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THE ORIGINAL

JULY 16, 2026 | FREE

PUBLISHED BY REMINDER PUBLISHING

Data center moratorium officially approved By Amy Porter

aporter@thereminder.com

POLITICS

Markey, Moulton clash in Chicopee debate Leadership, policy, and experience headlined the first U.S. Senate debate.

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WESTFIELD POSTAL CUSTOMER

Hampton Ponds celebrates 250th The community honored the country’s 250th.

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participation. Montanaro went on to ask the council, mayor, and all city agencies to formally commit to full disclosure about all the obligations, promises, and commitments that the city will make in reference to data centers. “We have an obligation to transparency in our community, and I see no reason why we cannot obligate ourselves to formally disclose what’s happening. So I’m asking that there be a proposed amendment to this moratorium to prohibit non-disclosure agreements throughout the entire process as a commitment to transparent governance,” he said. Ann Ripley of Victoria Circle urged the councilors to do their due diligence on any data center applications. “If you’re going to get sold a bill of goods on this without doing your due diligence,

because this city doesn’t have a good record for due diligence, then we’re in a lot of trouble,” she said, adding, “My question is, who do the aggrieved citizens, residents in this city, sue when it comes to that?” Kathy Labrie of Big Wood Drive made an emotional plea to the council, drawing on her history with many of them as a supporter, Little League coach and church-goer. She said her children and grandchildren live in Westfield, and she asked the councilors to think of their own and not be fooled “by the gold they’re dangling in front of you. So please, look in your heart and do the right thing.” Suzanne Paquette of Summer Street said over 230 environmen-

ECRWSS

Photo credit: Westfield Community TV

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD, MA PERMIT NO. 142

Richard Labrie of Westfield started off a robust public participation before the final vote on a 12-month moratorium at a special City Council meeting on July 6.

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD, MA PERMIT NO. 142

181 ROOT ROAD WESTFIELD, MA 01085 413 - 285 - 3272

EDITION

POSTAL CUSTOMER

WESTFIELD — Days after the council voted unanimously in favor of a 12-month moratorium on data centers in the city, the body officially confirmed that stance in a second and final vote during a special meeting on July 6. But before that closing vote, residents once more showed up in force to speak about the proposed moratorium. During public participation, the residents took no time getting to the point. Richard Labrie of Big Wood Drive started by thanking the City Council for supporting the moratorium on the first reading. He said the moratorium on data centers in Westfield was a necessary and responsible step to protect municipal resources, the local environment and taxpayers. “A temporary pause allows the city to establish ironclad zoning protections and performance guarantees before large-scale energy-intensive technology campuses alter the community landscape.” Labrie went on to speak about the data centers’ reliance on massive amounts of electricity and vital water resources. Labrie said the moratorium aligns with actions recently taken at the state level. He said that although the state implemented a sales tax exemption for qualifying data centers for up to 20 years in November 2024, Gov. Maura Healey recently paused applications for the exemptions to enact stronger guardrails. “Creating permanent and resilient zoning, filling regulatory gaps, the 12-month pause overwhelmingly backed by the Planning Board and City Council [on] first reading, equips the city with the time it needs to draft deliberate, well-researched zoning laws that stand the test of time,”

Labrie said. Jessica Britton of Casimir Street said she hoped the councilors had seen the constituents show up at three meetings in a row, and asked them to “do the right thing” and vote in favor of the moratorium. Michael Roeder of Western Avenue questioned the actions that had not been taken to date by the proponents of the proposed Servistar Data Center to justify an extension, which he said included not accepting the permits awarded in 2021, not purchasing property and not applying for formal consideration by ISO New England. “They never did anything to justify coming back here, in my view. But I understand from the Legislature that the law entitles them to do so,” he said. Roeder also asked the council to bring back the original developers and find out what they spent almost $700,000 on to date, and where it went. Donna Liese of Shaker Road thanked the councilors for their first vote on the moratorium, and singled out Councilor Kristen Mello for “her dedication, research, and representation, clearly demonstrating the environmental issues already impacting the health of Westfield residents … Based on her findings, the additional research presented to the council by concerned citizens, and the testimony of residents who live near these data centers, it is clear that housing one here would detrimentally impact our community,” Liese said, before asking for a unanimous vote in favor of the moratorium. Andy Montanaro of Big Wood Drive raised the issue of non-disclosure agreements currently in force or anticipated in the future in respect to the moratorium, which City Council President John Beltrandi III said he couldn’t answer during public

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126 INDUSTRIAL DRIVE EAST LONGMEADOW, MA 01028 413 - 285 - 3272