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Date: 12/28/2022
LONGMEADOW – Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn Simmons presented an updated list of projects to fund with money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Of the 25 items on the list, some have been completed, but most are in the beginning stages or have not been started.
The most expensive items on the list include $600,000 toward the cost of replacing the windows at Center School. The total budget for that project is estimated at $3 million and the school’s roof also needs to be replaced, at a cost of about $1.6 million. The projects may be eligible for the Accelerated Repair program from Massachusetts School Building Authority, but the program has been paused without a known date to resume. If the board decides not to fund the windows, the ARPA money will be put toward other projects.
The Greenwood Center is slated to be converted to a new town hall building. In August 2021, the cost for the project was estimated at about $1.22 million, but with inflation having skyrocketed in the past year, Simmons estimated that it will be closer to $1.46 million. The town departments should be ready to move into the Greenwood Center by July 2024, Simons said.
ARPA is also being tapped for $150,000 worth of town building and school painting, $200,000 for essential pay dating to the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, $300,000 in tree hazard mitigation and $100,000 for information technology work. There is $200,000 to create a stormwater resiliency master plan and $1 million to implement it.
The total cost of ARPA-funded projects is $4.69 million.
Select Board Chair Josh Levine noted that $150,000 might not be enough to paint the buildings. Select Board Vice Chair Mark Gold agreed that the work should be done, but said it should come from the operating budget, rather than a one-time source.
Meanwhile, Select Board member Dan Zwirko suggested adding the renovation of police locker rooms, which had been removed from the priority list, back in. He explained that Police Chief Robert Stocks was concerned that officers were leaving the department for other jobs and better facilities would be appreciated.
If any areas need to be trimmed, Simmons suggested the painting, Center School windows and the essential pay, because those are lower priorities.
DEI Committee
Appointments were made to the town’s newly formed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. The creation of the committee was a recommendation from Coalition for Racial Justice Task Force, a body that was established to examine racial issues in Longmeadow after the murder of George Floyd, a Minnesota man who was killed by police in 2020.
Select Board member Thomas Lachiusa pointed out that, except for one woman of color, the candidates for the committee, “do not look anything like George Floyd.” Levine reminded Lachiusa that the board cannot force people to apply for the committee. Instead, he said, the committee’s first task would be to diversify its members through outreach. The candidates were “passionate about acceptance and making this a more welcoming town.”
Zwirko made the comment that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are not solely focused on race.
Lachiusa suggested hiring a consultant to help with identifying racial issues, since there is a relatively small percentage of people of color in Longmeadow. Simmons said a consultant would be starting work in the spring to address racial bias in the town government. The DEI Committee’s purpose is community-facing and more “holistic.”
The committee voted 3-1 to approve the committee candidates, with only Lachiusa dissenting.
Verizon hearing
A Verizon representative came before the Select Board for the second time to request a pole be installed on Longmeadow Street. The representative explained that the pole was required to attach guide wires that would run across the street to an existing pole and provide tension, helping to keep that pole upright. Currently, guide wires are attached to a tree, which the representative said was a common practice in the mid-20th century, but because trees fall, Verizon no longer uses the method.
Gold told the representative that the town was trying to limit the number of overhead wires, particularly in highly visible or historic areas, such as Longmeadow Street. He asked if the wooden pole could be replaced with one made of steel or concrete, eliminating the need for guide wires. The representative responded that he was not familiar with such poles.
Zwirko asked the representative if it were possible to bury the power lines on the Longmeadow Street corridor, which would remove the need for guide wires and reduce outages due to downed trees. The Verizon representative told him burying lines is expensive and the cost is usually borne by the municipality. Lachiusa noted Longmeadow Street will be torn up when it is redesigned and overhauled in a couple of years by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. He suggested the town look into burying lines at the same time.
The representative asked to continue the hearing to a future date so he could gather information on alternatives to wood poles.
Eversource
Levine announced that Longmeadow had submitted a petition to “intervene” in the Energy Facility Siting Board’s consideration of the Eversource Western Massachusetts Gas Reliability Project, the metering station and pipeline that has been proposed for location in Longmeadow. Status as an “intervener” would give the town standing to make legal motions and participate in discovery.