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Date: 10/22/2020
LONGMEADOW – Residents of Longmeadow will meet on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. in the high school’s auditorium, cafeteria and gymnasium to vote on 23 warrant articles as part of the town’s Fall Special Town Meeting.
Under the current COVID-19 restrictions, residents will be broken up into the auditorium, cafeteria and gymnasium, with additional space available if needed to separate people as much as possible.
Article 1 is to raise and appropriate $151,212 from the fiscal year 2021 (FY21) Community Preservation Fund Revenues to be split into the CPA Fund Balance Reserve for open space, the CPA Fund Balance Reserve for Community Housing, and the CPA Fund Balance Reserve for Historic Preservation.
Article 2 is a quick housekeeping request for $225 to pay the prior year’s bills.
Articles 3 through 7 are all included in the first consent agenda on the warrant and as a result will be voted on together as one item rather than individually voting on each.
Article 3 is a request to transfer $75,000 from the treasury to the FY21 Operating Budget for legal expenses to cover the costs for protecting the town’s interests regarding construction of a natural gas facility and site remediation at the Department of Public Works facility.
Article 4 is a request to transfer $10,000 each to the FY 2021 Operating Budget for Human Resources Clerical Overtime and Human Resources Other Expenses from the treasury.
Article 5 is to raise and appropriate $108,218 to supplement the FY21 Operating budget, with $1,000 going to the Retirement of Long-Term Debt and the rest to Interest on Long Term Debt.
Article 6 is a request to transfer $105,000 from the treasury to pay for emergency work after Tropical Storm Isaias on Aug. 4. Article 7 is a request for $55,000 from the treasury to replenish the Forestry Trimming and Removal operating budget as a result of the storm.
Article 8 is to transfer $100,000 from the treasury in order to begin preliminary surveying and design work for the possible reconstruction of Longmeadow Street.
Articles 9, 10, and 12 are all part of the second consent agenda.
Article 9 is to transfer $28,000 to assess the DPW to improve the services it provides while Article 10 is a request to raise and appropriate or transfer $450,000 from the treasury to the Operational Stabilization fund to maintain its AA+ credit with Standard and Poor.
Article 12 is a request to rescind $182,500 from the $200,000 originally appropriated to the day care salaries fund after Longmeadow’s day care operations were shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article 11 is a transfer of $300,000 from the treasury to fund the FY21 budget as a result of the unknown amount of state aid the town will receive as a result of the pandemic.
Article 13 would rescind the Solid Waste and Recycling Enterprise Fund as the fund does not meet the standards of an enterprise fund. Rescinding this fund will not have any impact on the services provided to residents.
Article 14 will authorize the select board to acquire 13 different parcels of land in order to better maintain the north interceptor. Currently this section of the sewer system is mostly inaccessible because it is located on the slope abutting I-91. With the changes the sewer line moves into the backyards of homeowners on Severn Street to allow easier access for maintenance.
Article 15 is a request to accept the provisions of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 64G Section 3A which would allow the town to set a 6 percent excise tax on short term rentals.
Article 16 updates the deadlines for submitting warrants and petitions for the annual town meeting. As a result, the final day to submit a warrant is the last Monday in January, while petitions can be filed 45 days before the meeting. If the petition includes any laws or specific parcels of land, copies of those items must be included in the filing.
Article 17 is an update to Section 2-805 of the town’s general bylaws to just include wording for the Longmeadow Historic District Commission while an upcoming proposed bylaw 2-810 will include separate wording for the Longmeadow Historical Commission.
Article 18 is an amendment to the enforcement of zoning bylaws so that each day a violation is not addressed is deemed a separate offense and to make the fine subject to municipal charges under Massachusetts General Law chapter 40, section 58.
Article 19 is a proposed change to the definitions section of the zoning bylaw that would update the commercial vehicle definition to include any vehicle for commercial use with a weight rating over 12,000 pounds.
The third and final consent agenda of the warrant includes articles 20 and 21 and both deal with updating the Article IV of the town’s zoning bylaws.
Article 20 would change the bylaw to state that any non-conforming building may be rebuilt the same way within a two-year period, but any changes after would have to conform to the use regulations.
Article 21 would change the requirements for a detached personal garage to allow it to supplement an existing attached garage.
The final articles of the warrant, 22 and 23, are both citizen petitions. Article 22 is a request to allow the installation of ground mounted thermal or photovoltaic solar panels on residential property, while Article 23 is a request to amend 6-314 of the town’s general bylaws to allow for businesses to advertise on the Longmeadow Parks and Rec athletic fields.