Warrant articles approved for Oct. 1 Special Town Meeting

Date: 8/13/2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — Three warrant articles from the Appropriations Committee have been approved for presentation at the Special Town Meeting on Oct. 1.

The Appropriations Committee will present and recommend expenditures of $30,000 from free cash for a space study to be conducted at Town Hall, $25,000 from free cash for a study to evaluate department head salary scales and $15,000 to be put aside for next year's Fourth of July parade.

Appropriations Committee Chair Russell Denver explained that the $30,000 study would give the town an idea on how to proceed in reorganizing workspace and maximizing efficiency in the Town Hall.

"This study might give us a different way to look at the buildings or may suggest to us to look at other sites," he said.

Appropriations Committee member Eric Madison added that the study would provide the opportunity for financial planning stability.

"What we're trying to provide are short-term and long-term solutions, a road map, if you will, to where we need to be not just now, but 10 years down the road," he said. "When we have to react to [additional requests], it's not good from a financial planning standpoint or the town in the long-term. We thought a more comprehensive, complete study would allow us to do that financial planning. If we brought a well thought out, financed project to town meeting, it would be more successful and help us not suffer the failures we have suffered in the past because most of the proposals in the past were perceived by the public as not very well thought out."

Selectman James Driscoll, participating remotely from Minnesota, disagreed with the perception that past office space proposals were not well prepared and said he hoped the study would help change that perception.

"I agree and understand [Madison's] assessment of the town perceiving previous presentations not being prepared, but I will say that there have been a couple of plans that were brought forth that were very well thought out with people with vested interests and concern for the town that were turned down and shouldn't have been," he said. "We should have bought the bank over by Blackmon's Pond, which would have solved everything and the town said no. Hopefully spending the money to have an outside expert come in and repeat what we already know we need to do will make the difference."

Selectman Paul Federici said that if such a study is to be done, the town must ensure that all department heads are prepared to follow any steps taken as a result of the study's findings.

"I think we should tell all of the departments and boards that everybody has to agree with this," he said. "Everybody has to be in agreement that if party A is asked to move here, that party A will move there. We can't pick and choose."

Driscoll agreed that department heads would most likely be territorial, but ultimately, if changes were made, departments would have to comply.

"People are not going to agree," he said. "Ultimately, the Board of Selectman is in charge of buildings and will decide how to act on this."

The salary study is intended to look at pay rates for non-unionized town employees.

"Recently we have received requests without any data," Denver said. "It's difficult to make decisions when you don't have any data. I think it would be wise to determine what an appropriate salary range is."

The final article would allow the town to set aside money for the following year's Fourth of July parade in order to ease the burden on parade organizers.

Denver explained that the committee currently is awarded $15,000 at the start of the fiscal year, which begins on July 1, just days prior to the parade.

The proposal, if approved, would allow the town to appropriate money from the fiscal year 2013 (FY13) budget for the July 4, 2013 parade, which would take place in FY14. Then, at the annual town meeting in the fall, another $15,000 would be appropriated for the July 4, 2014 parade, which would take place in FY15

This move would allow organizers to sign contracts with bands and other performing participants in advance.