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Date: 5/4/2023
LONGMEADOW — On May 9, Longmeadow will conduct its spring Town Meeting. At the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Longmeadow High School gymnasium, voters will weigh in on 34 articles.
Some articles will alter or rectify former Town Meeting votes and others are designed to be passed at this meeting and rescinded later. Meanwhile, there are financial issues to be addressed and bylaw changes.
Budget
The operational budget for fiscal year 2024 is $80.80 million. Of this, the largest portion is $38.89 million to operate the school department. Overall, the budget provides fairly level services, with an increase of 2.44% of the legally allowed 2.5% year-over-year tax levy increase. The town has $500,000 available in free cash, which represents unused money appropriated in prior fiscal years. There is $7.9 million in the Operational Stabilization Account, which essentially acts as the town’s savings account.
Article 8 proposes $2.34 million in capital expenses for FY24. The most expensive items include $555,000 in playground equipment replacement to make it accessible and sidewalk reconstruction for $425,000. Road paving and guardrails would use $481,000 from the General Fund and $219,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund. There is also $185,000 for the construction of an entry vestibule at Wolf Swamp Road School and school lock and access control upgrades, which are aimed at increasing school safety.
Pass and rescind
Article 4 would ask the town to use $200,000 in available funds to pay for a liner at the Greenwood Pool and, in turn, Article 5 would rescind the May 2022 Town Meeting vote to borrow the same amount for the item. This action reduces the town’s overall debt. The liner was purchased and installed this spring.
Articles 12 and 13 request $450,000 for an ambulance and $525,000 for a fire engine, respectively. Both articles would allow the town to place orders for equipment that it does not expect to receive for between two and four years. When the equipment arrives and the funding is due, the town would pay for it from the ambulance and fire truck funds, while rescinding this year’s articles. The equipment cannot be ordered without approval of these articles.
Community Preservation projects
There are eight articles on the warrant seeking funding through the Community Preservation Act. Article 16 would provide $125,000 to a program run through the Longmeadow Adult Community Center to fund qualifying home repairs for low-income residents. Article 17 would use $555,000 from Community Preservation funding to supplement the capital expenses for elementary school playgrounds. Article 18 seeks $50,000 to renovate the Little League and softball at Glendale Middle School. The sum of $11,360 would be used to map and assess the condition of the walking trails, while $1,955 would be used to install plaques to raise public awareness about Longmeadow’s wild American chestnut trees in Laurel, Bliss and Turner parks. Articles 20 and 21 would pay $18,350 each to install interior storm windows and paint the exterior walls of the Storrs House Museum.
Zoning and bylaw changes
A zoning change is requested in Article 27 for a parcel adjacent to the Maple Shopping Plaza. The property, a half-acre which is currently zoned for residence A-1, would be zoned for business.
Article 28 would change Chapter 295 Article III of the town’s code, governing illicit connection and discharges to storm drain system. While most alterations are minor language changes, subsection 295-34 was altered to spell out penalties for dumping pollutants or non-stormwater discharge into catch basins.
Articles 29 and 30 would repeal the stormwater management and land disturbance bylaw and replace it with an updated “Chapter 295 Article V” post-construction stormwater management bylaw. The purpose is to streamline the permitting process for such projects. Related to these is Article 31, which would update the wetlands control bylaw to “inform applicants” of the requirements of Chapter 295 Article V if one acre or more of land is disturbed by a construction or renovation project.
The zoning bylaw would be updated in Article 32 to include the requirements of and references to Chapter 295 Article V. Meanwhile, Article 34 change the zoning bylaw to allow the building commissioner to delegate enforcement powers and duties to code enforcement officers.
Finally, Article 33 would adopt a state law that any public office may remain closed on Saturdays.
The warrant can be viewed in its entirety at longmeadowma.gov/TownMeeting.