LONGMEADOW – Longmeadow is hosting its Annual Town Meeting on May 16 at 1 p.m. at Longmeadow High School. As it is outside, the rain date is May 23. There are 42 articles on the warrant, including the covering of prior year expenses, bylaw changes and capital projects. Below is a non-exhaustive preview and explanation of the items for consideration.

Covering Past Expenses

Articles 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 would transfer available money to cover expenses incurred in previous fiscal years. Article 2 seeks to transfer $225 to pay remaining bills for the training of staff incurred during FY20. A four-fifths vote is required for this.

Article 3 concerns the cost of $200,000 for the FY 2021 legal expenses regarding the construction of a natural gas facility and site remediation at the Department of Public Works (DPW).

Article 4 would transfer $175,000 to cover overages on the snow and ice removal costs during FY21.

Article 5 would use $104,035.09 to pay for emergency work done by police, fire, DPW and tree contractors related to the Tropical Storm Isaias on Aug. 4, 2020, which uprooted trees, downed power lines and caused other damage, while Article 6 would use $80,000 for the costs incurred from the curbside pickup of storm debris from that storm and keep up with the high demand for forestry services.

Budget and credit rating

Articles 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 deal with the budget and various accounts.

Article 7 adds $1.6 million to the Operational Stabilization Fund. The stabilization account is essentially a municipal savings account. Due to the financial uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the $250,000 deposit directed by last year’s budget was postponed. There was also an unexpected surge in free cash from FY21. Adding the combined money to the stabilization fund will enhance the town’s credit rating.

Article 8 seeks to rescind $1.3 million of the $2 million that the town was authorized to borrow for Phase II of the capping of the Birnie Road/Tina Lane Landfill. The project only cost $7 million to complete. Rescinding the authorization keeps the town’s books clean and the credit rating high.

Article 10 lays out the FY22 town budget, totaling $74,269,508. The article asks voters to approve a $1,000 salary for the town moderator and $2,000 each for Select Board members and to raise and appropriate from receipts $3,046,611 for the Water Enterprise Fund, $2,262,789 for the Sewer Enterprise Fund. Of the  $1,015,541 needed for the Stormwater Enterprise Fund, $473,344 would come from stormwater receipts and $542,197 would be raised through taxes. Also raised and appropriated through taxes would be $67,944,567 to go into the general fund.

In Article 11, $100,000 is sought to establish a Wage Settlement Account for the FY22 Fire collective bargaining agreement and non-school, non-union wage adjustments. This appropriation covers wage adjustments as determined by the town manager.

Capital Projects

Article 12 breaks down the capital projects that the town would like to pursue in FY22. A total of $1,869,639 would be raised from taxes. These projects include a school boiler tank replacement, pavement and sidewalk work, information infrastructure backup and relocation, non-public safety radio replacements and money put toward fire truck replacement.

A front-end loader and 2-ton dump truck with plow and spreader would be paid for via $142,500 split evenly between the water and sewer retained earnings, $37,991 from available funds, $54,509 raised and appropriated and $50,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund. Any leftover funding would go back into that fund.

Infrastructure

Article 13 would pay $345,000 to replace ventilation equipment at Longmeadow High School. The current equipment is at the end of its life and no longer made, making replacing parts difficult. The warrant explains, “Since these air handlers service and clean the air for the public school central office and classrooms, it is imperative they function, especially in the age of COVID.”

Article 14 seeks to raise through taxes $777,700 to replace water mains on Farmington Avenue. The proposed work will replace the existing 6-inch cast iron water main with a new 8-inch ductile iron water pipe fitted with new main valves, new service lines and new hydrants. The stated purpose of the replacement is to improve water quality and provide more water capacity for fire protection. Meanwhile, Article 15 would provide $300,000 from the Sewer Retained Earnings account to replace sewer lines on Jonquil Lane that are defective.

In Article 16, drainage improvements on Shady Knoll Drive would be conducted using a transfer of $131,500 of existing funds. The warrant explains, “ongoing erosion of the embankment poses further threat to town infrastructure.”

Article 18 would appropriate $478,134 for highway improvements to later be reimbursed by the state. Article 19 also addresses roadwork, specifically the design of reconstruction and reconfiguration of Longmeadow Street/Route 5 which would require a transfer of $100,000. This is the second of four requests to cover the full amount of that project.

Article 30 would approve easements to allow for the relocation of a sewer line known as the North Interceptor. Currently, the sewer line runs west of Longmeadow Street from the Springfield line to Emerson Road and is in a location that is largely inaccessible and makes maintenance difficult. The new line would run through backyards on Severn Street.  

Community Preservation

Articles 20 through 25 are community preservation requests. They are seeking to repurpose $100,000 from a previous Wolf Swamp Field Ring Road appropriation and Wolf Swamp Field Leveling, Field Improvements and an Irrigation System to be used for a Wolf Swamp Fields appropriation that is “less restrictive.” The Wolf Swamp Field Ring Road is no longer used. No additional funding is requested.

Equipment replacements for the 22-year-old playground at Wolf Swamp School totaling $190,000. While the DPW requested this article, “Multiple Finance Committee members personally visited these playsets and agreed that they are in good condition and likely can be used for years into the future,” according to the warrant.

Replacement carpeting in the Storrs Library Children’s Room totaling $21,000 has also been requested. The existing carpeting was installed in 1992. Finally, the CPC is seeking $4,000 for irrigation of the community gardens.

Bylaw Changes

Article 33 amends the by-law regarding warrants, Section 3-303, to set the last Monday in January as the deadline to file a petition for the Annual Town Meeting and 45 days prior to the date of the meeting Special Town Meeting. The purpose of the article is to set a hard deadline that eliminates last-minute additions to town meeting warrants.

Article 35 would prohibit weekly room and/or board rentals by deleting language in Article IV, Section B, subsection 1.1a of the Zoning Bylaws. This warrant states this article addresses complaints to the Building Department about neighbors “renting rooms in their homes to unknown individuals.”

Article 37 defines a “commercial vehicle” as “any vehicle registered for commercial use which has a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,000 or more pounds, or is a van, truck, or SUV of any weight that has decals or painted lettering that represents a commercial enterprise.”

Article 38 changes the language in the Zoning Bylaws, Article IV, Section E, Subsection 1(b) to allow for the construction of a replacement building in the same footprint as a destroyed “non-conforming” building, as long as the new building usage conforms to zoning regulations. As the warrant explains, “A big percentage of the homes in Longmeadow are non-conforming due to lack of frontage, lot size or proximity to lot lines. Banks and other lenders question this bylaw regularly and are reluctant to loan money on such properties.”

Article 39 allows for more than one detached garage on a residential property so long as there are no more than three total garaged parking spaces.

Article 40 requests voters allow for the installation of a single row of ground-mounted thermal and/or photovoltaic solar panels within the front and/or side lot lines of a residential property. There are regulations attached to this article that require the panels to be no taller than eight-feet, six-inches and each area of solar panels may only be 15-feet wide. Maximum kilowatt production and visual obscurement from neighbors are also regulated.

Article 41 seeks to amend the by-law regulating “Billboards, Signs, and Other Advertising Devices,” by adding to allow for business advertising on Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Athletic Fields, at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation Department, to expand opportunities for sponsorship and revenue.

The final article is a Citizen Petition to allow for the purchase and installation of one secondary water meter with remote-read transponder (as specified by the Water Department) that will exclusively meter water to an irrigation system. The homeowner would be responsible for the cost of the meter. The purpose would be to address fees associated with water that does not enter the sewer system. Because the town has used a method of assuming all water that a resident uses must go through the sewer, residents who use water outdoors are charged for sewer usage they do not incur.

Recently, the Select Board voted to adopt a new sewer metering model in which the average water-unit usage during the five coldest weather months, when no irrigation is taking place, will be the maximum metered usage year-round, eliminating sewer charges for the water used outdoors in the summer. The board plans to address water rates, next.

A full breakdown of the budget and a copy of the warrant are available at longmeadow.org.