Change — or resistance to it — was a common theme in the area in 2024. Reminder Publishing took a look back at some of the stories that took precedence over the past year in East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Hampden and Wilbraham.
What do you think were some of the major storylines of 2024? What important developments do you see in 2025? Let us know in a letter to the editor at news@thereminder.com.
East Longmeadow explores Center Town District
The possibility of a multi-use district in the center of town was resurrected at the Planning Board meeting on March 19. By the end of the year, a steering committee took the first concrete step toward creating the district by mapping out the district’s boundaries, using input from residents.
The town’s Resilient Master Plan, adopted in 2021, set certain goals for the town’s center, including making it a hub for economic development and improving walkability. The plan also called for creating more diverse housing stock.
The idea for a mixed-use district focusing on the rotary had been in the initial stages of development in 2022, spearheaded by then-Planning and Community Development Director Bailey Mitchell. After pushback from residents regarding the possibility of redeveloping Center Field and concerns about taller buildings along Shaker Road, as well as more urgent matters taking precedent, the initiative was put on the back burner.
The purpose of the district being envisioned now would be to create a walkable downtown, with shops, offices, amenities and a variety of housing solutions in a mixed-use space. In East Longmeadow, the anchor of this space would be the rotary.
Several meetings and listening sessions took place throughout the year, to educate the public on the intent of the project and solicit feedback on the vision residents and business owners had for the town.
At the committee’s Dec. 12 meeting, the town’s consultants, Kyle Finnell and Aodhan Hemeon of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, presented 15 potential maps, created by groups of residents at the committee’s previous meeting. After more feedback, the committee went to work, starting the compact core map and tweaking it to include fewer residential properties, adding the Carlin Building and the storage facility that abuts the wetlands alongside the rail trail to the north of the rotary. The border was stretched south to include the properties between the rail trail and Shaker Road, stopping at Chestnut Street. The resulting map creates a district that includes the rotary but is centered west of there.
Assistant Town Manager Rebecca Lisi emphasized that the boundaries could be altered as the process continues. She said the Steering Committee will move on to drafting the bylaw. The map and bylaw will be sent to the Planning Board for public hearings, and eventually, go through the Town Council’s bylaw process. She said there will be plenty of additional opportunities for residents to provide input.
Longmeadow middle school debate rages
Longmeadow’s Williams and Glenbrook middle schools are both in need of replacing and most are in agreement with that fact. However, whether the schools should combine and where that combined school should be located was the source of much debate in town throughout the year.
Longmeadow began working toward a solution to their aging middle schools in 2007, however, the need for a new high school took precedence. In 2015, the school department once again began efforts to enter into an agreement with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to address either Williams or Glenbrook Middle School. That agreement did not come to fruition until 2023.
Meetings and visioning sessions took place to garner public feedback and, ultimately, the Middle School Building Committee settled on a combined school that will be located at the current Williams Middle School property at 410 Williams St. — but not without pushback. Abutters attended meetings and wrote letters to Reminder Publishing opposing the project and later submitted a citizens petition for a warrant article at the fall Town Meeting.
An ad hoc group, Educational Advocates for Responsible Spending, whose members oppose the location of the new middle school, brought the article before voters. It asked the town to “authorize the continued expenditure of funds” for the new school “at the site of the existing Williams Middle School” but also “not restrict the expenditure of funds by the town for activities related to rehabilitation, renovation or reconstruction of the present Williams Middle School at the current scale and enrollment level, or for activities related to the construction of a combined middle school at another site.”
Despite being phrased in the affirmative, the petitioner, Michael Kallock, asked that voters reject the article.
After conferring with town counsel regarding the article in October, Town Moderator Rebecca Townsend said the language in the citizen’s petition was not “actionable,” and it was therefore considered a resolution.
Voters overwhelmingly supported the middle school project, voting in favor of the resolution and thwarting the efforts of EARS by a count of 434-96.
Wilbraham Senior Center opens to the public
In March, the new Wilbraham Senior Center opened to the public for the first time.
After years of controversy surrounding the location and cost of the new building, ground was broken for the $13.46 million Senior Center on Feb. 10, 2023.
For 20 years prior, Wilbraham had been leasing 3,800 square feet of space at the Scantic Valley YMCA for use by the Senior Center and Veterans Services. The programs and services offered to older residents had been largely dependent on available space and whether rooms were in use by the YMCA.
The new space is 15,000 square feet and includes an exercise room, cafe, library, multi-purpose room, activity rooms, and cafeteria and full commercial kitchen.
The ceremonial groundbreaking for the new building took place on Feb. 10, 2023. The project had been debated and discussed for 12 years prior.
East Longmeadow High School construction begins
In November, elected officials, members of the East Longmeadow School Department, students and professionals from every stage of the East Longmeadow High School project hoisted shovelfuls of dirt to celebrate the project’s groundbreaking.
The high school, with its extensive and expensive problems, was accepted into the MSBA’s core program more than four years ago. The MSBA is reimbursing the town for $82 million of the $177.5 million project. The town is also funding a separate $16.7 million pool project for the campus.
Voters approved a debt override in November 2023 to fund the project. The Planning Board approved the site plan for the project in May.
Construction on the new school will be finished in 2026, with the existing school razed and the campus finished 12-18 months later.
Longmeadow moves closer to fiber
In December, the Longmeadow Select Board voted to sign an intergovernmental agreement with the South Hadley Electric Light Department, which operates the Fiberspring fiber optic internet service provider, another step forward in its quest to create a town-owned network.
Longmeadow’s first Town Meeting vote to establish a municipal light plant took place in May. In November, residents voted again at the fall Town Meeting to establish a municipal light plant and use $491,444 in available funds for the preliminary design of a townwide fiber optic internet system and the roughly 2,000 pole permits required to make those designs a reality.
Because SHELD is owned by South Hadley, the design and engineering plans will be covered under an intergovernmental agreement between it and Longmeadow. A second intergovernmental agreement would be negotiated to cover construction of the network. SHELD partners with Holyoke Gas & Electric to install the “middle mile,” bringing the fiber into town. SHELD would oversee the “final mile” installation, as the project manager.
The network buildout is expected to take up to five years and to cost $25 million.
When the Select Board met with representatives from Fiberspring in September, it was estimated that a take rate of higher than 40% would be needed to break even and closer to 50% would be required to turn a profit for the town.
Wilbraham and East Longmeadow are other area communities seeking an alternative to commercial internet providers. Wilbraham voters approved the creation of a municipal light plant in 2014, but the town still does not have municipal broadband service. Unlike Longmeadow, Wilbraham is pursuing “open-access” structure, in which the town would own the infrastructure and ISPs would contract with the town to offer their internet service over the municipal fiber lines.
Hampden residents reject Senior Center expansion
A capacity audience at the Hampden fall Town Meeting rejected for a third time an effort to put on the next ballot a question approving a Proposition 2 1/2 override to borrow money to pay for renovations and expansion of the town’s Senior Center.
This project was also brought forward at the May 13 Town Meeting with a $6.55 million proposal. A majority of residents voted against this proposal at the Town Meeting as well as at the May 20 Town Election, noting concerns with the project’s cost and the amount of usage at the center.
The revised plan that was brought forward in the fall had a projected total cost of $5.9 million. While this plan still included the $1.7 million in needed renovation work at the building, such as making the bathrooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, replacing the building’s roof, adding storage space, replacing windows, and installing new sprinkler and HVAC systems, it also allowed for an expansion of the building to accommodate the center’s growing usage.
Residents opposing the project said the impact of borrowing that amount of money would result in an increase of property taxes. On a home valued $370,000 there could be an annual increase of $225 and $314.
A motion to reduce the amount borrowed to $1.8 million, which would cover the cost of some of the renovations, was also defeated.
East Longmeadow warehouse denied … again
After hearing the case for and against a warehouse proposed for 330 Chestnut St. for a second time, the East Longmeadow Planning Board came to the same conclusion it had in June 2023 — denied.
The project had been approved on May 2, 2023, reconsidered two weeks later and denied in June 2023. The petitioners, East Longmeadow Redevelopers LLC, brought the case to Land Court. The judge, the developers and the Fields at Chestnut Condominium Trust, which spearheaded the opposition to the project, agreed to return the issue to the Planning Board because the agenda for the meeting on May 16, 2023, was deficient and did not adequately inform the public of the discussion that would take place. The board reopened the public hearing on Jan. 16, striking everything after May 2, 2023, from the record.
At the final public hearing on the matter, on Feb. 20, Planning Board Chair Russel Denver explained that the board is limited in the factors it can consider in a site plan review. Among them are protection of the abutting properties, traffic and pedestrian safety, disposal of sewage and stormwater, protection of wetlands and agricultural land, landscaping, consistency with the town’s Master Plan and compliance with laws and bylaws.
As they had at previous meetings, members of the public, mainly from the Fields at Chestnut, made the case that the traffic associated with the project would pose a danger, specifically at the already busy intersection of Chestnut Street and Shaker Road.
The vote was 3-0 to deny the site plan. Although Planning Board member William Fonseca attended the meeting, he abstained from the discussion and vote as he was not a part of the board during the project’s initial site plan review. Denver noted that he expected the matter to be brought back to Land Court.
Longmeadow welcomes new fire chief
The Longmeadow Fire Department has a new leader with a familiar face. Chief John Rigney took command of the department on Nov. 22.
Rigney replaced former Chief John Dearborn, who retired after nearly 30 years with the department. The Select Board approved Rigney’s appointment at its Oct. 10 meeting.
Rigney has been with the Longmeadow Fire Department for 26 years and has been involved with daily operations since becoming a captain in 2016.
Originally from Wilbraham, Rigney attended Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding and day school in Franklin County, before going on to St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont. He joined St. Michael’s Fire & Rescue and after four years learning the ropes there, he was hired by the Longmeadow Fire Department in June 1998.
Since then, Rigney has risen through the ranks of the department, becoming deputy fire chief in 2023.
