EAST LONGMEADOW — East Longmeadow owns 16 buildings, many of which need upgrades. “We can’t replace every old building at once,” Councilor Jonathan Torcia said at the Dec. 10 Town Council meeting. To address this, the council voted to create a Capital Stabilization Account.
East Longmeadow funds its capital improvements — expensive projects that usually are focused on the town’s infrastructure — through a capital plan that is prioritized and overseen by the Capital Planning Committee. Each year, the town budgets between $1 million and $2 million for capital projects, including schools, roads and town buildings.
“There’s never enough money to do all that needs to be done at any given time,” Councilor Kathleen Hill said.
The question of how to finance major town building upgrades and pay for unexpected repairs has been considered in recent years by various committees, including the Finance Oversight Committee and the Capital Planning Committee. Both of them have touched upon the idea of a capital stabilization fund, similar to the town’s existing stabilization fund, which essentially acts as a municipal savings account.
Councilor Marilyn Richards said that the stabilization fund is for use in “catastrophic” situations and suggested the Capital Stabilization Fund would similarly be used for unexpected building damage and needs.
While the council was in agreement about the need to establish the fund, there was debate over the policy that would do so. Hill said the language was “too broad,” and could lead to the account being used by future councils for projects other than unexpected or emergency building needs.
Town Council President Connor O’Shea said that he was wary of “handcuffing ourselves just to building projects.” He said there may be other “large scale capital items that we may have to take action on.” He said the council’s function as the appropriating body would serve as a check on spending money from the fund on unintended purposes. Councilor James Leydon agreed, but said the language should be tweaked to be more clear.
Town Manager Tom Christensen said most big-ticket items will be building related by nature, but there are capital expenses that fall outside that scope. He suggested two separate funds could be created.
Christensen also said the fund could work in coordination with the capital plan, with projects that exceed what is possible with the yearly appropriation for capital projects. He said the council could impose a minimum dollar amount for projects that are eligible for capital stabilization use. Hill suggested a threshold of $500,000.
The council voted to establish the fund and transfer $1 million from the town’s free cash into it. After tightening up the financial policy’s language, the council will vote on it at its first meeting in January.
The town’s stabilization account also received an appropriation of $1.85 million, while $85,000 was added to the Compensated Absences Fund and $570,000 went to Other Post Employment Benefits, which funds retirement benefits, such as health insurance. Each of these allocations came from free cash, which had a balance of nearly $10 million, far exceeding the balance recommended by the town’s financial policy.
Nail salon “club”
The council discussed how to address an incident at Beauty Times, a nail salon at 200 Shaker Rd. In November, the Police and Fire departments responded to the site after a call about an unconscious person, who was later found to be intoxicated. Hill said a second intoxicated individual was found “wandering on the tree belt.”
O’Shea said the police found that a space in the property’s rear, once used as a storeroom when Taylor Rental was there, was being used as a party venue with tables and chairs, a stage and a DJ booth.
“It’s a club. It’s set up as a club,” Richards said, basing her characterization on photos she had seen.
There were more than 80 people on the premises, Hill said. The business owner, who was on site when the incident happened, admitted that the room is used for karaoke on Sundays, according to Hill, who added that using the storeroom for parties was “an accident waiting to happen.”
Torcia said the business owner was “thumbing their nose” at the town and its licensing policy. There are safety requirements for buildings, such as restaurants and entertainment venues, where people gather. A room meant for storage generally does not have the same precautions. Torcia said he was “glad no one was killed.”
A cease-and-desist order was issued to the business. Pierre Chapdelaine, the building’s owner, said he was aware there were gatherings in the building but did not know the size or extent of the events. He assured the council that the business owner recognized that the parties had “gotten out of hand” and was planning to dismantle the party space, moving planned future events to other venues.
As of Dec. 10, Beauty Times’ website, beautytimesnailsalon.com, advertised a “party and private room” for “birthday parties (adult or kids), bridal showers, bachelor or bachelorette parties, office parties,” adding “BYOB is offered and food can be catered in.” However, the link from the homepage has been disabled.
High school savings
Christensen informed the council that the interest rate on the $4.66 million bond anticipatory notice and $94.89 million bond for the new high school came in significantly less than anticipated. When the High School Building Committee pitched the project to voters, they estimated there would be a 5% interest rate on the $177.5 million school and $16.7 million pool. However, the planning of the Finance Department and AA+ bond rating combined to produce a 4% interest rate. Christensen said the difference is equivalent to $25 million in savings for the town and, therefore, taxpayers. The town will bond more toward the project as it progresses.
