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Date: 3/10/2021
LONGMEADOW – Town Manager Lyn Simmons presented her budget recommendations to the Longmeadow Select Board at its March 1 meeting. The budget for the fiscal year 2022 (FY22) allows for a tax increase of 1.75 percent of the 2.5 percent possible under the law. It is a smaller increase to taxes than in either FY20 or FY21.
The budget calls for the addition of two positions at the department of public works (DPW) and up to two school custodian positions. The contract with a third-party cleaning company has been eliminated and Simmons said she expects better service and more savings with the move. The town will also reorganize the Council on Aging (COA) administrative staff, switching from two part-time staff to one full-time employee. The town plans to pay for the move by renting out the new adult center facility when not in use by the COA.
A position that was called for in the town’s charter but never filled, the Planning and Development director will be funded in this budget. The employee will also take on the role of assistant town manager. Their duties will include pursuing grants to fulfill the town’s Green Community requirements.
The town’s daycare program will be funded at $150,000, roughly half of the former budget, Simmons said. The program, shut down since the pandemic began a year ago, was unfunded in the first draft of the budget and caused an outcry from the community. More than 630 residents signed a petition on change.org to “Save Greenwood Children’s Center.” Simmons said she was using a “cautious approach to restarting the program,” and that, if the demand was there, more funding could be added at the special town meeting in the fall. All costs will be borne by the town’s revolving fund.
Budgetary savings were found in the form of the state’s E911 grant that covers most of the WestCOMM dispatch assessment and the fact that pension assessments were mostly level due to the exit of former town dispatchers.
Despite this, Simmons emphasized that there would be “belt-tightening” and “difficult conversations” to make the budget work. Funding for other post-employment benefits, known as OPEB, and money put into the operational stabilization account were sacrificed. Union bargaining will also feel an impact, Simmons told the board.
If the town has the appetite to take on more tax debt, Simmons said that two firefighters/EMT personnel have been requested as well as an increase to the forestry budget to clean up after storm damage. The town would also be able to fully fund the school district’s budget, which is currently $90,000 shy. There is also an unfunded request from the Longmeadow Police Department (LPD) to hire a part-time administrative position to man the police station beyond the hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Available account balances as of Jan. 31 are $2,438,516 in free cash, $4,214,249 in the stabilization account and $61,910 in the capital stabilization account. Residents can find the documentation for the budget at longmeadow.org/budget.
Selectman Mark Gold cautioned against too many full-time positions, saying that the benefits that accompany them can be expensive for the town. He also said that without the Adult Center in the Greenwood Center, the daycare program would be responsible for heating the entire building.
Select Board Clerk Steven Marantz noted that Storrs Library has a trust fund that might be tapped, rather than the general funds for its budget. He also noted that the LPD and the Longmeadow Fire Department overtime budgets could be offset with a new hire.
Chair Thomas Lachiusa asked for the statistics on custodians who reach the retirement age and collect benefits, saying it is a position with high turnover and, therefore, not as expensive as Gold was concerned
Moving to other issues, there was a debate between Lachiusa and Gold on whether to make snow removal a contingency of expanding the physical premises for liquor licenses at Longmeadow Shops. Gold argued that the tents put up in front of businesses to allow for outdoor dining and liquor sales take up parking spaces. Since the Longmeadow Shops does not remove snow from their lot, but merely pushes it to the less-used west side of the premises, Gold said that there may not be enough parking for customers, which is mandated in the bylaws. He acknowledged that it may be a moot point as the snow is often melted by April 1, when the extension would begin.
Lachiusa said that it is unreasonable to put a stipulation on a business that is out of its control, as the lot is owned by the shops, not the businesses that rent space there. It was decided that the board would take up the tent issue separate from the liquor license and passed the extension.
Posto, a restaurant at the Longmeadow Shops, asked to extend their hours of operation to midnight on most weekdays and 12:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Since most of the town’s businesses are only allowed to sell liquor until 11 p.m. and there was a concern about outdoor noise due to the outdoor dining extension, the board refused the application 4-1.
A public meeting was conducted on an application for a fuel storage site at 170 Dwight Rd.
Department of Public Works Director Mario Mazza made the case that, “When we buy [fuel] in bulk, we save a third,” over buying it as needed.
Lachiusa said it is not unusual and the town’s former fuel storage site is no longer in suitable condition. All departments will be able to access the fuel for town vehicles. After no public comments on the issue, the board accepted the application.
Simmons told the board that for the time being, the town would only be shipped second doses of the coronavirus vaccine and that they would not be able to administer first doses to residents. Marantz asked her about the possibility of joining with other towns in a regional clinic, such as the one that was conducted for first responders in Phase 1 of the vaccine rollout. Simmons explained that arranging one would only be worth it if they were guaranteed a vaccine allotment, which they are not. The governor has been redirecting first doses of the vaccine to mass inoculation sites, which is the Eastfield Mall in Western Massachusetts.
Resident Tom King interviewed for a seat on the Longmeadow Historical Commission. He said that he has been drawn to the history of the town and his Circle Drive neighborhood. Gold asked him if he understood the difference between the Historical Society and Historical Commission. King responded that he appreciates the limited scope of the commission as opposed to the fundraising aspect of the historical society.
Selectman Marc Strange thanked Debbie House for her work as the board’s administrative assistant, as it was her last select board meeting. House has accepted a position as the administrative assistant to the East Longmeadow town manager. Simmons echoed Strange’s sentiments. In another shift in town personnel, Mazza has resigned and will be moving to the Agawam DPW.
Longmeadow High School senior Evelyn Humphries received a citation from the select board for her volunteer work and recognition by BusinessWest magazine’s Inaugural People’s Choice Young Women of Impact Award. She is the co-creator of Girls Inc. of the Valley’s Project Red campaign and sits on the teen boards of Rachel’s Table and Ronald McDonald House.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up in a family where we recognize that we should give back to those less fortunate than ourselves,” Humphries said.