I would like to ask a hypothetical question. If there were six acres of land in the Ardsley Road-Woodsley Road area, would the DPW location selection committee and Select Board and the town manager choose this spot for a new DPW facility?

Would they do the same if the area were the Farmington Road-Ellington Road area?

Or the Eton Road-Dover Road area?

Or any other strictly residential area?

If not, then why have the selected the Academy Drive area as one of their top choices?

Is it sensible to place the DPW facility in the center of residential areas where there are a lot of activities such as children walking to school, children riding their bicycles, people jogging and/or walking their dogs?

Why not place the DPW facility where these activities are at a minimum? There are locations in Longmeadow that fall into that category.

Maybe those parcels of land cost more than the Academy Drive locations. But what will be the cost to a homeowner when their property values drop? I’m sure that when you consider the hundreds of homes involved, the cumulative figure will be in the millions.

Residents in Longmeadow, take an interest in this activity. Let the DPW committee and the Select Board know that residential areas are not the best places to put a facility where dozens of trucks and other vehicles will be coming and going all day long and where that activity will increase to 24 hours a day when it snows in the winter.

Leo Vartanian
Longmeadow