Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/31/2017
LONGMEADOW – On Aug. 21 the Select Board met and discussed a new opening on the finance committee, the opening of the Tri-Town Trolley, a new voter check-in process among other issues.
Finance Committee Opening
The Longmeadow Finance Committee has an opening and is accepting applications until shortly after Labor Day, according to Town Manager Steve Crane. The Finance Committee is comprised of seven members and has three-year staggered terms.
“The Finance Committee as you saw at town meeting has been much more integrated to the budget process, so if people really want to learn in-depth about town finances and how our budget is put together it’s a pretty interesting spot,” Crane said.
The Tri-Town Trolley is set to begin on Sept. 11 for Longmeadow, East Longmeadow and Hampden. Crane added that all seniors who have a current standing ride through PVTA were sent a letter regarding the change of service.
New Voter Check-in Process
The town is working on a new voter check-in process where individuals who are looking to vote can scan their driver’s license to find out their precinct and check-in automatically.
“It’s a way to streamline the process, anyone can vote. If you have people who don’t vote every election and it’s an issue that they care about, it can lead to long lines and long delays and our election workers are very dedicated, but if you’ve met them, they’re an older crowd and it’s a stressful night for our election workers,” Crane added. “This is just something where if you have your driver's license and you’re willing to use it you go in and you scan it and it tells you right where you’re supposed to go and it really is a way to create an efficiency not a barrier.”
Security Camera Registration
The Longmeadow Police Chief is requesting that residents who have outdoor security cameras register them with the Police Department. This is in an effort to be able to use the footage if there is nearby criminal activity.
“It’s just a good way for us to coordinate if there is something that’s going on with criminal activity, if they knew you had a camera. I guess there’s about eight individuals who’ve already volunteered to join in with that process, so if you have a security camera if you could think about it, it would be helpful for the police to have that data,” Chair Person Thomas Lachiusa said. “I’m sure if something happened in your neighborhood, you’d probably offer it up anyways.”
Capital Planning Process
During the Town Manager comments portion of the meeting, Crane brought up the capital planning process and that he believes it’s necessary to do more streamlining of the process.
“I think I have expressed in the past that every year we’ve made changes to try and improve it but we still think that there seems to be some disconnects in the process that seem to be structural,” Crane said.
As far as deficiencies, Crane mentioned an instance where a project will be coming up and the Department of Public Works (DPW) will get pricing or a quote for a project, and by the time it goes to bid, and by the time the project goes to bid the estimate isn’t accurate.
“This happens every year, it can sometimes be almost one year or close to a year between the time that they get the pricing or quote or estimate on a particular project to the time we actually go out to bid it, and we’ve had many situations where the estimate, which was a good estimate at the time we were given it, just doesn’t line up with the pricing because of market shifting or materials shortages or something like that,” Crane explained.
The hope is that through dialogue with the chair of the Capital Planning Committee the process will be streamlined in an effort to make the process quicker. This issue will be discussed more in a September meeting.
Council On Aging (COA)
The COA Outreach Coordinator completed the Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone (SHINE) program that benefits seniors by giving them the opportunity to meet with volunteer counselors who assist with their questions and problems that relate to health insurance. The SHINE program volunteers can address concerns regarding long-term care planning, managed care plans, MEDEX, Medicare, and private insurance plans. To meet with a volunteer, make an appointment by calling 565-4150.
The COA is having a dementia-friendly presentation by Director James Leyden on Sept. 18. The dementia-friendly program is an AARP sponsored national program.
“The dementia-friendly program is really a building block of the age-friendly community program which is something the Board has talked about,” Crane said.
Building Inspectors Report
At past meetings the Select Board has initiated changes in bylaws or policies that allow for the Building Inspector to collect funds from laws of which homeowners are in violation.
“This is something that’s been important for the board to kind of help maintain the appearance of the community. I mean since last July when some of these things went into effect he’s collected tens of thousands of dollars from these people, not assessed, collected. One house was $18,000, another was $5,600,” Crane said.
The Board addressed that the fines are being collected and put into a general fund and that this has been an effective means thus far as a way to clean properties in the area.
“He doesn’t fine first ask questions later, he usually tries to get a sense of what it’s going to take to get the property cleaned up, We’ve been fortunate that in a lot of cases he was able to get the property cleaned up and get the fines collected at closing or at transfer, and that has worked well,” Crane said.