LONGMEADOW – Town Manager Stephen Crane told Reminder Publications he wants to dispel rumors that the town is not planning for its future when it comes to major building projects.

Specifically addressing concerns regarding the potential construction of a new Adult Center, Department of Public Works (DPW) facility and new or renovated middle schools, Crane said during his 3 1/2 year tenure as town manager, he consistently examined and reviewed all three projects and their long-term impacts together.

“Specifically, I have also initiated the process of updating the town’s long-range plan, which was last done in 2004,” he added. “I’ve advanced each of the three projects … I think significantly. Clearly, based on how often I hear that comment on the three projects I have not done a good job getting the word out.”

Crane said a site selection committee and a task force have reviewed information about a new DPW facility. The town has also hired an engineering firm for the project and an owner’s project manager.

Residents approved the DPW project site for Grande Meadows during the Oct. 25 Special Town Meeting.

He noted an appraisal of Grande Meadows has yet to be completed, but he anticipates it could cost the town  $2 to $3 million to purchase the property. 

“I have stated that the DPW is the top priority and as soon as we can get that project nailed down and funded through a debt exclusion vote I think that focus does need to shift to the middle schools and the senior center,” Crane said.

He added the town has completed debt service projections for all three projects, but exact figures are “hard to nail down” due to the timing of the projects and unknown costs. Each of the projects would take about 30 years until they would be completely paid off.

“The costs are somewhat guesses for the projects other than the DPW,” Crane noted. “We probably have the best sense of what the DPW is going to cost because we have an engineer working directly on that project. It’s about $15 million, not including site acquisition costs.”

The town’s capacity for borrowing funds through a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion vote is high and would not impact the community’s levy limit, which the town could reach in the next four or five years.

When asked what he believes the town should focus on building after the DPW facility project is completed, Crane replied, “I do think that the senior center needs to be addressed and I also do think that the middle schools need to be addressed. Because of the condition of [the Adult Center and middle schools], they can continue to sustain themselves in the short term for the next few years. The DPW is so clearly beyond its use life and in such a bad shape that it really can’t continue. We must take action now.”

He added building a new combined middle school, two new middle schools, or renovating Williams and Glenbrook Middle Schools would take close to a decade to complete.

Communities submit a statement of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to seek reimbursement funding for school building projects.

The MSBA only choses a handful of projects throughout the Commonwealth on an annual basis.

The reimbursement rate is typically 50 percent or more.

Crane said the town has yet to seek federal or state funding for its Adult Center project because it isn’t yet eligible to apply to them.

“We’re not at that stage,” he explained. “To really be eligible for those grants you have to hit a certain threshold of design commitment and we don’t even have a site yet. I don’t know if we’d be very competitive for grants. I think for the DPW, we are pursuing state and federal [funds]. Those are hard to get for bricks and mortar projects, especially for public works. We also are pursuing incentives through the utility companies as well as the Green Communities office at the Commonwealth.”

He said he hopes the DPW could be developed as a zero net energy building, which would greatly reduce the cost of running operations at a new location.

The location for a new Adult Center also remains up in the air after residents overwhelmingly denied $200,000 in additional funding for continued design work for an Adult Center at Bliss Park during the Oct. 25 Special Town Meeting.

Crane said the Adult Center Building Committee would review its list of sites again to find points of agreement with members of the community and areas where there are disagreements.

“I’m going to fully support them in that effort,” he added. “And as I said publicly Article 7 being voted down by Town Meeting isn’t the end of the effort for a new senior center. We’re going to continue moving forward. We’re going to re-look at old options and talk about what options are out there that maybe weren’t as high on the recommendation list, but now that Town Meeting has kind of made their views on the use of open space clear – are there any other opportunities?”

Crane said he’s uncertain how long the failed article pushed the Adult Center project back, but believes the project may be featured on the Annual Town Meeting warrant in the spring for some kind of benchmark to move the project forward.

He added a long-range plan survey was launched during the summer and noted resident comments largely indicated that the community is against developing parklands for building projects.

“That mindset has been consistent,” Crane said. “Nevertheless, there was good support for using selected town properties, in particular the water tower property had enjoyed some level of support from the respondents for development opportunity.”

Survey responders also showed support for allowing changes to the town’s zoning codes to allow people to invest more money in their homes.  

When asked whether there is any private fundraising taking place for a new Adult Center, Crane said, “I think there’s been a lot of discussions about fundraising, but an aggressive fundraising campaign, I think, has not been initiated because, again, you need to know what your building is going to look like, how much it’s going to cost, where it’s going to go, and right now those are three somewhat open ended questions for the senior center.”