The Longmeadow Select Board welcomed the Finance Committee at its meeting on Nov. 2 to run through the Special Town Meeting warrant.
Photo credit: LongmeadowTV
LONGMEADOW — Longmeadow’s Special Town Meeting is coming up on Dec. 1, and the Select Board has officially finalized the warrant.
The meeting is at Longmeadow High School, 95 Grassy Gutter Road, and begins at 7 p.m.
Town Manager Lyn Simmons explained each article in a joint meeting with the Finance Committee on Nov. 2.
Article 1 is a request for the School Building Committee to pay final window and doors replacement costs at Center Elementary School.
The project is a part of the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s accelerated repair program, which voters approved at the November 2025 Special Town Meeting.
Simmons said the town is receiving “a little more than 50% reimbursement” from the MSBA, and there will be an accompanying debt exclusion in June.
It’s budgeted at around $11.9 million with a grant award of around $5.4 million.
Article 2 would amend the fiscal year 2027 budget to include $237,187 in state aid.
The state aid increases the FY27 budget and funds the DPW’s Forestry Division operating budget, retiree benefits for town and school employees and the capital improvement plan.
All three line items had cuts made in the budget approved by voters in May, and the state aid restores the funds.
Article 4 would transfer around $350,000 for the old DPW facility’s demolition. Simmons said the town hopes it is “going to be enough.”
“It looks to be, but they’re still, obviously, doing the demolition work now,” Simmons said. “This is all attributed to excess permitting costs and increased quantities of contaminated soils. We believe that this will cover everything. We have reached the threshold of monetary funds available for change orders, so if this does not pass, the work will stop. We won’t be able to complete it.”
Article 5 asks for a transfer of around $300,000 from free cash for tree removals and loam and seed.
The town has received around $323,800 since 2022 from the American Rescue Plan Act and other grants for tree work. The requested $300,000 provides an additional round of funding for maintenance, removal and restoration of public shade trees.
Article 6 seeks $886,705 from free cash for energy-efficient upgrades at Greenwood Center to lower energy consumption. Upgrades include a modern HVAC system and insulation enhancements.
The $886,705 is a cashed-out credit balance from when the town converted to LED streetlights.
Simmons said the town was buying more net metering credits than it could use, which accrued the “massive” credit balance on the streetlight account.
“The streetlight account saw a massive reduction in energy use when we switched to LED lights,” Simmons said. “The allocation of those credits was not being closely watched to move them to other high-usage accounts.”
The entire project is estimated at $2 million and a Green Communities grant application has been submitted to assist. If approved, the $886,705 would be set aside until the rest of the funds are appropriated.
“We’re still about $1 million short, so it’s still not a done deal yet,” Simmons said. “We’re trying to puzzle all this together to make something happen here. We’ve had some feedback from Green Communities already about building envelope here, so it’s not clear whether our application doesn’t look great because our windows are original and we need wall insulation as well, so it’s possible we don’t get any further anyway.”
Article 7 would appropriate $300,000 from the Longmeadow PEG Access and Cable Related fund for FY26 and FY27 cable related purposes with the town’s 2021-2031 cable license franchise agreement with LCTV.
Article 8 asks for $25,000 to conduct radon testing at the schools. Simmons said testing hasn’t been done in many years and is not carried in the budget.
Article 9 would transfer $150,447 to purchase firefighter protective gear and a new washing machine.
The state is banning the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in gear, which Longmeadow firefighters wear, as of Jan. 1, 2027 due to harmful health effects. The funds would arm firefighters with gear not intentionally made with the chemical.
Articles 10 and 11 would transfer $587,043 of excess budgeted ambulance revenues in FY26.
Article 10 asks for $246,894 to support the town’s ambulance service due to the Fire Department seeing an increase in service requests. The funds would replace two stretchers and two chest compression devices.
Article 11 would transfer the remaining $340,149 to the ambulance capital account. Voters approved the account’s creation at the May Annual Town Meeting to hold excess of budget revenues.
Article 12 would transfer $416,483 from the Capital Stabilization Fund for exterior repairs at the Police Department, including repair and repainting of the cupola and slate roof.
Simmons said the work has been in design but there wasn’t enough money to put the repairs out to bid. She said since there is water damage, the condition will probably be worse than expected.
She said any potential money leftover will be reappropriated to other capital uses through Town Meeting. Around $175,000 has already been allocated.
Article 13 is a request to transfer $100,000 from stormwater retained earnings for Raspberry Brook Repair. The article supplements the $400,000 funded at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting.
Simmons said the town is already not in compliance with the retained earnings policy and this transfer would bring it lower. The policy is $500,000.
Article 14 would transfer $100,000 from the water retained earnings policy to supplement water main repairs in the FY27 operating budget.
The article’s explanation states, “studies have shown that the aging infrastructure needs replacement and projects are being completed by the most importance.”
Article 15 seeks to raise $223,200 from the FY27 Community Preservation Fund Revenues for Community Preservation Act Fund Balance Reserve for open space, community housing and historic preservation.
Articles 16 and 17 would use historical preservation funds from Article 15 for the Storrs House Museum Project’s preservation of collections and the Historical Commission’s historic preservation plan and culture resource inventory project.
Article 18 is a bylaw amendment that would require ice cream truck vendors to possess and display an active permit.
Article 19 would amend the tree management bylaw for the purpose of caring and preserving town trees and public shade trees, applying to any arboricultural-related work within the publicly owned tree belt.
Article 20 would update section titles and language in the Town Meeting bylaw.
Article 21 would update Chapter 253 of the town bylaws, titled “Specialized Energy Code.”
The amendment’s purpose is to regulate the design and construction of new buildings and major additions for effective energy use and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Article 22 would amend the Home Rule Charter regarding publication of Town Meeting warrants.
The Select Board voted to finalize the warrant, sending the articles it to Town Meeting for voters to decide.
The Finance Committee unanimously approved each financial article in its own meeting following the joint meeting.
