EAST LONGMEADOW – East Longmeadow will go ahead participating in the regional dispatch center – for now.

The Town Council approved the next step in the process of establishing the 9-1-1 dispatch center that would serve Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow and Hampden by voting to move forward.

Town Manager Denise Menard called it “one of the most difficult decisions” she has made in advising the Council whether or not the regional center was a good idea. She explained the towns have applied for a $9 million grant to underwrite the new center and once that grant is awarded and its funds are spent the town is obligated to stay in the cooperative effort. To leave the compact would take two years notice, she added.

The grant may not be as much as $9 million, though and if that is the case, the town could leave the group, the councilors heard.

Menard told the council the project is a “good concept,” but has been a “week by week drama.”

Improvements at Meadow Brook
 The council approved a $100,000 appropriation for the feasibility study and initial schematic design for improvements to Meadow Brook Elementary School. School Superintendent Gordon Smith explained the town has applied for funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to replace the windows and doors of the school, which have been in use for 30 years.  

Originally the roof was to be included in the application, but due to the demand for funds, the MSBA stipulated an element to be replaced must be at least 30 years old and the roof is only 24 years old, he explained.

Fighting mosquitoes and ticks
The council heard a report from Aimee Petrosky, the town’s health director, about the changes being made in the town’s mosquito control program and about a new tick control effort.

Petrosky said the town has been spraying BTI – defined by the Environmental Protection Agency as “a biological or a naturally occurring bacterium found in soils,” with no toxicity to humans – from helicopters. She explained the BTI only kills the mosquito larvae and it is only effective after spraying for two to three days.

The towns spent $16,000 annually on the program, she added.

The town is now working with Vector Disease Control International, which is determining where mosquitos are breeding and whether or not the mosquitoes in East Longmeadow may be carrying viruses such as West Nile. The company has placed traps in 100 catch basins to captures mosquitoes for testing, she added.

The goal of the research, Petrosky said, is to use the results of the survey to re-allocate the funding for control to the places it is most needed.

She also told the council about a new testing program for ticks. The town has become partners with a program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which will test ticks for diseases such as Lyme. Normally the test costs $55, but for town residents the fee is $5.

The test can be run on even partial tick carcasses, she said. “It doesn’t matter what condition the tick is in,” Petrosky added.

The reason the service is important is if a person is bitten by a tick and pulls it off, the test can reveal if Lyme Disease, for instance, was present in the tick, allowing a doctor to start treatment of the ailment earlier before symptoms develop.

Residents with questions about the tick program should call her at 525-5400, ext. 1103.

Councilors skeptical about water and sewer deal with Hampden
Hampden Selectmen John Flynn and Vincent Villamaino met with the council about how to move forward with a plan that would have Hampden link to the East Longmeadow’s water and sewer service in order to provide service to the parts of Hampden closest to the East Longmeadow line.

Flynn said such an arrangement might allow East Longmeadow the opportunity to accelerate planned improvements to the system.

The plan would be to go down Allen Street and Flynn said the expansion could be “a chance for some growth.”

Councilor Eric Madison asked, “Why would we do this?” He and other councilors questioned how such a program would benefit East Longmeadow; especially in light of the water shortages the town faced last summer.

Flynn said he has checked with the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission about its capacity to accept more sewage and was told it could accept more residential rather than commercial waste.

Councilor Don Anderson said, “We need to find a strategy why this works for our constituents.”

Menard will continue exploring the possibilities of the arrangement with Flynn and the Hampden Board of Selectmen.

Manley wins reelection
The council voted in favor of Kevin Manley by one vote over Anderson to continue as its president with Michael Kane as its vice president.