Public forum to tackle space study
Date: 6/27/2013
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comEAST LONGMEADOW — The Board of Selectmen will host a public forum to discuss the recently completed municipal space study on June 27 at 6 p.m. in the media room at the Pleasant View Senior Center.
Reinhart Associates completed the study on April 15.
"The Board of Selectmen, Ryan Quimby and Bruce Ferney will be making the presentation. It will all be local," Board of Selectmen Chair Paul Federici said. "I don't believe anyone from Reinhart Associates will be there."
The Board of Selectmen chose Reinhart Associates of Agawam as the successful bidder to complete the study at a cost of $29,400 in January after residents voted to approve the appropriation of $30,000 at the 2012 Special Town Meeting in October.
The 147-page document includes assessments on the needs of all non-school departments and property conditions at the Town Hall and public library, Pleasant View Senior Center, Department of Public Works (DOW), police and fire stations, water department, former fire station on Shaker Road and the Pine Knoll administrative building. It also includes three options as to how the town could improve its space issues.
"We've been given more than one scenario and the public hearing will act more as an information session," Federici said. "A lot will be determined by the amount of money it will cost. If we don't have the money, we obviously won't do anything."
The option recommended by Reinhart Associates includes a 28-by-56-foot one-story addition to the south of the current Town Hall building and alterations that will allow the facility to be completely handicap accessible. Reinhart Associates estimated the addition would require approximately six weeks to complete and would need additional parking, however, the Planning Board could waive the parking requirement.
The proposed reconfiguration of the building would also allow for the Information Technology Department to relocate out of Town Hall and other departments to be moved in. The IT Department would be moved to the former Shaker Road Fire Department.
The town clerk's and collector's offices would be moved closer to the main entrance and while the two would remain adjacent to each other, they would have separate entrances to alleviate confusion. Assessors and accounting offices would be moved to the space currently occupied by the town clerk.
A new code-compliant staircase, as well as an elevator would be added, housed in a small addition to the north.
The total estimate of the proposed changes is $2.4 million.
Reinhart Associates also provided two other, less drastic options. The first suggested the redistribution of departments within the existing space, but noted that suggestion does not provide adequate room, nor does it allow for imminent growth.
The other called for the creation of an addition on the second floor of the DPW building on Somers Road. However, Reinhart Associates pointed out that while it opened up some space, that option did not address all the space needs and an analysis of the DPW structure would be required to ensure it could bear the load of the addition. Even if reinforcement of the building isn't necessary, the addition would cost approximately the same as their recommended option and would not resolve inefficiencies regarding the Zoning, Planning, Building and Conservation departments.
The study is available on the town's website,
www.eastlongmeadowma.gov.
