EAST LONGMEADOW – On March 3 the East Longmeadow Town Council hosted a budget workshop to focus exclusively on the budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, as well as budget recommendations. While the meeting took place over nearly two hours, one of the main funding topics discussed was the Police Department’s request for three new vehicles – one of which being a Ford F–150 truck.

For the FY 20 budget, the Police Department requested $132,267, however the Capital Planning Committee recommended $82,000, with an additional recommendation of purchasing two cruisers as opposed to three vehicles. Town Council member Thomas O’Connor stated that he was “not comfortable” going down to two vehicles. Additionally, he reasoned that one of the reasons why the town switched to in–house dispatch was to free up an officer, and by freeing up this officer they would now need a cruiser. On top of that, O’Connor shared; there will be three officers graduating from the Police Academy this spring.

“My concern is, I don’t want to see used equipment, old equipment or equipment with 150,000 miles being driven by the Police Department in response to a safety issue. So, I’m not sure what the rationale was for going to two from three, but I certainly would support three,” O’Connor stated.

East Longmeadow Police Chief Jeffrey Dalessio explained to the Town Council that the need of the pickup truck is there, especially as the department advances. Dalessio noted the bicycle program that will be coming up this summer, and that the truck would be of use to haul the bikes. Additionally, their UTV vehicle could be moved from one location to another with the truck, as well as equipment.

“We’ve relied on the DPW in the past. There’s nothing wrong with that, but they come with a price tag unfortunately,” Dalessio stated.

Town Council Vice President Michael Kane agreed with O’Connor, sharing that he felt the town had nothing to gain by deferring the purchase of one of the vehicles. Kane then asked Dalessio if the town moved forward by only purchasing two vehicles in FY 20, would there be four vehicles recommended for purchase in FY 2021. Dalessio responded with a simple, “probably.”

The Ford F–150’s primary use is not intended to be a patrol car or a first line response vehicle, however Dalessio stated it could be used for that purpose if need be. With that said, the truck would not be outfitted with a cage.

Keeping within the Police Department’s budget, O’Connor brought up the feasibility study for the expansion of the Police Department, which was requested last year. At the time, the Council opted to not fund it. Recently, O’Connor stated, this was discussed with state Sen. Eric Lesser.

“He made it very clear that the $1.1 [million] that we’ve been told is a possibility coming to the town for the last several months is just that – a remote possibility. It’s sitting on the governor’s desk and it may or may not ever see the light of day,” O’Connor said. “With that said, I’d hate to see us keep you behind the eight–ball. Since it was not recommended, I’d like to see that put back on the recommendation list and fund the feasibility study.”

The idea behind the feasibility study is that it would give the Town an idea of what types of repairs are necessary, what maintenance could be done to improve the status of the station, or if the town would need to start from scratch.

An idea was given to the Council by the Capital Planning Committee that if the grant were approved, the Town could jump–start the feasibility study from free cash.

O’Connor responded that a feasibility study generally takes between eight months to a year, and by starting it now, it “doesn’t hurt anybody, it just helps the town move forward.”

Council member Donald Anderson explained that he wanted to talk to Lesser’s office and have them try to put pressure on the Governor to approve the grant.

Ultimately, Dalessio questioned the Council stating, “Are you committed to looking at renovating that building no matter where the funding comes from?” He continued, “I know every year departments put in for renovations to their buildings and they get passed. It’s time I think that this department looks at our building and says, “What has to get done?” Are we going to take it off the table like we did last year and wait for the governor? I can only remind you that that $1.1 million that we put together for a number is not guaranteed if the governor okays it – my understanding is he can give you $400,000 on that – he can give you $300,000 on that.”

Town Council member Joseph Ford stated that it was worth following up with Lesser, and then possibly creating a plan b, which would be doing their own feasibility study.

“It’s a no brainer that yeah – we have to do something with the building. So if we’re going to do something with the building, the $25,000 is not going to be a waste of money and there’s a very good shot that if we lay that money out based on the conversation that we just had that we’ll probably get it back,” Kane added.

Town Council President Kathleen Hill stated that she and Thomase Florence would reach out to Lesser’s office.

Carrying on, the Council discussed the School Department’s request for asbestos removal and carpet replacement in athletic offices for $24,162. The Committee listed this as a priority one, and recommended full–approval of the project.

To watch the rest of the Budget Work Session, go to ELCAT’s YouTube page “ELCAT01028” or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yaCb9To5OI&list=PLp26WjLCI0G0-SnFmBO8gZgBtlZNXBYhC&index=5&t=2243s