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Residents vote on 'ambitious' warrant

By Natasha Clark

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW Out of the 22 articles presented at East Longmeadow's Annual Town Meeting on May 2, 18 of them passed.

Around 894 voters gathered at East Longmeadow High School (ELHS) to vote on what Selectman John Claffey referred to at the beginning of the meeting as "an ambitious warrant."

As usual the meeting took place in the auditorium but due to the turnout, a simultaneous telecast was aired in the gymnasium, where Richard Brown acted as the Assistant Moderator.

There were a few articles that garnered much discussion including Articles Three, 12, and 14.

Article Three passed 660 to 234, to move to place two Proposition 2 1/2 overrides on the ballot at a separate election.

"It's critical we have a balanced budget," said Lori Coutu of the Appropriations Committee. Coutu said the level service budget is a necessity in order for the town to operate.

A $1,051,500 override is needed to fund a level service budget. The other Proposition 2 1/2 figure, $1,414,797, is referred to as a "means" override and has been presented as an amount to help finance school athletic fees, two additional teachers, and a part-time library clerk.

If the level service override fails, 14 teachers could be laid off.

Article 12 asked voters to put $2,992,025 to a debt exclusion ballot vote at a separate election.

Debt Exclusion is a vote by a municipality at an election that excludes debt service payments for a particular capital project from the levy limit. In the case of Article 12, $120,000 would be used "for a design and engineering study of a structure to be used as a a community center for use by the Council on Aging, Park and Recreation and other community activities on a certain parcel of real estate owned by the Town and known locally as Pine Knoll; and $2,872,025 for the construction of 12 new elementary school classrooms, (four at Meadow Brook, four at Maple Shade and four at Mountain View)."

The Senior Center Study Committee endorses the article. Upon entrance into ELHS for Town Meeting, senior citizens handed out pink fliers mapping out the Pine Knoll area and asking for the town's people support.

There was some residents who had concerns with the grouping of school classroom issues and the senior center. The Long Range Planning Committee, through member Don Thompson, expressed their desire to create one cooperative and comprehensive plan that allowed more than one town department to work together.

Thompson said the current Senior Center, if the Council of Aging were moved to Pine Knoll, could be used for Town Hall expansion, pending renovations.

One gentleman stated that Pine Knoll was originally for "our children."

The Senior Center Study Committee acknowledged that by putting "existing facility is not age appropriate for present senior use," on their flyer. The design portion of the study would supposedly address those issues as well.

A female resident made a motion from the floor to separate the school and senior center article. Her motion failed, and article 12 passed.

Article 14 asked voters to amend the East Longmeadow Zoning By-Law, 1991 Revision, Section 5:2 "Planned Business Development."

Developer Jay LeFebvre, who had previously announced his desire to turn the old Community Feed site, which he now owns, into a mixed-use development called Seven Roads Station, came before the town to propose changes to allow residential and commercial property to adjoin, and also asked for amendments to parking standards of the bylaw.

LeFebvre said this type of development would bring old time charm back to East Longmeadow and provide housing that is currently not available. He used mixed-use areas such as Northampton as an example.

Don Anderson of the Planning Board said the committee did not recommend the changes, but he wanted to make it clear that the board was "not voting on an idea nor a site plan." He explained that the bylaw change would have made the maximum percent of lot coverage 60 percent. (Currently it's at 35 percent.)

To "put it in perspective," Anderson asked the residents to look at the Center Village project at its current stage. Anderson said the site plans to add three more buildings, and "that's 35 percent [lot coverage]," he said. "Now picture it at 60 [percent]."

"[The proposed changes] need to be reworked and it is not endorsed by the Planning Board as presented," he added.

While some residents referred to the project as "a step in the wrong direction," and a project that "was never going to happen," some residents did like the potential benefits to the town.

One resident said he agreed with LeFebvre's sentiments.

"He's the only one that came up with the idea to bring revenue [to the town]," the gentleman said, adding that the town does need money.

In the end, the motion failed.