Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/17/2017
LONGMEADOW – The Longmeadow Select Board met last week to discuss a series of issues regarding Veterans’ funds, committee openings, the Town Manager’s report, and the controversial water irrigation meters.
Veterans Emergency Fund
Chair Person Thomas Lachiusa began the meeting by discussing the town’s veterans emergency fund. These funds go to veterans who require assistance in regard to their daily necessities.
“The town of Longmeadow has created a veterans’ emergency fund in accordance to Mass. General Law chapter 60 section 3F for the purpose of providing support to the Longmeadow veterans and their qualifying dependents in need of emergency food, transportation, heat, and oil expenses. The Department of Veterans Services will be responsible for the administration and distribution of these funds,” Lachiusa said.
For those who are interested in donating to the veterans’ emergency fund, checks can be sent payable to the Longmeadow Department of Veterans Services at 230 Main Street.
Building Committee
According to the Select Board, two three year term seats are open on the Longmeadow Building Committee. At the meeting, two men came forward and offered their reasoning as to why they want to join the Building Committee. David Appleman was on the Department of Public Works (DPW) Task Force and believes that he would be a helpful addition to the committee.
“By reading the scope for the building committee they’re looking for a structural or mechanical engineer, they’re looking for an attorney, they’re looking for somebody that has a construction background or business, I think if you are looking for others to round out that board I think that my experiences in the past might certainly be an attribute toward helping out the committee,” Appleman said.
James Moulton believes he would be a good fit for the Building Committee and would bring a new perspective to the group considering he has a different background than most of the committee members. He noted that the group is “well stocked” with individuals who have a background in construction and engineering.
“It’s something that I certainly have an interest in. My background is in procurement, for approximately 25 years and being a small business owner here in town for approximately 18 years,” Moulton offered.
Council on Aging (COA) Board of Directors
Two women offered comments regarding why they would like to join the COA Board of Directors.
Marjorie Morgan has lived in Longmeadow for over 30 years and came to the meeting prepared with ideas of providing affordable activities for seniors in the community.
“I’d like to be considered for this committee because I’m a senior but I’m a social worker by career and the citizens in Longmeadow, the large number are seniors who are on a fixed income. When people retire they usually plan financially but they don’t look around and see what the town has for them for recreation and we are both woefully lacking in a program that’s educational and trips and things that are local that don’t cost an arm and a leg,” Morgan added. “They’re not going to the beach, so we need to do things for them here in town.”
Judy Yaffe shared with the group her past experience with seniors and how it could be beneficial for the COA Board of Directors.
“I just retired and for the last fifteen years I owned a home care company and I worked with the elders in the community, all over western mass and I knew Jim Leyden and I’ve been very involved with the Alzheimer’s association, I’m very involved with dementia friendly program in the community not only here but in other areas and I feel I would be a very good resource to the Council on Aging with my experience,” Yaffe said.
Historical Commission
The Historical Commission currently has two seats open, both for three year terms. Tim Casey believes filling a seat on the Historical Commission would not only be enjoyable for him, but would also be a way to give back to the community.
“I was a history major in college, I always loved history, and I always wanted to get involved. When I saw that there was an opening, when I moved back, I couldn’t help but jump at the opportunity, and especially since I spent part of my time studying colonial British history I thought that this would be a great place to open up some new investigations,” Casey said.
Select Board Comments
During the Select Board comments portion of the meeting, Vice Chair Mark Gold brought up a law that Gov. Charlie Baker recently signed into law changes to the marijuana law.
“It offers towns like Longmeadow the option of whether or not we want to authorize the sale of marijuana in our town, and I think that we ought to take a look at that and act on it as a board one way or another. I think it’s important that the Select Board pick this up and I think that we ought to do this early on only because as surrounding towns take action, I think some already have, the options may change,” Gold said.
Gold added that the town voted against the adoption and legalization of marijuana in the community and that he believes regulating sales lies within the Select Board.
Select Board member Marie Angelides brought up an additional bill that she heard of in Boston that she’d like the Select Board to keep in mind as they move forward.
“The bill is an act relative to protecting consumers of gas and electricity for paying for leaked and unaccounting gas. There’s been a push in Boston among our legislators to try to get the gas companies to pay for these leaking pipes,” Angelides said.
In a letter from state Rep. Brian Ashe explaining the bill, Angelides gathered that the gas companies do not want to pay for the leaking pipes, and this legislation is being put in place in response to protect the consumers from absorbing the cost.
“This is to stop the gas emissions because we have old, a lot of old leaky gas pipes natural gas pipes throughout the state and they’re just not making the effort to fix them that they need to because they don’t have to, we’re paying for the leaking gas. It’s not costing them a penny,” Angelides explained.
Town Manager’s Report
Though Town Manager Stephen Crane was absent from the meeting as he was on vacation, the Town’s Finance Director Paul Pasterczyk offered the Town Manager’s report.
Recently, the carbon monoxide count in police vehicles has been in the news as several cruisers in the area were found to have a high count of carbon monoxide, which can be detrimental to the officers who use those vehicles.
“The town of Longmeadow did have all of their police cruisers tested and one did have a high amount of carbon monoxide in it. The police chief has taken that one out of service for the moment. He had two others that had high but not beyond the limits of high that he is just watching right now,” Pasterczyk said. “They did find out that Ford will be picking up the tab to fix all of the carbon monoxide leaks and until such time at least that one vehicle will remain out of service.”
Pasterczyk also mentioned that there is currently one ambulance in repair due to an oil leak, and the engine is being replaced. A West Springfield ambulance is being used as a back-up ambulance for the time being.
Water Rate/Irrigation Meters
In August of 2015 the towns began reading water meters on a monthly basis and entered the date into an excel spreadsheet. Currently, a consultant company is separating the monthly readings, both residential and commercial, and putting the numbers together so they can accurately depict the town’s water usage, according to the Select Board.
Select Board member Richard Foster insists that making changes to the meters will not save individuals money.
“I don’t want anyone to think that they’re going to save money by doing this, let’s get that right out of the way. We have a set cost for sewage and a set cost for water that are always going to be there. If we suddenly start lifting off a bunch of the duel charges for sewage that is just water, then we’re going to have to increase the sewage fees, because that charge is still behind the scenes,” Foster said.
The Select Board decided that once the consultant company has all of the numbers and information necessary, they will be invited to a future Select Board meeting to discuss consumption regarding winter averages and secondary meters, as well as answering any questions the Board may have.