A year in review: stories that shaped the regionDate: 12/29/2023 With the end of 2023 rapidly approaching, Reminder Publishing took a look back at some of the major storylines that helped shape East Longmeadow edition of The Reminder’s coverage area over the past year.
What do you feel made the year memorable for the area? Let us know by sending a letter to the editor to cmaza@thereminder.com.
East Longmeadow supports new high school project
After two years of planning and contentious debate among residents, voters chose to fund a new East Longmeadow High school and pool at the Nov. 7 election.
The vote was 3,577-1,617 in favor of a debt exclusion on the $177.5 million school. The Massachusetts School Building Authority will contribute $82 million in reimbursements to the project, leaving East Longmeadow taxpayers to cover the remaining $95.12 million. The MSBA initially pledged $63 million in reimbursement before voting to increase that number to the current $82 million on Oct. 25.
The second ballot question on a debt exclusion for a $16.79 million natatorium housing a pool for school and public use was also approved with a vote on 3,219-1,948. The natatorium is not eligible for MSBA funding and the full cost will be the responsibility of the taxpayers.
The proposal for the school and pool had been heavily debated over the past year. Standing room-only crowds turned out for seven public forums and tours of the existing 1960s-era high school. In addition to expressing the need for quality education spaces and updated science labs, people said they were concerned about rain leaking through classroom ceilings and an outdated electrical system that caused an evacuation of the school when a piece of equipment began smoking in October.
Superintendent Gordon Smith had told residents that the high school was “on warning” and in danger of losing its accreditation from the New England School Development Council due to the state of the building.
Opponents said the estimated tax increase of $2.56 per $1,000 of property value was too high.
People also pointed to the other big-ticket projects that the town needs, such as roadwork and a new fire station. They argued the high school project would push the town too close to the state tax ceiling of $25 per $1,000 of property value. Others questioned the transparency of the process.
Longmeadow elects first selectman of color
Vineeth Hemavathi received 782 votes in the March 7 special town election, besting his opponent Walter Gunn. With he victory, he became the first person of color to sit on the Select Board.
The special town election filled a seat left vacant in July 2022, after a member of the board relocated out of town. The remaining four members of the board decided to keep the post vacant until the annual Town Election in June, rather than use taxpayer money to conduct an election for a term that would last less than a year. However, a citizen’s petition was filed in November 2022, which triggered a mandatory election.
While three candidates had originally run for the position, Hemavathi and Gunn garnered the most votes in the preliminary special town election on Feb. 7. Longmeadow’s bylaws require a preliminary election to narrow the field of election candidates to two if there are three or more contenders.
Hemavathi’s special election victory gave him the seat until the June 13 election at which he again defeated Gunn to capture a full term.
The June 13 election also yielded a surprise victory for a write-in candidate for School Committee.
Adam Rosenblum ran a sticker campaign, distributing 1,500 stickers for voters to adhere to ballots to join incumbent Nicole Choiniere and newcomer Michaela Fitzgerald as winners of the three open seats. Rosenblum outpaced Kency Gilet as several residents, upset by comments Gilet had made regarding allowing school personnel to be armed, including in a May 24, 2018, letter to the editor in The Reminder, began a push in the final weeks before the election to promote Rosenblum as an alternative candidate.
Rosenblum told Reminder Publishing that he ran because he wanted “to give Longmeadow a choice on June 13 so that three candidates don’t automatically win three seats.”
Battle rages over Chestnut Street warehouse proposal
After initially approving the site plan for a warehouse at 330 Chestnut St. in May, the East Longmeadow Planning Board reversed its decision in June.
The issue first presented itself in 2022 when New Jersey-based East Longmeadow Redevelopers proposed a warehouse for up to four tenants at the Chestnut Street property, located in the industrial garden district. The 532,000-square-foot building on the site would be replaced with a building just shy of 563,000 square feet. The project would include 100 bays for trucks to load and unload and 150 parking spaces for trucks and tractor-trailers. Spaces for passenger vehicles would also be included to accommodate the warehouse’s workforce.
Residents opposed to the proposal, brought up concerns including traffic volume, noise and pollution — specifically related to large trucks entering, exiting and stopping at the facility. Some worried about the types of tenants, which were not yet identified, though any tenant would need site plan approval from the Planning Board. Residents of the abutting condominium complex know as The Fields at Chestnut, commissioned their own experts to counter the findings of the petitioners’ consultants.
A number conditions were developed to address issues that had been identified by the board over the four previous public hearings on the matter and concessions offered by the developers. The board approved the project and its conditions, but not before a resident of The Fields at Chestnut sent a letter to the board alleging corruption and “biased favoritism” toward the developers.
The board then voted to reopen the public hearing on May 16 after town employees expressed reservations regarding certain conditions that had been placed on the project. Specifically, Planning and Community Development Director Bailey Mitchell said town staff took issue with the condition forcing traffic to run right as they were concerned the traffic would cause too much stress in other parts of town.
DPW Deputy Superintendent Mark Berman said the trucks would be more likely to pass through the rotary at Center Square if sent one way down Chestnut Street. Police Chief Mark Williams expressed concerns about emergency access and safety. Fire Chief Paul Morrisette said trucks will be in town longer because they will have to travel a more circuitous route. He said he was also concerned that one-way traffic spikes, called for in another condition, will cause traffic incidents.
Attorney Frank Fitzgerald, representing the developers, proclaimed that the vote was out of order because no notice of the vote was given, and a new public hearing had not been conducted after the board voted to reconsider its previous decision. “This vote means nothing,” he said, adding that his client still had a valid approved site plan from May 2.
The developers brought the town to Land Court where Justice Jennifer Roberts remanded the issue back to the town. It is currently on the proposed agenda for the Jan. 16 meeting.
SNL makes ‘light’ of Minnechaug snafu
Becoming a story that made the national news cycle and was even mentioned as a joke on the late-night NBC television series Saturday Night Live, the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District was forced to keep its lights on day and night for 18 months due to a software malfunction in a a computer system controlling the automated off-and-on function of the high school’s lights.
When Minnechaug was rebuilt in 2012 as part of the MSBA’s model school program, it included a proprietary lighting system that was designed to be run by software and sensors. In 2021, the software was corrupted by malware and the lights went into the default “on” position. At the time, Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources Aaron Osborne explained that the if the school shut off the system’s numerous electrical breakers each night, there was no guarantee they would be able to turn them on the next morning without the software operating properly.
Further complicating the issue was the fact that Fifth Light Technologies, which created the system, had been bought out in the years since the installation. Because the system was proprietary, the district was forced to wait until the new owner’s vendor could upgrade the system. Supply chain issues contributed to the increasingly delayed time frame for repairs. By February, when the software and hardware had been updated, the district had spent $150,000 on excess energy consumption.
While Reminder Publishing had reported the issue in 2022, residents and the Select Board expressed surprise and bristled at the report when it reached national attention.
As a result of the technological failure, Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro recently penned a letter to the Massachusetts School Building Authority Executive Director Mary Pichetti and Treasurer/Receiver General Deborah Goldberg urging the elimination of proprietary technology in schools.
Shapiro acknowledged in the letter that “smart” technology has “the potential to reduce energy use, promote safety and security, and enhance learning environments.” He told Reminder Publishing they can have a role in meeting the “lofty [energy] goals across Massachusetts … with goals for 2030 and 2050,” referring to the state’s Clean Energy Plan, through which the state aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, he said the possibility of such systems malfunctioning comes with a risk.
HWRSD Superintendent John Provost commented at an Oct. 5 School Committee meeting that the district was the “exemplar” of caution regarding the use proprietary systems in schools. He also told the committee that the Office of the Inspector General is not pursuing “civil recovery,” a legal method of recouping monetary loss, on behalf of the district.
East Longmeadow appoints new town manager
After interviewing two candidates on May 30, the East Longmeadow Town Council voted to appoint Deputy Town Manager Tom Christensen to the position of town manager.
Christensen succeeded Mary McNally, who left the role at the end of June. The appointment was the culmination of three town manager searches, the first two of which were handled by professional search firms. with a price tag of roughly $10,000 each. The three finalists from the first search were determined to be ineligible upon inspection of the town charter’s requirements for the position.
Contract negotiations with Ron San Angelo, the candidate selected from the town’s second search, were halted and while he sent a letter to the council asking for a meeting no councilors voiced interest in revisiting his contract negotiations.
The third and final search was performed in-house by the Town Council and Human Resources Department.
The candidates from the final search were Christensen and David Flaherty. Christiansen is an East Longmeadow native who moved away after college and returned to raise a family. He was the DPW deputy superintendent for five years before being appointed deputy town manager in 2022. Flaherty is a business owner and previously sat on the Westfield City Council. He also has experience working in government.
The vote was 6-1 to offer the position to Christensen, with only Councilor Connor O’Shea voting against it.
McNally initially announced her resignation in October 2021 due to the alleged abusive behavior of one councilor. So as not to leave the town without executive leadership during the search for her replacement McNally extended her departure to Jan. 3, 2022, then to Feb. 25, 2022, then again to the end of her contract in June 2022. After the second failed search, she agreed to stay on as town manager through the end of June 2023.
HWRSD, towns agree to budget at 11th hour
Amid tensions, the financial leadership from Wilbraham and Hampden met with the School Committee for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District to hammer out the details on how to fund the schools for the fiscal year 2024 before the towns’ respective Town Meetings.
The School Committee passed a $53.6 FY24 budget on March 16. Despite an assessment of $29.4 million for Wilbraham, the Finance Committee expressed a willingness to limit the town’s portion of the budget to $1 million over FY23’s $27.81 assessment. With the corresponding portion from Hampden included, this resulted in a funding gap of $800,000.
On April 15, Superintendent John Provost released an extensive list of cuts to programs and personnel, as well as an increase to fees and maintenance to be deferred to close the gap.
Then, on April 19, the Wilbraham Finance Committee, Hampden Advisory Board, and boards of selectmen met to hash out how much each party was willing to contribute and what they should ask of the School Committee in return. The Finance Committee agreed to contribute an additional $200,000, bringing their increase over last year to $1.2 million. The understanding at that time was that, in combination with Hampden’s assessment and about $450,000 of additional Chapter 71 transportation reimbursement, this would close the gap.
HWRSD Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources Aaron Osborne, however, explained at an April 24 meeting that when making the budget, the extra funding was “baked in” because the initial estimates for transportation reimbursement were low. In other words, that money was already incorporated into the budget and would not close the gap.
Osborne later explained that the state House Ways & Means Committee recently passed its iteration of the state budget which increased the district’s Chapter 70 state aid by approximately $80,000 and transfers from Green Meadows School to Wilbraham Middle School, represented another $60,000 in efficiency savings. This brought the remaining gap to $460,000.
The Wilbraham Finance Committee ultimately approved a Wilbraham assessment of $30.7 million.
Hampden’s corresponding assessment was $8.94 million. The district agreed to put $1.05 million from the Excess and Deficiency Fund toward the budget, while making $80,000 in efficiency cuts.
Changes to Longmeadow’s commercial landscape
Longmeadow voters at the Nov. 7, 2023 Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved a zone change that fell a handful of votes shy of a two-thirds majority at the 2021 fall Town Meeting. The change cleared the way for the developer, The Colvest Group, to build high-end retail shops and a restaurant on the site of the former First Church of Christ, Scientist at 916 Williams St.
Jeffrey Roberts, an attorney for The Colvest Group, said that while the site could support three single-family homes, the retail development would provide the town with $250,000 in tax revenue — an amount he estimated to be the equivalent of 10 homes.
Roberts acknowledged traffic concerns but said the proposed development would “not be a significant imposition on infrastructure.” He added that the developer was discussing combining parking lots with The Longmeadow Shops adjacent to the property. This would potentially decrease the number of turns on and off of Williams Street.
Matt Wittmer of Phase Zero Design described the plan for the property as a “natural extension” of The Longmeadow Shops. The single-story storefronts would have a “very New England style,” he said. Wittmer sought to dispel traffic concerns, telling voters there would be no vehicular access from Redfern Drive and the existing entrances from Williams Street would remain unchanged.
The Colvest Group owner Frank Colaccino said that he met with abutters to address their concerns and has been transparent with residents about his plans for the property, which he described as a “first-class, premiere shopping plaza.”
Several residents were in favor of the zone change and related development. Most supporters cited the need for more tax revenue. A couple of residents spoke against the project, voicing concerns regarding decreased property values and the lack of buffer zones for neighbors.
Town officials warned that speculation on traffic impacts was premature. A traffic study and mitigation plan would be a part of the planning process.
Additionally, the neighboring Longmeadow Shops property was sold by Grove Real Estate in early December to out-of-state realty management company Regency Centers for $30.4 million. The Longmeadow Shops was first marketed for sale two years ago, but Steve Walker, owner of Grove Real Estate, said the deal fell through.
Grove Real Estate bought The Longmeadow Shops in 1994 from its original owner, S. Prestley Blake, philanthropist and co-founder of the local restaurant chain, Friendly’s. Two months later, the soon to be defunct department store Steiger’s left the shopping center. Coupled with other empty storefronts, this left the plaza 80% vacant. Over the next two years, tenants began to repopulate the Shops. Eventually, The Gap, Ann Taylor and Chico’s took up residency.
The Longmeadow Shops, one of the town’s largest single tax revenue generators, was assessed at $20.2 million in 2022.
Grove Realty Group had owned nine shopping centers across the region at its height but has been divesting them over the past few years. With the sale of The Longmeadow Shops, the company only has one shopping center left in its portfolio. Walker, who now lives in Maine, said he plans to sell that one over the next year and fully retire.
Nationwide, Regency Centers owns 471 retail properties, according to its website. Locally, it also also owns Brookside Plaza in Enfield and Corbin’s Corner in West Hartford as week as several properties in the greater Boston area.
On the other side of town, nearly two years after a fire gutted the Maple Center Shopping Plaza at 901 Shaker Rd., the anchor store, Armata’s Market announced it would not reopen in the same location when the plaza is rebuilt.
Armata’s Market owner Alexis Vallides cited “high rebuilding costs and lengthy timeline,” as the reasons for the decision. The market had been an established business and a cornerstone of the Maple Center Shopping Plaza for 50 years when the plaza caught fire in November 2021, destroying two of the six storefronts and causing damage to the others.
The owner expressed “sincere regret” and thanked Armata’s Market customers, the town — naming Town Manager Lyn Simmons and Fire Chief John Dearborn — as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the East of the River Chamber of Commerce. Vallides also thanked the other plaza tenants and the Pun family, which owns the property through Pun Longmeadow Realty.
Both Armata’s Market and Pun Longmeadow Realty had previously stated that the market would occupy its former storefront in the rebuilt shopping center. Demolition of the fenced-off plaza did not begin until late 2022. At that time, Capital Studio Architects Principal Architect David Holmes told the Longmeadow Planning Board construction was expected in early 2023 with completion within a year. However, construction has still not begun on the building. On July 19, Holmes came back before the Planning Board to alter the building’s design, eliminating some features and changing others to make the project more “cost-effective.”
Passenger rail project chugs forward
In September, Gov. Maura Healey and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield) announced a $108 million federal grant for East-West Rail, a project designed to connect Boston to Western Massachusetts and beyond through high-speed rail.
The complete rail project from Boston to Pittsfield is expected to cost about $2 billion. Neal said Healey is invested in finishing the project, which will include a high-speed rail line to Pittsfield, where it will connect to New York, and the creation of a working train station at stops where there is none, such as Palmer.
Union Station is the rail hub in Springfield. A $94 million refurbishment led to the reopening of the station in 2017 after being closed for 45 years. In his remarks, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno referred to Union Station as “the house that Neal built,” a reference to the more than $21 million in federal funding the congressman secured for the project.
The project has brought in regional, local and private partners, including CSX and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Grafton-Upton rail line. Tibbits-Nutt said the cross-state rail line would do more than connect Western Massachusetts to Boston. It would also connect the western half of the state with Central Massachusetts. Connections with the existing lines, the Valley Flyer and the Hartford Line, would allow people to travel north to Greenfield or south to New Haven, Connecticut.
Passenger trains along the system are expected to travel approximately 80 miles an hour, making the trip from Springfield to Boston in about two hours. The fastest existing line, Amtrak’s Lakeshore Limited, makes that trip in about three and a half hours. Most rail trips between the eastern and western parts of the state run more than four hours.
Eastfield Mall closes, demolition begins
The Eastfield Mall officially closed for business on July 15, culminating an era of shopping in the city that began in 1968.
The owner of the majority of the property on the site, Needham-based firm called Onyx, has since initiated the demolition of much of the existing structure and redevelop the property as Springfield Crossing.
The Springfield City Council approved a special permit for the project in March. Onyx will invest between $65 and $80 million on a revamped 361,000-square-foot shopping and dining center, with a projected 20 to 30 tenants, according to Principal Anton Melchionda. The redevelopment does not include the parcel on which the former Sears department store sits, according to Springfield Crossing Vice President Brian Kaplan.
With the closure came the displacement of a number of businesses, most of them locally owned. The Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council assisted man of the businesses that called the mall home in identifying new accommodations. While several tenants remained in the city, including Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, Mykonos II and Hanoush Jewelers, several found locations elsewhere. Those included the popular Donovan’s Irish Pub, which moved to the former Slainte restaurant building at 80 Jarvis Ave. in Holyoke. A number of others relocated to the other prominent Hampden County mall — the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside.
The Mall Barber Shop and School of Fish fish store both relocated to Wilbraham. Meanwhile, Incredible Toys and Millennium Nails relocated to Ludlow. Two businesses, Calm Panda Smartshop and New Age Wrestling, moved south of the border to the Enfield Square Mall, however recent media reports have indicated that mall is also being eyed for redevelopment.
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