![]() Town takes stand against unfunded mandates “I also want to review what our options are for compliance to see if there are other cost-effective means of complying with the mandates,” Pinell said. ![]() The house was completely destroyed, but there were no injuries in the event. scibelli Southwick firefighters respond to a house fire at 11 Tobacco Road. But Selectman Art Pinell said he would be interested in seeing the town use funds for other priorities and see how things pan out with the attempt to remove the unfunded mandates before spending money to comply with the mandates. During his budget presentation, Neece proposed funds to replace some street signs to comply with the new standard. The testing equipment being requested is a reflectometer, which comes with a $10,000 price tag. The federal government passed the mandate last year and is giving municipalities a limited period of time in order to get their street signs up to standards. The town must also purchase testing equipment and assess the signs at timed intervals to make sure they are up to safety standards. One of the latest of the mandates came up during recent budget discussions as Department of Public Works Director Jeff Neece sought to get funds for new street signs, which are now required to have a heightened reflectiveness standard. SciBelli Turley Publications Correspondent SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen are supporting an initiative signed by several towns’ and cities’ chief elected officials to put a stop to unfunded mandates required by the state and federal governments. Police and fire officials continued work into Monday and Tuesday this week It took all night Friday night and into Saturday morning for the fire department to control the fire and put it out. Also adding to the suspicion was that the electricity was turned off to the residential home. By the time fire officials responded to the blaze on Friday night, it was completely engulfed and fire was coming out through the roof. Mazza, who works in the state fire marshal’s office investigating suspicious fires, said the fire was called into the Southwick Fire Department at approximately 10:15 a.m. Robert Landis is also involved with the investigation. ![]() Southwick Fire Chief Richard Anderson confirmed the fire is considered suspicious and is working with the state police to conduct the investigation into the incident. Mason died in June, according to State Trooper Michael Mazza, and the house has been vacant since. The fire broke out at the house last Friday night and completely destroyed the home, which was owned by Peter Mason. SciBelli Turley Publications Correspondent SOUTHWICK – The State Police is investigating a Friday evening fire on Tobacco Road that is considered by officials to be suspicious. NO 52 FebruTobacco Road fire considered suspicious Friday evening blaze destroys home By GreGory A.
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