Select Board provides updates on West Comm, road improvements

Aug. 28, 2019 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – Interim Town Manager James Moynihan along with various select board members shared numerous updates with one another at the Aug. 19 Select Board meeting. These updates included the status of the West Comm project, upcoming measurements of properties in Precinct B, and the potential for improvements to Maple Road.

Starting the board’s meeting off, Moynihan shared that the plastic bag bylaw has been implemented. So far, the Town had only granted two waivers. He noted that the bylaw has “moved along without a great deal of incident.”

Residents living in Precinct B should note that Longmeadow is under contract with an organization to do the “measure and list revaluation” where individuals go out to each residence in the community. This process started with residents who live in Precinct A. As of the close of fiscal year 2019 (FY19,) Precinct A is complete, thus the movement on to Precinct B.

The board noted that residents in this area may see a marked car on their streets or at their homes that states either “Board of Assessors” or “KRT” on it. Residents should be assured that the individuals have all of the credentials from the Police Department, in case there is any question about the company on a resident’s property taking measurements. The overall process will be completed in FY24, with 20 percent of the town being completed every year between now and then.

During the select board comments section of the meeting, select board member Thomas Lachiusa equated the ongoing gas pipeline debates to finding an “uninvited swarm of bees has moved into your backyard.” “For months, I’ve been getting stung,” Lachiusa said. He further continued that knowing how to deal with this issue is “difficult.”

“The opponents of this project keep stinging me because I’m a select board member…getting stung on a regular basis is getting old,” Lachiusa said. The statements by Lachiusa were prior to the Aug. 20 Special Town Meeting, where residents voted in favor of a zoning bylaw amendment that looks to prevent the construction and operation of these types of facilities in residential zones.

“As we move forward on this issue, hopefully, as a member of the select board – I won’t speak for the select board – but we all have the community’s best interests in mind,” he closed.

During the interim town manager’s report, Moynihan shared that the landfill closure and capping bid opening has been moved to Aug. 28.

Discussing the LED project, Moynihan explained that they signed a memorandum of understanding with the metropolitan area planning commission relative to the project. He continued to note that they are in the process of setting up a discussion with committee members and Eversource to get a “better sense” and to “develop a clear time-table” relative to moving forward on Eversources’ expectations.

Moynihan shared that he and Select Board Chair Marie Angelides met with four representatives from the town of Enfield in dealing with Maple Road, which he described as a “non–paved road.” Maple Road straddles the Longmeadow/Enfield town line. All of the residencies on this road are located in Enfield, however both Moynihan and Angelides described the terrain for Maple Road as rough. The two told the Select Board that they are discussing road improvements, however right now they’re looking at developing a community response plan.

“To their credit, Enfield understood that it was Enfield who benefitted to the road and the maintenance of the road, and they were willing to do some cost sharing, but we need to understand what level we’re bringing it [the road] to,” Moynihan explained.

Select board member Mark Gold asked if Enfield residents wanted Longmeadow to pave the road for them. Moynihan stated no, not necessarily. “Our sense was I think that the residents in the town of Enfield had gone onto their representatives and asked them to see if the road could be improved or made more passable than it is right now. Enfield reps came to develop an understanding to see who does what and to see if they could get that road to a certain level that can be continued,” Moynihan explained. “Who would do what was subject to a discussion, they were open to it, they were also open to providing financial support.”

Moving on in discussion, Angelides shared that she attended the recent West Comm meeting. She stated the project seems to be on-target for opening the regional dispatch center in October. Angelides told the board that she feels its important that they follow along and stay involved with the development of the finances of the group, as the budget still “has a lot of early start–up costs” that the town’s CFO and interim town manager are keeping an eye on.

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