LONGMEADOW – There are several projects that are slated to come before residents this spring during the 2017 Annual Town Meeting, including funding for a new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility.

Town Manager Stephen Crane told Reminder Publications the town is still working to appraise Grande Meadows Tennis Club, the top site for the project. It is also working with the design team on creating a building design.

“They are going to be sending that out to an independent cost estimator,” he explained. “All of that will be reviewed by our owner’s project manager. And this is all happening in the next few weeks. By the end of February [or] beginning of March we will know where the cost stands in a much more detailed way than we do today.”

Crane said rough preliminary numbers for the cost of constructing a new DPW amount to $18 million, including site acquisition. That number could rise due to the current bidding climate for DPWs.

“There are some factors that may not be in that number that we’re putting in our baseline estimate, including the demolition of the existing facility and the demolition of the Grande Meadows Tennis Club,” he added.

The existing DPW facility, which was constructed in the 1930s and sits on a 100-year flood plain, could not be reused, Crane said.

He explained the new DPW facility would be smaller than the existing one with approximately 42,250 square feet.

The 25 to 30 percent completed designs for the Grande Meadows Tennis Club site lists a salt shed, fuel facility, material storage bins, administration and staff areas, a wash bay, vehicle maintenance, a vehicle garage, shops, and an open canopy storage area as part of the project.

“The DPW Committee met and reviewed the current stage of design and we received positive feedback from the committee,” Crane said.

He added the design is a “minimal building” that would service the community.

“At virtually every phase of review of the plans we try to eliminate square footage from the building to reduce costs,” Crane explained. “And one of the things we’re also doing is we are really taking a close look at the size of our fleet. So, if you have a smaller fleet you need less vehicle storage and so one of the things we’ve done, especially for some of our larger trucks, is that we are leasing instead of buying.”

Another item that would be included on the Town Meeting warrant would be a way to increase revenue for Longmeadow by the creation of a stormwater utility.

“We’ll be presenting for the Select Board’s consideration for the inclusion in the warrant a draft bylaw that would create a stormwater utility,” he explained. “The two big reasons to do this are the imposition of a stormwater fee, which would include taxable and nontaxable properties, that would help offset our existing costs to operate and maintain our stormwater and drainage system and the federal government is in the final stages of promulgating new more stringent regulations governing the quality of stormwater and there will be increased costs to comply with those regulations.”

Crane said as with every Town Meeting, the budget would need to be approved. The School Committee has met with other town officials and Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea has presented his budget as well.

“We are working cooperatively to make sure that the town manager’s budget that I present to the Select Board provides the high level of services that taxpayers are accustomed to and is balanced without using one time money,” he stated.