EAST LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow Town Council met for a regularly scheduled meeting on May 26 to discuss State COVID-19 relief funds, rename the Pine Knoll Pool, and evaluate Town Manager Mary McNally’s performance so far.

During her regular report Town Manager Mary McNally explained that the town is currently eligible for over $1 million in COVID-19 relief from the state. “The restrictions on these funds are that they have to be for COVID-related expenses only, unbudgeted, and they have to be incurred between March 1 and Dec. 31 of 2020,” she said, “The reason they’re rolling it out almost by request, they don’t want communities to have to wait for the FEMA reimbursement which is almost a year to 18 months.”

She added that the Board of Health has been working under tremendous pressure during this time and that pressure will likely only get worse as the town and state begin to reopen under the Governor’s current plan. She said, “Their responsibilities are enormous, and they are functioning under enormous pressure trying not to alienate anyone and do the right thing at the same time. As the reopening phases continue, I fear the boards of health are going to be given responsibility, so I think the situation may get a little worse before it gets better.”

After McNally’s report the council then discussed renaming the Pool at Pine Knoll Recreation Area to the Coach Charles E. Silvia Pool. During this time, Silvia’s daughter hopped into the call to go over the services they have offered at Pine Knoll Pool since he took over back in 1957.

She then went over some of Silvia’s accomplishments as a swimming coach. “In 1956 my father was one of the assistant Olympic Swimming coaches in Melbourne, Australia and had the only swimmer, Dr. Billy Yorzyk, win the gold medal that year. He pretty much put Springfield College on the map because he was the swimming coach there for 41 years.”

The council unanimously approved the motion and Council President Kathy Hill said, “We are pleased that we are able to do this on behalf of the town and in honor of Coach Silvia’s dedication to the children of East Longmeadow and the surrounding towns.”

As part of its annual business, the council also appointed the Charter Review Committee.

The final order of business at the meeting was a discussion of the town manager’s performance evaluation. Hill explained that the council graded McNally’s performance in six different areas including budget planning, finding a successor, addressing underperforming personnel, developing organizational charts with a universal template, hiring a Human Resources Department head, and filling vacancies in all of the town’s boards and commissions.

Hill said that she and the council believe McNally has done an excellent job since taking over. “Overall the council is unanimous that she has done a very good job in the short six months she has been with us, we are pleased with her appointment and committed to working with her going forward,” she said.

The East Longmeadow Town Council next meets on June 9.