LONGMEADOW – The Select Board’s Department of Public Works (DPW) Task Force hosted its first meeting on March 3 and discussed some of its next steps for tackling the new DPW facility project.

Members of the Selectmen’s Task Force include David Appleman, Chair Christopher Cove, Peter Greenberg, David Horowitz,  also vice chair of the Park Board, Douglas Jangraw, Arlene Miller, who served on a previous DPW Task Force in the 1980s, Mary Beth Morris, Mary Pat O’Connor, Ryan Shanks, and non voting members Select Board Chair Richard Foster and Town Manager Stephen Crane.

Prior to the selectmen’s task force being created, the project was overseen by a task force appointed by Crane. The Town Manager’s DPW Task Force vetted 112 town-owned sites and determined two top sites – a section of Wolf Swamp Field and the privately owned Grande Meadows Athletic Club.

“The idea is to have this committee go back to the beginning, review all the information the task force has reviewed and then make the committee’s own conclusions and recommendations based on the same set of information we have,” Crane said.

Michael Richard of Weston & Sampson, project manager, said the Town Manager’s DPW Task Force eliminated sites based on whether they were protected lands or had existing uses for the town such as education or emergency response services.

“Any parcels under a certain size where we didn’t think we could fit the DPW, we eliminated,” he added. “That left us with six remaining lots.”

He added original size of the DPW facility was proposed to be 53,124 square feet. The Town Manager’s Task Force brought that number down to 42,101 square feet.

Foster said the project would not appear on the May 10 Annual Town Meeting warrant and a Special Town Meeting this fall might take place to determine funding for the project’s designs.

Crane said Grande Meadows is assessed at $2.4 million and would likely cost between that amount and $3 million to purchase. The owner of the property has proposed selling the parcel to Longmeadow in the past.

Richard said the work at Grande Meadows would include tearing down the existing structure.

He added Wolf Swamp Field is subject to Article 97, which states recreation or conservation land must receive a unanimous vote from the Park Board or Recreation Commission and a two-thirds majority approval from Town Meeting and the state legislature. The portion of Wolf Swamp Field the town is eyeing would require the Park Board’s full approval.

Crane said the town also looked into another portion of Wolf Swamp Field that was deemed conservation land.

“For the conservation land, you have to replicate the conservation land,” he added. “For the recreation land you don’t have to replicate [that] under the law.”

Crane said the Conservation Commission told him it would be unwilling to approve the land for the project, which eliminated it from the running.

Horowitz asked Crane if Longmeadow has looked into leasing or purchasing property in a neighboring community.

Crane previously pitched the idea of creating a joint DPW facility to the East Longmeadow Public Works Board at its Feb. 2 meeting. The board indicated East Longmeadow would not likely be interested in the idea.

“You need a home rule petition from I think the other community to build in another town,” he added. “The town government cannot purchase land in another community without an act from the legislature and from my conversation with the DPW Board in East Longmeadow, they’re not going to be thrilled about a DPW used that’s not going to pay taxes coming into their town just like we would.”

He continued, “The question has come up about leasing land in another community. I have town counsel looking into that question. Truthfully, I think if you’re going to do a 99-year lease it is [comparable] to ownership and I think you’re going to run into the same problem. If you said, ‘Let’s only lease for 15 years,’ that’s fine, but then you’re dumping $15 million into a parcel that you don’t own and you wouldn’t get your return on investment in 15 years.”

Richard proposed next steps for the task force, which included identifying a preferred site, developing schematic level plans, preparing a detailed cost estimate of the project, and creating materials to help inform Longmeadow residents.

Appleman said the work of the prior task force “does not go unnoticed,” but he believes a lot of work remains.

“The only way you’re really going to get anything approved by this town is the way you’re doing it now,” he added.