LONGMEADOW – The Longmeadow Select Board met for its first regularly scheduled meeting of the year on Jan. 6 to interview a new applicant for the planning board, approve various town board and committee appointments, and to approve the Town’s election dates for 2020, despite missing several members at the meeting.

The meeting opened with a joint session between the planning board and the select board in order to interview a new applicant for the planning board. Each member of the planning board asked the candidate, Joshua Levine, one question. The questions included ones about his work history and why he moved to Longmeadow.

Planning board Chair Don Holland opened the questions by asking Levine what he thought about doing an independent traffic study about a CVS and why that was important. “It’s important to avoid any conflicts of interest or any appearance of impropriety in any way that shows anyone from CVS or the town had an influence on how the traffic flows around there,” Levine responded.

After the planning board asked Levine their set of questions, the three–member select board each asked a question of their own. Longmeadow Select Board Chair Marie Angelides asked how Levine would handle the Tennessee Gas Pipeline bylaw, and if he would have any difficulty resolving the case. He said, “I think it’s the duty of the planning board to follow the law and the bylaw as it’s written. So I’d need to be familiar with the bylaw to consider the application as its put before us.”

Angelides added that the two boards will officially take the vote on the open planning board position during the next select board meeting on Jan. 21.

Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn Simmons then opened the meeting with announcements, including announcing that the Select Board will be using a new format for its agendas going forward. “These are interactive agendas now, so all of the documents you will be hearing the Select Board discuss will all be available on the agenda,” she said. “And in future meetings they will also be projected on the screen so you can follow along while you watch the meeting.”

In her town manager report she added that the town now offers an online board, committee and commission application so interested applicants can apply online for positions in town rather than mailing one in.

Simmons also announced that Longmeadow Police Chief John Stankiewicz sent in his letter of his intent to retire in the next 90 days. “In my very short time here in Longmeadow he’s been a wealth of knowledge and has helped immensely to make my transition smooth. So I want to wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and thank him for his 37 years of service to the town and its citizens,” she said.

The meeting then moved into old business, beginning with the Select Board’s quarterly board and committee appointments. The Select Board quickly went through them and unanimously approved each of the appointments.

With the Spring Town Meeting fast approaching, the board began to discuss some of the Town Charter changes for the year and the policy review for thesSelect board itself. Angelides suggested that in order to review the Charter and select board policies a few at a time to make sure the board is not overwhelmed. She said, “I want us to just do it on a regular basis so we just don’t drop the ball like we’ve done in the past. We get overwhelmed with other projects and then we don’t clean up our own house.”

The select board then moved to new business in order to select the Town election dates for 2020. The Board unanimously voted to host the preliminary election on April 28 and the annual Town election on June 16.

The board closed the brief meeting by mentioning two correspondence letters, one from the PVTA and another from Senator Elizabeth Warren in regard to the Tennessee Gas pipeline, while also discussing upcoming meeting dates for several of the Town’s task forces.

The Longmeadow Select Board will next meet on Jan. 21.