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Date: 8/11/2021
LONGMEADOW – Mary Beth Bergeron, chair of the Longmeadow Permanent Town Building Committee and a member of the Longmeadow Council of Aging Board of Directors, informed the Select Board at its Aug. 2 meeting that the Adult Center will be opening, “Possibly, capitol P, possibly in September.”
There are several issues with the building, which was slated to be open at the end of July. The most serious issue is with the parking lot. Bergeron listed the following problems: The material used in the parking lot is not what had been approved, the “tack coat” layer had been applied poorly, joint sealant was not applied at all and there was defective workmanship on the lot’s topcoat. She estimated the cost of fixing the issues at $250,000 to $300,000.
The issues were discovered when the parking lot failed a test by Allied Testing Laboratories. Department of Public Works Director Geoff McAlmond reportedly told Bergeron it was one of the three worst jobs he had seen. A second test was completed by a separate company, O’Reilly, Talbot & Okun. The lot failed that test as well. The architect has sent three letters to the contractor, W.J. Mountford, but as of the meeting, there had been no response.
The soil around the building does not “meet specifications,” either, Bergeron said, adding that it is nitrogen deficient and seeding and mulching had been done incorrectly, which has already led to topsoil erosion. Until these problems are resolved, Bergeron said, concrete work to make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is on hold.
The same subcontractor worked on both the parking lot and the soil. Bergeron recommended not paying the “substantial completion” level of compensation to W.J. Mountford until the issues have been corrected. She noted, other subcontractors have completed satisfactory work and the funds for that have been released. Bergeron said that if W. J. Mountford does not respond, the town can notify the company’s bonding agent, which would “put the fear of the Lord into a contractor.”
Masking
Town Manager Lyn Simmons updated the board on the status of COVID-19 cases in town. Because the numbers are still low, she explained, the town would continue its “relaxed” masking protocols unless cases began to rise.
Vice Chair Steve Marantz opposed this course of action and proposed that people entering town-owned property be required to wear a mask unless able to prove their vaccination status.
“After what happened in Provincetown, I think we need to be vigilant about this,” Marantz said, referring to an outbreak of COVID-19 that was traced back to socializing in Provincetown in early July.
Simmons pointed out that unvaccinated people are supposed to wear a mask now when entering town buildings and Select Board Clerk Josh Levine noted that Hampden County had been added to the list of places where indoor masking was recommended by the state. Marantz expressed skepticism of people using the honor system when masking and emphasized checking their vaccination status. “It’s the vaccination passport concept,” he added.
Select Board member Mark Gold asked who was responsible for making decisions on masking now that the state of emergency has been lifted. Simmons told him that the Board of Health was in charge of public health decisions and enforcement, including ticketing. The Select Board could only make “recommendations.”
Gold opined that the Board of Health had not been responsive in making decisions in a timely manner throughout the pandemic. “I’m just concerned on how we can influence, or should we, I believe we should influence the Board of Health and get them to move on this,” Gold said.
Simmons told him that there was a meeting scheduled later in the month with the Board of Health. “I think we’re going to see a lot of conversation on this over the next two weeks and it's possible that we’ll go back to requiring masks in town buildings,” she said.
Select Board Chair Marc Strange commented that the variation between state, county and local regulations could prove confusing to people.
Tax Ceiling
Strange said that the town was “marching toward” the tax ceiling of $25 per $1,000 in property value. Lifting the cap was voted down at the last Annual Town Meeting in the spring. He proposed the town develop a “simple, clear messaging campaign,” as the previous warrant article was “confusing” to voters. Levine agreed.
Gold, who chaired the tax ceiling task force said that “it was a terrible failure,” and he didn’t feel he was the person to sell the idea to residents.
Marantz noted there is a misunderstanding about taxes. “People say, ‘We have the highest tax rate in the state, so therefore we must have the highest taxes in the state.’ That misconception really needs to be addressed head on,” he said. Gold confirmed that Longmeadow’s taxes are actually the 47th highest in Massachusetts.
It was decided that the board would reconstitute the tax ceiling task force with people from a wider swath of the public and a concrete goal of putting a warrant article on the 2022 Annual Town Meeting warrant.
Funding
Simmons reported that Longmeadow had received approval to spend $1.32 million of funding from the federal coronavirus relief act known as CARES. The town was recently informed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would not cover $196,893 of the $1.39 million that was spent. Simmons said that it was expected that $70,000 would not be covered, as it was mostly police and fire overtime. Longmeadow is disputing the remaining roughly $126,000 that was not covered.
The town manager’s office is fielding requests from departments and committees for projects to be paid for from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). So far, the town has received $896,000 and is expecting an identical amount in the fall from the state. There is no known date to receive the expected $3 million from Hampden County’s ARPA funds.
Continuing on the topic of grants and funding, Corrin Meise-Munns was hired as the assistant town manager/planning and community development director. Meise-Munns formerly worked at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Simmons noted she has experience with “planning around climate change resiliency, regulatory review and code revisions, zoning assistance and public engagement.” Meise-Munns will join the town at the end of August.