A preview of Town Meeting’s coming attractions

May 1, 2019 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – Spring has officially sprung, and with the season come’s the annual Spring Town Meeting hosted in Longmeadow. The meeting will take place on May 14 at 7 p.m. in the Longmeadow High School gymnasium, where residents will have the opportunity to vote on 42 warrant articles. The full warrant article is available on the town’s website, longmeadow.org, however the following is a rundown of what is slated for the upcoming meeting. Issues including the parking of commercial vehicles in driveways, the funding of community preservation projects including field maintenance, and several bylaw changes will be up to vote by residents.

Article One

According to the warrant, the Goldthwait Bequest is an endowment fund left to the Town for assistance to “the worthy poor of Longmeadow.” Article one is in place to see if the Town will vote to choose three trustees to administer the Bequest. The Board of Trustees administers the fund and makes expenditures from the accruing interest for applicants who are experiencing hardships financially. Annually, the trustees are chosen by Town Meeting.

Articles Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, 10 and 11

Articles two through six all consist of money transfers. Article Two is a transfer of $200,000 from the treasury to supplement the FY 2019 snow and ice removal deficit. Article three could transfer treasury funds of $55,000 to supplement the FY 2019 Department of Public Works (DPW) Grounds Forestry account. Article four would transfer treasury funds in the sum of $10,000 to supplement the FY 2019 Fire Vehicle Maintenance account. Article five is in place to transfer treasury funds of $135.61 to pay bills of the prior year. Article six would transfer treasury funds of $135,000 to the Town’s Operational Stabilization Fund. Article 10 is a transfer from funds in the treasury of $100,000 for producing preliminary survey work for the possible reconstruction/reconfiguration of the southern end of Longmeadow Street/Route 5.  Article 11 is to see if the  town will vote to transfer $313,000 from the Sewer Retained Earnings account and vote to authorize the Treasurer to borrow the sum of $800,000 for the purpose of Phase One of replacing the North Interceptor Sewer and the related bond costs to be paid in the first instance from sewer receipts. The Finance Committee recommends articles two, three, four, five, six and 11. However, article 10 is not recommended.

Article Seven

Article seven, which is recommended by the Finance Committee, works to fix the Fiscal Year 2020 salary and compensation of the town Moderator at $100 and the Select Persons at $2,000 each, to provide for a reserve fund, and to approve the Fiscal Year 2020 operating budget totaling $69,062,742. For the specific breakdown of the operating budget, please reference the town’s warrant, located at longmeadow.org.

Articles Eight and Nine

Articles eight and nine, both recommended by the Finance Committee, involve the raising and appropriating or transfer of available funds. In the case of Article eight, is to see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $162,000 for the purpose of establishing a Salary Settlement Account to cover FY20 Collective Bargaining Agreements and other wage settlements. Insofar as Article nine, if passed, the article will raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds various amounts for capital projects including project development, capital reserve, fire truck reserve, fire refurbish marine one, school/town network improvements, high school HVAC upgrades, Blueberry Hill School Boiler replacement phase II, Center School Fire Alarm system, Greenwood Center gutters and snow guards, DPW grounds sidewalk plow/utility machine, guardrail replacement, sidewalk preservation, pavement preservation, a DPW Class Six dump truck, a DPW Backhoe/loader replacement.

Articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

]Articles 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are all authorizations for the Treasurer to borrow sums of money. While articles 12, 13, 14 and 15 are all recommended by the Finance Committee, article 16 is not. Article 12 is in place to see if the town will vote to authorize the treasurer to borrow the sum of $425,000 for the purpose of Improving Drainage on Willow Brook Road and related building costs. Article 13 is to see if the Town will vote to authorize the Treasurer to borrow the sum of $200,000 for the purpose of improving drainage on Magnolia Circle and related building costs.  Article 14 is to see if the Town will vote to authorize the Treasurer to borrow the sum of $800,000 for the purpose of permanently capping the former municipal solid waste landfill located on Birnie Road/Tina Lane. Article 15 is to see if the Town will vote to authorize the Treasurer to borrow the sum of $870,000 for the purpose of purchasing Town Street Lights and the Replacement of the lights with high efficiency LED lighting and related bonding costs. Article 16 is slated to see if the Town will vote to authorize the Treasurer to borrow the sum of $1,541,000 for the purpose of making Improvements to the Wolf Swamp Fields and Parking Areas.

Articles 17, 18, 19, 21

Articles 17, 18,19 and 21 all involve raising or appropriating sums, and the Finance Committee recommends each article.  Article 17 is to see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $183,625 for the purpose of paying the FY 2020 District Improvement Financing (DIF) Debt Service. Article 18 is in place to see if the Town will vote to appropriate $478,362 from the state for highway improvements. Article 19 is to see if the Town will vote to appropriate $94,667 from the state for highway improvements; this amount is a secondary appropriation of the FY 2019 CH 90 funding. Article 21 is to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $8,000 from the FY 2020 Community Preservation local surcharge and trust fun for administrative costs for the Community Preservation Committee.

Article 20

Article 20 is in place to see if the Town will vote to transfer $1,178 from the Receipts Reserved for Appropriation account/Transportation Infrastructure Enhancement Trust Fund to the Special Account for Traffic Improvements at the Williams/Bliss triangle.

Articles 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Articles 22 through 31 are all articles that require votes to fund numerous projects. Additionally, the Finance Committee recommends all of the articles. Article 22 is to fund the Community Preservation Project for the repair of the Storrs Library roof for $27,000. Article 23 is to fund the Community Preservation Project for resurfacing of the playground area at Bliss Park for $109,000. Article 24 is to see if the town will vote to fund the Community Preservation Project for development of a landscape master plan for Bliss Park and Laurel Park in the amount of $12,000. Article 25 is to fund the Community Preservation Project for the purchase of and planting of trees along the tree belt in Bliss Park and Laurel Park in the amount of $14,000. Article 26 is to fund the Community Preservation Project for Wolf Swamp Field leveling, field improvements and an irrigation system in the amount of $100,000. Article 27 is to see if the town will fund the Community Preservation Project to acquire and install screen doors and batten doors at the Storrs House Museum in the amount of $5,460. Article 28 is to fund the Community Preservation Project to obtain historical surveys of structures built before 1901 in the amount of $10,000. Article 29 is to re-fund the Residential Home Modification Fund in the amount of $125,000. Article 30 is to fund the improvement of the softball field at Turner Park in the amount of $33,000. Finally, article 31 is to see if the town will vote to fund the remediation of the erosion at Russell Field in the amount of $90,000.

Article 32

Article 32 is in place to see if the Town will vote to establish a funding limit for the Town’s Council on Aging Revolving Fund with payments from the fund to be expended by the Director of the COA up to $85,000.

Article 33

Article 33 is in place to see if the Town will vote to accept Park Drive. Park Drive in Longmeadow has not been previously accepted despite it being maintained by the Town for years and the sections in Springfield. The warrant reads that it is “unknown” why the street has never been accepted in Longmeadow.

Article 34

Article 34 is quite lengthy and involves revising the Town’s Home Rule Charter, which was created on March 9, 2004 and revised June 28, 2007. The warrant explains the changes that would be made to the Charter, however it involves deleted language, a procedure revision, the town’s website being added for publication of the warrant and more. To read the changes, find article 34 on the warrant on longmeadow.org.

Articles 35 and 36

Articles 35 and 36 both involve whether or not the Town will vote to accept the provisions of Mass General Laws. Article 35 is a vote to accept the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 64G Section 3A as amended by Chapter 337 of the Acts of 2018, and to set the excise tax on short-term rentals at 6.00 percent. Article 36 is to see if the Town will vote to accept the provisions of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 51, Section 16A creating a four-member board of election commissioners that would be the lawful successor of the current board of registrars.

Articles 37, 38, 39, 40, 41

Articles 37 through 41 all involve amending different General Bylaws of the Town.  Should article 37 pass, the amendment will give the Building Demolition Committee greater flexibility in determining the time period allowed for delays. The amendment of article 38 would allow for more clarity in the by-laws as the current bylaw refers to the duties of two town bodies: the Longmeadow Historic District Commission and the Longmeadow Historical Commission. The proposed bylaw in article 39 will separate the two groups. Article 39’s bylaw amendment is in reference to open burning.  Article 40’s bylaw amendment is intended to ban the use of a “jake brake” or “engine brake” which refers to a function of a diesel engine which involves the release of compressed air to assist a truck to slow down, which makes noise. The bylaw reads, “adding this section to the Bylaws will give the Town a means of enforcement and thereby reduce the unnecessary and objectionable noise that is disruptive to residents who live along frequently used truck routes.” Finally, article 41’s proposed change would allow for vehicles registered as commercial or bus that are no larger in size than vehicles that are often driven for non-commercial use to be parked in driveways overnight as long as the vehicle is registered in Longmeadow. The current bylaw, according to the warrant, is a challenge to enforce.

Article 42

Article 42, a citizens petition, is to see if the Town will vote to adopt bylaws to provide that the Town’s planning and zoning bylaws are used to ensure there is adequate protection of its citizens and its environment from noise, pollutants, emissions, discharges, leaks and other risks and hazards that are associated with facilities of natural gas utilities.

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