LONGMEADOW — After months of debate, the Longmeadow Select Board set the water, sewer and stormwater rates for fiscal year 2025.
The Springfield Water & Sewer Commission, which sells Longmeadow its water, charged the town $1.9 million this year, $433,133 over FY24. While the cost of water is the largest single factor in the water rate, the town also must factor in salaries for the Water Department within the DPW and the debt service for infrastructure investments.
Following a calculation of the cost of those factors divided by the number of billable water units — one unit equals 748.5 gallons — the water rate would have been $4.60 per unit, a 22.42% increase from the FY24 rate of $3.76 per unit.
After considering using retained earnings to offset the increase, the board discounted this option as it would have taken a serious investment of $200,000 of retained earnings to lower the rate $0.24 per unit, to a quarterly $4.36 per unit.
Instead, the board decided to increase the fixed cost portion of users’ water bills, which covers the cost of infrastructure and distribution. Doing so will raise an additional $70,000 in revenue.
“Everyone has to be hooked to the system, no matter how much water is used,” Select Board member Josh Levine said about the reason for a fixed cost in addition to the water rate. Select Board member Andrew Lam agreed, saying the fixed cost is “the only part of the pie we have control over.”
The fixed cost increase of 78% will raise $200,000 in revenue, instead of the $130,000 at the previous amount, and allow for a $0.08 per unit reduction on the water rate. The fixed cost is determined by the size of the pipes that bring water to the meter. Most meters have a pipe diameter of 5/8-in or 3/4-inch. The new quarterly fixed cost for these users would be $7.24. The widest diameter, at 4 inches, would result in a fixed quarterly cost of $205.82.
Select Board member Dan Zwirko argued against this move. Instead, he suggested setting the rate at $4.60 and taking action to change it once the water system study from consulting firm Tighe & Bond has been presented to the Select Board this fall. “They’re the professionals,” he said, adding that the information they provide will allow for “a water rate that makes sense for the town.”
Levine cautioned against this, saying that while he understood the reasoning, a full $4.60 water rate is high. If water rates were suddenly to become comparable to other towns, it would result in “sticker shock” for residents, he said of measures to mitigate the rate. The fixed rate increase would amount to between $12 and $24 for the year for most users, he said.
Despite being the one to broach the topic of a fixed cost change at the July 15 meeting, Select Board member Mark Gold noted that raising the fixed rate puts “an undue burden” on the lowest water users. Nonetheless, he did not have a preferred alternative for the problem at hand.
The number of sewer units a user is charged for is dependent on the water units used. The FY25 sewer rate was set at $3.51 per unit and a cap of 55 units for the quarters that run from April to June and July to September. After 55 units of water are used during these quarters, no additional sewer charges will be incurred during these quarters. This is a method of offsetting the cost of sewer for residents who use water in the warm weather months for irrigation, which does not flow into the sewer for treatment.
Finally, the FY25 rate for stormwater is $8.86 per equivalent residential unit. The town bills all residents one ERU per month.
Board of Registrars
Both the Democratic Town Committee and the Republican Town Committee had put forth candidates — Erin Freed and Peter Benton, respectively — for the vacancy on the Board of Registrars.
Gold explained that the Select Board traditionally appoints two members from one political party and one member from the other, before “flip-flopping” with the next appointment. This is designed to keep the Select Board “nonpartisan.” Following this method, the Republican candidate, Peter Benton, would be appointed.
Zwirko took issue with Benton’s appointment due to social media posts the candidate had made. Zwirko read some of the comments he found unacceptable in a representative of the town. They included questioning Kamala Harris’s identity as an “African American,” comments about the race of a football quarterback, saying “straight pride” was “natural” and calling Democrats “communists.”
“This is about racism, not politics,” Zwirko remarked. Levine agreed and said he would not vote for Benson based on the comments he had made online.
While acknowledging the problematic statements, Gold was hesitant to change the order of appointments to the board. Instead, he suggested reaching out to the Republican Town Committee for an alternate candidate. The board unanimously supported the decision.
Pool chemicals
Resident Tom Shea spoke during the public comment period of the meeting to discuss what he called “reprehensible, tone deaf and insensitive” responses to concerns he raised with Town Manager Lyn Simmons and Hemavathi.
Shea had observed several five-gallon buckets of pool chemicals stored behind a chain link fence in an unlit area near Reynolds Pool in Bliss Park. He stated that the chemicals, which included calcium hypochlorite and cyanuric acid, were stored improperly. While entrance to the area was locked, Shea said the fence is “easily climbable” and referenced an incident in 2023, in which another pool chemical, muriatic acid, was stolen from a locked room, behind a fence, and slashed on the playground equipment at Bliss Park resulting in chemical burns on three children.
In response to correspondence on the matter, Simmons stated in an email that she would have the light examined, and that the chemicals were outdoors temporarily due to work being conducted in the basement of the building. Reaching out to Select Board Chair Vineeth Hemavathi on the topic, the board chair responded by email to state that the issue had been looked into and he was “comfortable with the town’s response.” He suggested Shea contact the state Department of Environmental Protection if unsatisfied with the town’s response. Shea said he may do so.
