LONGMEADOW –  At the June 18 Select Board meeting, the Board reorganized, discussed “unforeseen circumstances” at the Department of Public Works (DPW) building and provided an update for the new Adult Community Center.

At the meeting, Mark Gold was appointed to Select Board Chair for one year, starting at said meeting. Marie Angelides was appointed to Select Board Vice Chair for one year. William Low was appointed to continue as Select Board Clerk for the next year.

During the Town Manager reports section of the meeting, Town Manager Stephen Crane explained to the Board at they had been experiencing “unforeseen circumstances” at the construction site of the new DPW building, as asbestos containing materials were discovered.

“It sounds a lot worse than it is, I don’t want to say it’s no big deal, but it’s a completely manageable situation and the cost to fix the situation will be basically time and materials,” Crane shared. “We didn’t discover nuclear waste or anything like that, it’s a pretty standard thing.”

Crane continued to tell the Board that the cost for labor and disposal of asbestos is high, so it would most likely add up to a significant amount of money.

“We were supposed to be set up and tearing the building down this week, but that’s going to be a little bit delayed,” he noted.

Additionally, Crane stated that the Dwight Rd. project is in the early stages of going under construction, and though they haven’t given the full notice to proceed, the contractor is doing partial work at the moment.

Toward the end of the meeting the group discussed the next steps of the new Adult Community Center project, which on May 8 was passed at the Annual Town Meeting. The passing of Article 14 approved the $14 million project, which will stand in a different location at Greenwood Park.

Providing an update, Crane explained that the next step is to solicit and hire a project manager for the project. He stated this would take roughly six to eight weeks due to advertising and interviews.

“I have had discussions with the chairman of the Building Committee about their role in this process,” he said of who would assist in the interview process. “We’ll take some people from the permanent Building Committee, maybe somebody from the Council on Aging.”

In addition, Crane said he would be speaking with the Council on Aging (COA) and Friends of the Longmeadow Older Citizens Association (FOLOCA) about private fundraising. He noted the town wouldn’t manage private fundraising, but he wanted to talk to them about how they view their role with private fundraising and how funds would be used.

“At some point in time, I would guess within the next 12 months, we would be advertising the project to bid,” he said.

The Select Board then discussed the potential for naming the building, rooms within the building or other items and areas within the new center after individuals or groups who donated significant funding toward their fundraising efforts to offset the cost of the facility.  Gold suggested that somewhere down the line this becomes a greater discussion, because perhaps members of the town may not want the new center or rooms within it to be named after a company or organization.

 “I might be very happy having a Microsoft or an Amazon or Carly Simon room, but there may be people not happy,” Gold said.

“I think the reality is, there’s a desire to raise money and contribute money to offset the town’s cost, which then offsets the cost of the taxpayer including many seniors,” Crane responded.

The next Select Board meeting will take place on July 2. To watch the June 18 meeting, go to https://livestream.com/longmeadow/events/8255144/videos/176516899.