Christine Swanson Resigns from Longmeadow Select Board

Below is the resignation email letter from Christine Swanson that was read by chair Mark Gold at last night's Select Board meeting.
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Dear Board Members and residents of Longmeadow,

I will be resigning from the Longmeadow Select Board effective the evening of January 3, 2012.  It has been a pleasure and an honor serving the last 6 years as a member of the Select Board, School Committee and School Building Committee.

For my fellow board members, the past year has served as an opportunity to examine and learn from our mistakes and successes.  My observations and participation on the board have provided me with greater clarity on the issues and challenges that continue to prevent the board from moving forward.   Here are a few of my suggestions:

1. No one board member has greater power or influence over any other board member.  Without collaboration and greater communication, issues will continue to go unresolved.
   
2. Trust is a large issue and continued undermining and backdooring of issues will further exacerbate this issue.
   
3. Personal agendas and future political aspirations should be put aside to allow the board to focus on the critical issues of the town as a whole not one sub set of the population for political or personal gain.
   
4. Separation of operations and policy must be adhered to and Board members getting involved in the day to day operations of the town is not the board’s charge and damaging to the employed leaders.
   
5. Town committees serve as advisory to the select board.  They do not override the expertise of the town employees but should enhance the information and data.  Continued antagonistic relationships between town departments and some town committees needs to be addressed.
   
6. The School Building Committee is a great example of how collaboration works when a team is comprised of town employees, vendors, elected board members and residents.  It should serve as a model going forward.
   
7. Lastly, I do hope that the board takes their time and does the proper due diligence in the hiring of a new Town Manager.  Recent hires by “hiring committees” have shown that there is room for improvement in the current process and the hiring committee needs to do the appropriate level of research to learn all they can about a candidate before they are offered a position.  

I wish everyone all the best in the future and look forward to seeing the completion of Longmeadow High School in 2013.

Warmest Regards,
Christine Swanson

A good decision!

There has been recent criticism by Alex Grant and others regarding the cost of tree debris cleanup for our town. I believe that our Select Board made a wise decision in electing to use Ashbritt to clean up tree related debris from our town streets.

Can you imagine our DPW crews trying to collect the large volume of tree debris from the streets of Longmeadow with their current equipment fleet?

Longmeadow DPW

vs.

AshBritt Environmental Services

According to recent AshBritt/ O'Brien estimates, 285,000 cubic yds of tree debris ranging from limbs and branches to 3-4' diameter tree sections were collected. Using an estimate of ~ 60 yd3 per collection vehicle, this amounts to ~ 4800 truckloads.

Using our DPW fleet of aging bucket loaders and dump trucks (+ other local contractors) it would have taken a very long time to complete this task. In addition, these types of vehicles are not well suited to tree debris pickup and would require significantly more time.

I'm sure that some of the much larger volume of tree debris collected for our town (vs. surrounding towns) was a result of town residents taking advantage of the curbside collection when they were cleaning up their own properties to reduce their own personal cleanup costs.

Using a figure of $2.5 million after FEMA reimbursement, this calculates to ~ $500/ homeowner which is reasonable given the widespread tree damage that hit our town during this storm. The final pricetag could be significantly lower if MEMA and the state of MA ante up some reimbursement funds for Longmeadow and surrounding towns.

In less than 2 months all of the tree debris has been removed from the 90+ miles of town streets including the large piles of wood chips that were generated at Wolf Swamp Road fields.  See photo below:

From what I have observed, I believe that the decision to use AshBritt was a good one and our town has quickly recovered from this effects of this devastating storm.... the money was well spent.

Can you imagine the condition of our town if we had experienced another major snowstorm in November or early December and had decided to use our DPW and local contractors to save money?

Line Item Transfers

During the course of school year the Longmeadow School Committee routinely makes a series of line item transfers to modify the allocation of budgeted monies.  These changes are usually developed by the SC Finance Sub-Committee and then presented to the full SC and adopted without much discussion.  SC meeting minutes usually do not include the details and only reference a document that is called FY2012 General Fund Revision #__ or FY2012 Grant/ Special Revenues Revision #__.

At the SC meeting last Monday night (12/12/11) there was an agenda item to discuss and approve three General Fund line item transfers- two of which included movement of budget dollars to be utilized for purposes different than originally targeted.

Here is an outline of the three line item transfers as best I could understand from the discussion...

Transfer #1-  Transfer $2500 from Williams Middle School "supplies" line item for the purchase of 5 new Apple iPads.
Transfer #2- Correct line item mistake for a Bookkeeper salary (simple entry error)
Transfer #3- Transfer $47,000 from two "salary" line items to be used for the purchase of 2 MacBook computer carts.

I credit new committee member Jim Desrochers for initiating a more thorough discussion of Transfers #1 and #3.  Without this discussion much of the detail would have been missing from public view.

Below are the highlights:

1. Williams Middle School received 2 iPad carts (50 iPads) as part of a larger School Dept technology purchase.  They now want 5 more iPads to be used by teachers to develop lesson plans and not have to share with students and worry about having to recharge them after they had been used all day in the classroom.  Transfer #1 takes $2500 originally allocated to supplies and moves it to purchase computer hardware.
   
   
2. LEEF provided grant money to Center/ Wolf Swamp ES for the purchase of 2 MacBook computer carts.  However, this money was used to fund the purchase of 4 -iPad carts (25 iPads each, total = 100) rather than being used for the intended purpose.  Teachers at Center and Wolfswamp Schools objected to this "repurposing" of LEEF funds so a transfer of funds of $47K from two budgeted salary lines is being proposed to correct the "error" and purchase 2 MacBook computer carts.  The 4- iPad carts will remain at Center School and Wolfswamp schools to be used in classrooms.
   
   According to the Superintendent Doyle, there was some miscommunication between the schools and the IT department about what type of "computing devices" were to be purchased.  Since the money used was provided by LEEF for a specific purpose, there is a need to purchase the two MacBook computer carts.
   
   
3. Mr. Desrochers asked an interesting question:
   If Transfer #3 is needed to correct a mistake because 100 iPads were purchased by "mistake", then why is there is a need to purchase 5 additional iPads (Transfer #1)?
   
   It was explained by Superintendent Doyle that taking 5 iPads from the carts would cause problems with not having enough iPads per classroom and interfere with instruction.

Below is a LCTV video clip (courtesy of LCTV) with the discussion that accompanied this agenda item.

It is worth watching this short video clip to hear additional comments by Ms. Jester and Mr. Desrochers.  Here are a couple of quotes...

Mr. Desrochers stated...  "technology is a thing that everyone is focused on... but it might not be the right thing to spend our money on"

In closing remarks on this subject, Ms. Jester said:  "we need to be cognizant of the expectation by the community that we do not see unexpended funds as kind of a 'candy shop' and a new way to spend money... there is an expectation that we will turn back unexpended funds at the end of the year."

The three proposed General Fund line item transfers were approved by the SC.

Let's hope that this latest series of line item transfers is not the beginning of how the School Committee plans to fund the School Department's growing appetite for new technology!

Miracles really do happen!

Longmeadow Knights head to Nationals at Disney!

It’s usually this time of year when one notices a miracle somewhere, and it’s been one miracle after another for the Longmeadow Knights, this small town’s Cheerleader Competition Team. Placing second, and only .5 points away from first, in a qualifying competition in Boston recently, the Longmeadow Knights qualified for nationals and received a bid to attend the National High School Cheerleading Competition at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, February 11-12, 2012. The NHSCC is considered the most prestigious cheerleading championship in the country. This ESPN-hosted event is nationally televised on ESPN and ESPN2 to over 100 million homes and 32 countries nationwide each year.

It was truly a miracle that brought them to this moment. Before their qualifying performance in Boston, the cheerleaders awoke with a message from their Coach, Jessica Prokup, that one of their flyers had a badly hurt ankle, leaving the team uncertain as to the day ahead. With the high morale and spirit the team has consistently shown, the team travelled to Boston with the hope they might perform all the while anxious for their teammate, who was blessed to have a parent in tow with sports therapy skills. They wouldn’t know until moments before the performance that they were going before the panel of judges, but perform they did! Maybe it was for their wounded flyer that they performed so well, or maybe they just realized how incredible they’ve become as a team. After they finished their choreography, not one cheerleader was looking at the board to see where they placed, only at each other with relieved faces and hearts that they completed their performance. Their devotion to each other was sincere and not a dry eye from the team’s fans was found. The fact that the Knights placed second and so close to first place afterward only added to the miracle they believe will continue as they head to Orlando. It’s a significant year because half of the team will be leaving for high school next year, and this is their last opportunity to perform at such a prestigious level together.

With only two months to plan, the expenses for this Longmeadow team of 22 girls, in grades 4 - 8, are costly. The girls are trying to raise donations to help offset the expenditures of this once-in-a-life time experience and only have two months to do it.  

They are asking for support from local businesses and individuals who wish to be a part of the event by sponsoring the team in Orlando. Sponsors will receive recognition.

These cheerleaders are grateful to represent Longmeadow and the State of Massachusetts and would love to do so in the best way possible. Team spirit is soaring while the girls visit the community to seek their support. 

Read a  Letter to Potential Sponsors
Submit a Sponsor Application

For additional information on sponsorship or to learn more about the Longmeadow Knights, please contact longmeadowknights@gmail.com

Tree Debris Pickup and Reprocessing Nears Completion

According to Bill Johnson, Senior Project Manager for AshBritt Environmental, tree debris pickup on Longmeadow town streets will be completed by the end of this week. The pile of wood chips currently located on the WS playing fields is scheduled to be removed by year end. The collection crews will take a Christmas break and will return to finish cleanup in town parks, etc. Total debris estimate is ~ 270,000 cubic yards.

Below is a video of the tree debris reprocessing operations at Wolf Swamp Road fields...

SC Considers New Social Media Policy

The Longmeadow School Committee led by member Michael Clark is working to create a new social media and networking policy for both students and teachers- one that better reflects the changes that are happening today in our rapidly changing world.  The SC recognizes the need for a more updated policy given the introduction of more advanced computer technology and resources for our students.

Last Wednesday, November 30 a public forum was held at Longmeadow HS to discuss the directions of this new policy and to obtain feedback by parents and others.

As you will see in the video below (another huge thank you to LCTV for sharing it) there are many strong opinions on both sides of this issue.  The issue feels alot like the early discussions regarding the inclusion of sex education in our school curriculum.  At this public forum some objections were voiced against any inclusion of any social media as part of the classroom... particularly with regard to the use of Facebook.  There was also strong support for educating our children (as well as parents) about the use of all social media and the need for watching your online digital identity.  Development of a new comprehensive social media policy will not be easy.

Feedback can be sent directly to Michael Clark at mclark@longmeadow.k12.ma.us.

Season's Greetings

A town leader responds....

Mark Gold responds to Alex Grant's opinion column that appeared in the November 24 edition of the Longmeadow News.  Mr. Gold is the chairman of the Longmeadow Select Board.  This letter represents his opinions and not necessarily those of the entire Select Board.
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To the Editor,

I read with interest Alex Grant’s column (Longmeadow fleeced) on the Opinion page of the November 24th edition of the Longmeadow News in which he is critical of the cost of the post-storm clean-up.  As usual, Mr. Grant pulled no punches in getting to the heart of the matter.   As I was reading the article I couldn’t help but say to myself, “What on earth would compel our town leaders to enter into such a terrible contract?  What WERE they thinking?”  But then I realized that although I didn’t know what THEY were thinking, I did know what I was thinking, and probably ought to share those thoughts with the readers of Mr. Grant’s column.  So here goes.  What I was thinking was that:

1. On November 1st, the town of Longmeadow was in a public safety crisis.  Many of our streets were narrowed by the debris still clogging the sides of the streets.  Broken and hanging branches dangled over our public roadways and sidewalks making travel hazardous and threatening the safety of our children who would soon, for the most part, be walking or riding their bicycles to school.  Cars could barely drive down many of our streets without being scratched on the sides or the roof from protruding branches.  Many sidewalks were in fact impassable.  There was an estimated ¼ of a million cubic yards (since increased) of storm debris in town that needed to be removed.  There could be no tolerance for a delay in assuring and securing the safety of our residents as they travel through town.  If you think the clean-up is expensive, try settling a lawsuit from someone who is hit by a falling tree branch because of a delay in the clean-up.
   
2. Lacking the clairvoyance of what the upcoming weather would be (or the hindsight we now have), it was a sure thing that if another snowstorm occurred prior to the debris being removed from our streets and public ways, the narrow roadways and high snow banks of last February would look like broad avenues and mole hills compared to what we would face for the next four or five months.  Time was of the essence in getting the debris removed from our streets.
   
3. There was only one approved “pre-bid” contract for debris removal of this magnitude.  Yes, I would have preferred to have had several choices on the company to award this contract, but Ashbritt was the only contractor with the foresight AND RESOURCES to have pre-bid on the contract.  Taking 60 days to specify, bid and award an alternate contract was time we just didn’t seem to have.  Is $31 per yard for removal excessive?  I don’t know.  Unlike the Katrina effort quoted in Mr. Grant’s article, this price includes curb-side removal, and chipping the debris, and removal from town.  Neither the town DPW nor any other contractors we queried had the number of specialized trucks that would be necessary to clear this debris in a timely manner.  Although Mr. Grant may think that we are only paying for “at most a couple of dozen people working on this tree removal job in Longmeadow”, the facts are that with a crew of 4 for each bucket truck and two for each clean-up truck, the number is a lot closer to 75 people than to 25 people on the job.  Mr. Grant statement that “one could employ a virtual army of say, unemployed workers, to take chain saws or even hand saws, and clean up this tree debris faster and more cheaply than we are paying Ashbritt” grossly underestimates the size of the “virtual army” that would be required.  And, oh by the way, who would be purchasing the chain saws for this army?  Who would be providing the trucks, the fuel and the supervision for this army?  I for one am not in favor of hiring untrained individuals, handing them chain saws and telling them to climb trees and cut indiscriminately.  Mr. Grant’s full employment approach to solving this problem may have worked in 1932 with the WPA, but it wouldn’t work in 2011.  And don’t forget, disagree with it though we might, Longmeadow would need to pay prevailing (not minimum) wages (and benefits) to this “virtual army” as required by state law. And, in addition to these 75 or so workers, we are also paying for the 15 specialized debris removal trucks, a dozen or more bucket trucks, the tub grinder and pay loaders that are moving and processing the material at Wolf Swamp fields, and all the other specialized equipment it takes to do a job of this magnitude.  Equating the $13 million estimate to labor costs alone is disingenuous.  Without the horsepower that came with the contract, no amount of manpower was going to clean this town in a reasonable amount of time. 
4. Oh, by the way, the town does have a tree service contract that we use to maintain the trees on town tree belts.  The cost to cut down trees under that contract (the only direct comparison we have with the Ashbritt contract) is higher per tree than what we are paying under the Ashbritt contract.  Maybe we could have extended that contract but that would have required that the contractor had or could subcontract for enough equipment to meet our timing requirements.  Remember, Longmeadow wasn’t the only town seeking tree cutting and debris clearing resources at this time.
   
5. The clean-up job was more than the town could handle on our own.  We had neither the equipment nor the manpower to pick up what is now an estimated 275,000 cubic yards of debris and cut the thousands of “hangers” in a timely manner.  Ashbritt is indeed serving as a general contractor for several aspects of the job, hiring other firms to trim the trees that overhang our streets and sidewalks in order to make them safe for our children to go to school and our vehicles to drive through town.  Our DPW management team of three (reduced by one person due to retirement prior to the storm) just doesn’t have the resources to manage the multitude of contracts or contractors that have proven to be necessary to clear our town.  Our ability to deal with just one contractor (Ashbritt) has value to the town, and with that value comes added costs.
   
6. The cost of “monitoring” the job may seem unnecessary, and even excessive, but it’s a requirement if the town wants to be eligible for reimbursement by FEMA.  Do I agree with this cost?  Do I like it?  It doesn’t matter, those are the rules.  Do the job without the monitors and you pay 100% of the cost.  Hire the monitors (for what is turning out to be about 4% of the overall cost of the clean-up) and you qualify for 75% Federal reimbursement.  This decision didn’t require a rocket scientist to figure out we needed to include monitors.
   
7. The $13 million dollars referred to in Mr. Grant’s column was an estimate.  At the time it was made we didn’t know if the final costs would be higher or lower than that estimate.  The most recent cost estimate is now $11,227,000.  Still very high, but that just shows the uncertainty of what we were dealing with at the time the decision was made.  We just could not afford the luxury of waiting to get a pinpoint estimate of costs before we began the clean-up.  As it was, residents were (and still are) calling daily to inquire as to when their street will be cleared.  Telling residents that the clean-up of debris would have to wait until spring so that we could get the lowest possible and most accurate price, or use manual instead of automated clean-up methods, just wasn’t an option.
   
   
8. Mr. Grant’s last statement is “Ashbritt’s subcontractors will be happy to sell [firewood generated from the downed trees] back to us for even more profit”.  This statement is incorrect.  The debris is ours.  If anyone wants to purchase this mixed debris, please call the DPW to arrange to do so.  Truck loads only.  I think this is what is called a “glut” or a “buyer’s market”.  We literally can’t even give the material away to the biomass fuel plants.  It’s green wood, and contains a lot of pine resins, not really the best of fuel.  But it’s ours if we want to figure out something to do with it.  For my thinking, I just want it to go away.

So those are some of the things I was thinking when I was one of the five town leaders who approved the contract with Ashbritt.  According to Mr. Grant’s article it was ”a very bad deal”.  I disagree.  It was neither a good deal nor a bad deal, it was a necessary deal; one based on the need to secure public safety in a timely manner.  More importantly it was a deal I’d approve again given the same timing and circumstances. 

Mark P. Gold

Don't Blame Our Town Leaders!

Read Full Story

In his latest opinion column in the Longmeadow News Alex Grant contends that our town leaders did a disservice to our town because they acted too quickly with a disregard to ultimate costs. Given the widespread storm damage and need for extensive cleanup in Longmeadow as well as most other towns in Western Mass and a large portion of CT, I believe that our town leaders made a good decision.

I've looked at the latest cleanup costs and have taken a different prospective from Mr. Grant...

If Longmeadow had not acted quickly to hire AshBritt Inc., the cleanup process would likely have taken much longer and be extended into the springtime.  What a mess that would be if the coming winter season is anything like last year!

AshBritt Environmental is a national turn key rapid-response disaster recovery contractor (from their website). They provide fast track logistics and contracted deployable resources for cleanup situations just like what we have experienced.  There are not many companies with this capability in the Northeastern US.

I believe that not only is AshBritt the only contractor approved by FEMA, it is the only MA state approved vendor that can be hired without using the formal bid process which can take up to one month.

If you take a closer look at the disposal costs as Mr. Grant has done, it might sound like the cost is too high.  However, here is my analysis....

Assume that the volume for the average debris pickup truck is ~ 60 cubic yards.  With the total debris volume now estimated at 275,000 cubic yards, each truckload costs the town ~ $1900 for disposal.

With a total estimated cost of $11.9 million and Longmeadow's share after reimbursement of $2.5 million, this translates to a final cost ~ $500/ property owner.

The state of MA and FEMA should work with AshBritt and other companies interested in this business to make this process more competitive and cost effective.

Just don't blame our town leaders for making a hasty decision.  They made the right decision!

Updated storm related cleanup costs

Some good news...

The latest projections of storm related debris cleanup costs are lower (see earlier report).  The total cost (worst case scenario) is estimated to be $11.9 million with Longmeadow's share after reimbursement of $2.5 million.  Below is a summary report issued on 11/18/11 from Fire Chief Eric Madison.