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Date: 5/27/2021
LONGMEADOW – “We sit at a crossroads,” Longmeadow Public Schools Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea told the Select Board regarding both Williams Middle School and Glenbrook Middle School. “We have two middle schools whose needs cannot be addressed through typical maintenance.”
O’Shea addressed the board at its May 17 meeting to present three options – invest in major repairs, rebuild the two schools or consolidate them into one new facility.
A study was completed by the consulting firm Colliers International that identified and prioritized 200 maintenance and repair projects at the two buildings, as well as estimating the cost of replacing or consolidating the schools. The study estimated repairs to bring the facilities back to their original conditions would run $30.2 million. O’Shea noted that Williams and Glenbrook were built in 1959 and 1967, respectively. The repairs would not increase the 74,000 square-foot footprint of Williams Middle School, nor the 95,000 square feet at Glenbrook Middle School. Nor would it address many issues Colliers International identified, such as “undersized and inflexible science classrooms,” “outdated libraries” or “inappropriate/repurposed specialty classrooms.”
Working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which reimburses towns for a portion of certain school building projects, the two schools could be rebuilt from the ground up, making them what O’Shea described as, “suitable for 21st-century teaching.” The cost would be about $93.7 million with a maximum reimbursement from the MSBA of $34.7 million. If instead, the town decides to build a combined middle school, the price tag would be an estimated $77.4 million, with a maximum reimbursement of $28.2 million. This would save the town $9.2 million as well as the long-term operational cost of running one facility instead of two.
O’Shea will be submitting two statements of interest to the MSBA, which must first be reviewed and approved by the Select Board and School Committee. The superintendent said that projects to address the middle schools have been submitted to the agency four times in the past without being accepted but, he noted, that is not uncommon.
O’Shea laid out a rough timeline for the projects if they are accepted into the MSBA’s December eligibility period. He said that a feasibility study would be conducted through October 2022, followed by the design process and award of contracts by September 2023. A budget for the projects would be worked on through the fall of 2025, construction would begin and the school or schools would open in the fall of 2027. The projects would have to pass at two town meetings during the process.
“It’s a long road ahead of us,” O’Shea told the board.
Select Board member Mark Gold said that if the projects are not accepted into the eligibility period this year, it may be time to do the repairs before costs increase further. Select Board Chair Thomas Lachiusa stated that Colliers International is “in the business of building buildings” and suggesting having a business or organization look at the schools “with an eye toward” preserving them. O’Shea responded that he would take the comments and concerns back to the School Committee.
The board greenlighted a project from Eversource to install safety equipment in above-ground cabinets at two intersections – at Hillside Terrace and Longmeadow Street and at Williams Street and Laurel Street. Richard Salvarezza and Bryan Maccariello of Eversource explained that equipment in the cabinets will attach to existing infrastructure via five to 10 feet of new “sensing lines.” Marantz asked a series of questions regarding the reason for the new installation and the safety before the board was satisfied.
Simmons reported that legal counsel is still reviewing options for the town to withdraw from the Hampden County Regional Retirement System in the wake of a 2017-2019 audit that found evidence of alleged mismanagement. The board voted to send a letter to the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC), the authority that oversees public retirement organizations in the state. The letter requests an update on the audit spanning 2018 to 2020.
The Chair of the Hampden County Retirement Board (HCRB), Richard Theroux, has pushed back against the vocal criticism from Longmeadow, creating a contentious relationship between the board and the town.
“Given the response that they’ve had to comments we’ve made or other towns have made, I would say there’s nothing that would make me feel an allegiance to staying with them,” Lachiusa said of the HCRB.
Gold suggested creating a “slate of people” who may be willing to join the board's officers. He said that Theroux has adopted the position that he cannot step down as chair because there are not people willing to serve on the board. Gold called that assertion inaccurate.
Strange agreed with his colleague, stating, “There’s absolutely people within the retirement system communities that would be willing to step up and right that ship.”
Longmeadow received a Public Health Excellence Grant award in conjunction with the Towns of Monson, Hampden and Wilbraham. The $287,500 grant allows the towns to pursue sharing health department personnel. Longmeadow will be the lead community in the project, and all towns involved must submit letters of intent to form an inter-municipal agreement to the state by June 28.
Fire Chief John Dearborn reported that Longmeadow is trending toward the “undesignated” category in the state’s map of coronavirus transmission risk. The total average of residents who have received at least one dose is 72 percent, while the percentage for those 75 and older and those 65 to 74 is 88 and 89 percent, respectively.
On a separate note, Dearborn told the Select Board that he is having difficulty attracting paramedics because the pay scale in Longmeadow for paramedics with 0 to 5 years of service is about 5 percent below other area municipalities.
Lifeguards are needed to staff the two pools in town. Currently, there are only enough lifeguards to open one of the pools.
The town election is on June 22. Polls will be open at the Town Meeting House, 735 Longmeadow St., from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is June 16.
During public comment, Peter Landon thanked Town Accountant Paul Pasterczyk for his service to the town. He praised Pasterczyk’s “professionalism” and “stewardship.” Pasterczyk is set to retire at the end of June.