue serving the Westwood community. Our initial objective was to ensure that our supply of medical grade personal protective equipment (PPE) did not get depleted, so we proactively built up a 6-month supply. We changed our daily operations immediately by requiring our members to wear PPE, including masks, around the firehouses. We also enforced social distancing requirements inside the fire stations. In addition to PPE we wanted to find effective ways to treat COVID-19 patients while limiting the potential for spreading the virus as much as possible. To that end, the Federal CARES Act made funds available that enabled us to purchase (2) Lucas Chest Compression devices, a patient power loading system for our ambulance and (4) video laryngoscopes for intubation. The Lucas devices perform CPR on patients so that our paramedics do not have to be right on top of them. Similarly, the power loader lifts the patient into the ambulance without someone being at the head of the stretcher, close to the patient's face. Video laryngoscopes allow the Paramedic to easily see a person's airway during intubation and allows them to keep a safer distance. Our EMS Coordinator, Michael Crawford, designed and built an equipment sanitation cabinet that uses UV light to sanitize medical and firefighting items.
Many of our Paramedics have been trained to perform antibody and live virus PCR testing. This allowed us to test any of our members who were not feeling well or who had a known exposure to the virus, limiting the chances of a significant number of our firefighters getting sick at the same time. In addition to COVID testing, we trained many of our members to administer vaccines. We will be vaccinating our firefighters, police officers, 911 dispatchers, school nurses, DPW workers, and our COA staff members that provide services directly to the public.
 The following sections are submissions provided by organizations within the community. If you have questions or would like to learn how to submit to the Westwood Wire, please email westwoodwire@townhall.westwood.ma.us
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Upcoming Programs
Because of Covid, our remaining programs will be held via Zoom – through a wonderful collaboration with the Westwood Public Library. Please visit the library website at https://www.westwoodlibrary.org/calendar (or call 781-320-1045) to register. (Find the program on the calendar and use the “Click to Register” button to sign up.) You will receive an e-mail the day before the event with the information you need to join the program.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 (7:30 to 8:30 p.m. via Zoom), Anthony M. Sammarco
Program: The 100th Anniversary of the “Spanish Flu”
“Unless precautions are taken, the disease, in all probability, will spread to the civilian population of the city” wrote Dr. John Hitchcock, the head of the communicable disease section of the Massachusetts State Department of Health. The disease of which he wrote in 1918 was influenza. Within weeks, Boston was in the grip of the “Spanish Flu” which later became a world-wide pandemic. In 1918, Mayor Andrew Peter’s Emergency Committee recommended that not just schools but all places of public amusement (e.g., theaters, movie houses, concert halls, lodges, concerts halls, etc.) be closed indefinitely. Sound familiar?
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 (7:30 to 8:30 p.m. via Zoom), Dr. Nancy Milner Kelly, PhD
Program: A Legacy of Colonialism via Literature from Those in Exile
Nancy will focus on today’s increasingly diverse world and how the pain of those displaced from their respective homelands manifests itself in their writing, with special attention to writers who have relocated from Asia and Latin America as well as Africa and Caribbean countries. Images and themes of geographical, cultural, emotional, and linguistic exile are prevalent in this literature. These writers talk about the solace they seek (and receive) in writing, with writing becoming a new kind of “homeland” for them. Nancy also uses paintings, photos, and quotes from some of these novels and poems to illustrate how these themes play out in the written word.
As always, if you have ideas for speakers (including yourself), do let us know! Our e-mail is westwoodhistorical@comcast.net)
Submitted by June Cassidy, Westwood Historical Society Board member
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