Plans for Longmeadow DPW facility at Grande Meadows in development

Dec. 21, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – The schematic designs for a proposed new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility at the Grande Meadows Tennis Club site are currently in the works.

Residents accepted a report by the DPW Building Committee that identified Grande Meadows as the top site for the project this fall during the 2016 Special Town Meeting. However, the town has yet to purchase the site, which would require funding approval from a future Town Meeting.

“The vote at Town Meeting in the fall to accept the report of the DPW, that made it explicitly clear the cost of the project and where we’re proposing it to go, was an overwhelming vote ... It really was an overwhelming show of support for, not only the DPW Committee, but also their findings,” Town Manager Stephen Crane said. “So we have used that endorsement from Town Meeting to advance the design.”

Crane told Reminder Publications an article calling to fund the project and purchase the site would likely appear on the May 9, 2017 Special Town Meeting warrant.

A new DPW facility could cost approximately $15 million and site acquisition of Grande Meadows would likely cost $2 to $3 million.

The current work on the schematic designs for the project includes examining the proposed number of rooms and their sizes in order to make the design “as efficient as possible for the sake of reducing cost,” Crane said.

The town also plans on making the facility a zero net energy building, he noted.

“We are now tying our Green Communities grant to the DPW project, which was actually a suggestion of the Green Communities office,” he explained. “Basically what it means is you could build a building with standard equipment that meets the existing energy codes, so high efficiency boilers and things like that, but then you could go to the next level and it usually costs more money to do it which is why we’re applying for a grant.”

Aspects of a zero net energy building would include the use of solar panels and a geothermal heating system, he said.

“We’re working with the designer, with Eversource [Energy], and the Green Communities office to really approach this building with a goal of getting it to zero net energy,” Crane said. “The biggest part of the building as planned is the vehicle storage bay and it’s a giant roof. Right now we are orienting the building so that roof faces south and it would be a perfect platform for a solar array.”

The town has $150,000 for the higher level of design work needed to investigate zero net energy, Crane explained. Once that’s accomplished, the town would apply for additional state grants to make up the difference between the cost of standard equipment and reduced energy consumption equipment.

Crane said the town has been engaged with conversations with the property owner of Grande Meadows for months.

“He’s given us access to the site to do design work,” Crane said. “We are going to retain the services of appraisers as a part of this process ... Right now we’re just setting up our action plan to make sure that we follow all the steps we need to follow to protect both the interest of the property owner and the interest of the taxpayers.”

The assessment of Grande Meadows would likely be finished by the end of February, he noted. 

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