LONGMEADOW – The Longmeadow Select Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting on July 6 to hold a public hearing for Verizon to place a new pole on Williams Street and discuss a potential racism resolution.

In place of Fire Chief John Dearborn, Town Manager Lyn Simmons gave the regular update on the town’s battle with COVID-19, saying that the town had just one active case as of the meeting.

Despite the success against the virus, she cautioned residents to continue following the guidelines. “We have leveled off a little bit, which is welcome right now. But we need to continue to socially distance, wear your mask, wash your hands and sanitize, all of that is helping. That’s really positive news for the community and we’ve done a great job,” she said.

After the report, the board jumped right into the hearing with Ross Bilodeau, a representative from Verizon to discuss adding a new pole along Williams Street.

During the hearing, Board Member Mark Gold asked specifically why the new pole was necessary.

Bilodeau responded and said, “We have a large span, which is almost 300 feet between existing poles. We usually go about 150 feet, so this is nearly double our typical span length. So, if we put a new pole out there, we will bring it up to our existing standards.”

Select Board Vice Chair Marc Strange said he was not ready to approve the project. He said, “I’m just not comfortable voting without having all of the questions and I think we should consider keeping the hearing open for another meeting until Verizon and Eversource can be on the call and answer questions.”

The rest of the board agreed with Strange and voted to continue the hearing at its next meeting.

After the hearing, the board held a discussion about identifying racism as a public health crisis after a resident reached out with a resolution several weeks ago.

Strange, who put together the potential resolution, said, “Our resolution, most importantly, forms a working group made up of residents to figure out a way to address racism in town and potentially have an eye on a Town Meeting blessed committee or board that meets regularly and keeps us ahead of the curve.”

Board Chair Tom Lachiusa said that he thought the resolution was a good idea. He said, “If we don’t say something, basically we are condoning it. We don’t want to be accused of that and I really appreciate the folks on the board and in town that brought this forward.”

The board agreed to continue looking at the resolution and bring it forward again at a future meeting.

As part of the meeting’s regular business, the select board also approved the fall Town Meeting date as Oct. 27.

As the meeting’s final order of business, the board discussed setting goals for the 2021 fiscal year, including looking into ways to raise property values. “I think we need to set up a force to really increase demand for Longmeadow property, which would then raise the values of our homes,” Lachiusa said, “What we need to do is find a way to market the town and then hold a forum for realtors in the area to revisit what Longmeadow has to offer. If our property values go up, that’s another way to avoid hitting the tax levy limit.”

The Longmeadow Select Board next meets on July 20.