LONGMEADOW — The town of Longmeadow will hold its Town Meeting on Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. in the Longmeadow High School gymnasium.
There are 19 articles on the warrant, including some that seek funding for capital expenses and two that would change the town’s bylaws.
Article 2 would change the town’s bylaw regarding snow and ice removal. Residents are required to make the sidewalks in front of their property passable within 24 hours of snowfall. Currently, there is a $10 fine for failure to do so. By accepting state law Chapter 40U, the town would set a new violation fee schedule, with a first fine of $50, and subsequent fines of $125 and $200 every 24 hours thereafter.
At the Oct. 20 Select Board meeting, board member Dan Zwirko remarked on the dramatic fine increase and asked about providing education for the public before assessing the fines. Town Manager Lyn Simmons acknowledged that residents would be made aware of the expectation to clear sidewalks and said collecting fees was “not the point.” It is mainly an incentive to encourage people to shovel or sand sidewalks for safety purposes.
Article 3 may seem familiar to voters. At the annual Town Meeting on May 13, amendments to the floodplain zone bylaw were proposed that would bring the town into compliance with state law. That version of the bylaw was defeated, largely due to residents in the floodplain not wanting more restrictions.
This time, the town is working to educate the public about the bylaw amendments and answer questions before Town Meeting. Public information sessions were hosted on Oct. 7 and Oct. 22. The changes are largely for the purpose of clarity, such as offering definitions of terms, specifying the building commissioner as the floodplain management administrator and updating references to out-of-date maps.
More substantively, while building in the floodplain zone already requires a permit, the amendment will require proof of compliance with state, local and federal permits. These include regulations on flood-resistant construction and wetlands protection.
“Lawfully pre-existing buildings would not be affected,” Assistant Town Manager Michael Barbieri said, “unless they proposed a substantial improvement or addition. The amended bylaw also spells out the process for obtaining a variance and the impacts one might have on flood insurance.” Questions about the floodplain bylaw can be directed to Associate Planner Dean Syeed at dsyeed@longmeadowma.gov.
Article 4 would establish a revolving account for DPW electric and energy improvements and set the expenditure limit for the account at $1 million.
“We purchase solar credits from a large solar facility that’s privately owned. We apply them to our streetlight accounts,” Simmons explained to Reminder Publishing. She said buying solar credits helps municipalities reach their sustainability goals, as well as costing less than paying the electric bill for each kilowatt-hour. Before Longmeadow bought its streetlights from Eversource in 2019 and converted them to LEDs, the town used all the solar credits. After switching, the town’s energy usage dropped dramatically and the solar credits began accruing. “We’re buying more credits than we could use,” Simmons said.
At the Oct. 20 meeting, Simmons said the town “cashed out” its credits with NuGen, the solar energy producer Simmons said, and instead of accumulating credits on its electric account, Longmeadow will receive a monthly check for about $70,000. Similarly, Eversource has agreed to a one-time cash out of the credits the town owns, which are worth roughly $880,000 as of press time. A separate net metering agreement with the town of Deerfield will continue unchanged.
If that money goes into the general fund in fiscal year 2026, it will not be available to spend until FY26 free cash is certified in fall 2026. However, if a revolving account is set up for the DPW’s electric and energy improvements, the funds will be available immediately and can be spent to pay for the town’s electric usage and any energy-related capital projects. Because the DPW has about $300,000 budgeted for its electric usage, Simmons said that money could then be redirected to capital projects, including chillers for air conditioning systems and mini-split heat pumps.
Select Board member Andrew Lam told the Finance Committee that not waiting for Town Meeting to approve use of free cash allows the town to be “more nimble” in its response to emergencies.
Article 5 addresses the windows at Center School. In 2022, Town Meeting approved $300,000 of community preservation funding for the window replacement. However, more detailed estimates revealed the work would cost far more than initially expected. The town has since submitted a letter of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which reimburses municipalities for a portion of the costs associated with school building construction or repairs. If accepted into the program, the remaining $290,000 of community preservation funding would be used toward the cost of an MSBA feasibility study of the windows.
Articles 9 and 10 ask to borrow money for water and sewer work on Western Drive and the neighborhood abutting it, which have been identified as a priority on the DPW capital plan. Performing the water and sewer work prior to planned road paving saves the town from having to tear up newly laid asphalt. Article 9 asks for authority to borrow $8.5 million for water main replacements, while the sewers would be slip-lined for $2.5 million.
Another water-related project is the replacement of water meters, which has been on the town’s capital plan for several years. The meters are at the end of their useful lives, and their built-in batteries are beginning to fail. The new meters, which would require borrowing $1.5 million, would have a life span of 10 years, and are able to remotely send readings to the DPW, so staff will no longer need to drive by to read the meters.
Article 12 requests that the $400,000 settlement from the lawsuit between the town and the previous owner of the Dwight Road DPW site be used toward the cost of demolishing the former DPW facility on Pondside Drive. This money would bridge the gap between the funding for demolition set aside when the new DPW was built, and the more than $1 million the work is estimated to cost.
At the May Town Meeting, voters approved $150,000 to repair the Longmeadow High School pool, which had been out of commission since August 2024. The town made two attempts to find a company to perform the work within budget, only to have the lowest bid come in at $360,000. To avoid further delays in the pool’s operation, $220,000 from the traffic/streetlight account was used to make up the difference. Article 14 would replenish the account with available funds.
The town was awarded an $824,325 reimbursement grant to renovate the Bliss Park playground, which has a total project cost of $1.64 million. In 2024, Town Meeting voted to appropriate the remaining $824,325, and $467,500 was funded from community preservation monies. Article 15 asks for $356,825 to fund the remainder of the town’s grant match.
Article 17 would authorize the appropriation of $500,000 to pay for easements related to the Longmeadow Street resurfacing and improvement project being performed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. There would be 2,643 temporary easements, which are generally only in effect during and immediately after construction. One permanent easement of 752 square feet is also planned.
