Here is the rest of the story....

In this morning's Springfield Republican Local section there was a short item about a lawsuit between the Town of Longmeadow and a Longmeadow homeowner involving a "stone wall" zoning bylaw issue that according to court records has been in litigation since 2005.

 

Here is a quote from yesterday's ruling by the Massachusetts State Court of Appeals...

Background facts and proceedings
"We summarize the essential and undisputed facts. The plaintiff's two-family residence sits on a six-sided corner lot at Longmeadow Street and Fernleaf Avenue in Longmeadow. The front and side yards of the lot are maintained as lawn space; the angled strip of back yard is heavily wooded. In 2004, the plaintiff constructed an approximately two-foot high, L-shaped stone wall on his front and side yards, adjacent to Longmeadow Street and Fernleaf Avenue. Bordering streets are heavily trafficked and the plaintiff constructed the wall to provide an enclosed play area for his tenant's children. As the parties agreed and the judge found, "the wall, at its closest points, is approximately seventy feet from Longmeadow Street and forty feet from Fernleaf Avenue. The wall does not interfere with drivers' visibility from either street." Construction was nearly complete when the town's building commissioner notified the plaintiff that the fence was in violation of art. IV, § K, of the by-law because it was within the primary setback of the residence. After receiving the notice, the plaintiff briefly ceased construction but thereafter completed construction of the wall and then applied for a variance to allow it to remain in place. The board denied the application, and the plaintiff appealed to Superior Court, pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 7. Prior to commencement of the trial, his counsel requested a ruling that "the evidence supports a finding that the Zoning Bylaw can reasonably be interpreted to allow the stone wall as constructed without a variance."

Yesterday's Massachusetts Court of Appeals ruling: "Because the plaintiff's wall is not nearer than forty feet to the line of either street upon which his lot fronts, he is entitled to build his wall as of right and a variance is not necessary."

I suspect that this lawsuit has cost the town of Longmeadow a significant amount of money. As I read the court ruling it seemed that the town's zoning bylaw had some significant language and clarity issues (from yesterday's court ruling- "The by-law is not a model of clarity.")

The Town of Longmeadow lost the initial contest in Massachusetts Superior Court wherein the judge determined that "the board's denial of the variance was unreasonable."

Given that stone walls are a key part of the New England landscape and this particular stone wall fit very nicely into its surroundings... one would guess that it has been there for a long time.

It seems that this entire episode was a waste of the town precious financial resources and a variance should have been granted to the homeowner.

Q & A with Kathy Grady

What's the story with the Town Manager's contract?

The Town Manager’s contract has been approved by the Select Board. It is a 3-year contract with a 0% raise until June 30, 2010. Yes, 0%. (And the Town Manager gets no steps so that is a real 0.) As many employees and employers are deciding this year, job security is more important than a raise. Any future raises are at the discretion of the Select Board. Contract approval followed the Chair’s reading of a summary of the individual members' evaluations of the Town Manager’s performance. There was unanimity that the Town Manager does an excellent job in the day-to-day operations of the town. Some members had concerns about communication. The most important impact of this contract agreement may be with the department heads and bargaining units in town. It sets a sound example of how to deal with a very uncertain fiscal future.

Will there be a big budget fight on the floor of Town Meeting?

So far, it does not look like it. The Select Board has agreed to give an additional $117,000 in free cash to balance the School Department’s 2010 budget provided the School Department returns unexpended funds from the current budget. In addition, the Select Board, at the request of the School Committee, took $150,000 set aside in the Capital Budget for painting Center School and transferred it to the schools to prevent some of the layoffs. Both boards have approved this budget. The Finance Committee will make its recommendation on the floor of town meeting. Hopefully, peace will prevail.

How much are my water and sewer bills going up and why?

Water and sewer bills are going up because of capital needs. The basic operating costs will not be higher than the current year. But we have a system that is very, very, VERY old in many parts, with some pipes 90 years old. A study last year by Tighe and Bond showed that it would cost many millions of dollars to do what needs to be done. We can’t do it all anytime soon, but we must start.

The Select Board had before it a proposal that called for a substantial investment in capital improvements ($5,000,000 the first year). Of course, these needs would be bonded over 20 years so the real cost per year is hundreds of thousands of dollars, not millions. Still, given the financial problems of the town and the residents, the Select Board postponed most of these projects. There was strong agreement that we should invest in radio-read meters. Once these meters are installed, they can be read in one long day by having a staff person drive slowly down each street while the meter sends the usage information to the laptop in the car. Then, when rates do go up, everyone’s go up on the same day. Quarterly billing is a possibility. Leak detection will improve. Most important, we will all be more confident that our billing is correct. In addition, a couple of small capital projects were also approved. The others will have to be phased in, probably one at a time. UNLESS, we get stimulus money.

Another budget item was additional money for a reserve fund for water and sewer. In the proposal, it was set at a percentage of operating costs. The need for an emergency reserve is clear, especially with so many unmet capital needs. We have all seen the emergency water main breaks and sewer backups around town. The Select Board decided to ask for $5 each for water and sewer to build up a reserve fund. This amount will be added to the current $10 administrative cost which appears on each bill.

So, with these decisions made, we knew the amount of money that must be raised through the rates. How the rates are structured raises many questions. Should the rate for water increase with usage (a conservation rate)? Should there be a flat rate for having water and sewer service at all? Flat rates that have been proposed are $186 or $360 each year per household. The conservation rate would disproportionately affect high users; the flat rate would disproportionately affect low users. The Select Board decided to stay with a single rate, as we now have, and raise it by the amount needed to meet the budget. The result is that the charge per 100 cubic feet of water will increase from $1.76 to $2.11, and the charge for sewer will remain at $2.50 with a cap of 220 units.

Should there be a separate elected water and sewer commission as is proposed on the Town Meeting warrant?

Over the past three years the Select Board has had advice from three groups of experts: a paid consultant group, a citizen group of mainly financial people, and a group made up of our DPW experts, the Chief Financial Officer and the Town Manager. We learned different things from each report, and each was valuable. However, only the Select Board takes into account all the factors affecting citizens, including the burden of property taxes and user fees (all of which are set by the Select Board). I think it is not a good idea to set up a separate board which would look narrowly at the water and sewer system or narrowly at specific financing approaches.

What about that pergola?

In the summer of 2007 the town was offered two big gifts: an irrigation system for playing fields at Turner Park and a pergola memorial on a traffic island near the cemetery. At that point the Select Board realized that even though we have gotten many gifts and donations over the years, there was no clear policy with guidelines for accepting them. We then adopted a gift and donation policy in August [available on the Select Board web page at www.longmeadow.org ]. The biggest issue with both of these new gifts was maintenance. Would these gifts cost the town in money or labor? Materials and methods were negotiated with the givers to protect the town from such costs, and agreements were signed.

For myself, I thought the idea of having a bench and a resting place was a good one, and I would like to see more benches around town for walkers and runners. As for dedicating it to a specific individual, this is an established practice in Longmeadow. Both playgrounds were gifts and bear the names of an individual and a company. The Bliss pool was renamed for an individual as was the flag stand at the high school, rooms in the library, and countless streets.

As always, I welcome your questions and will answer them to the best of my ability. Opinions and mistakes are wholly mine.

Kathy Grady

Longmeadow Candidates

The candidates for Longmeadow Selectboard and School Committee are hereby invited to appear on LCTVs "Put up Your Duqs" to discuss their candidacies and the future of our town. If any candidate wants to appear, but is uncomfortable with the host, I will arrange for a guest host in consultation with the candidate.

Elections are supposed to be conversations. Without community-wide communication elections cannot provide policy makers with the direction and instruction that they must for our community to move forward.

Candidates should contact Mr. Duquette at jeroldduquette@comcast.net to schedule an appearance.

Do we need a dog park?

Statistically speaking, 33% of Americans own at least one dog. The town of Longmeadow has almost 2000 dogs registered. Most people who walk their dogs do so using town sidewalks, parks and school yards. Inevitably, some dog owners do not pick up after their dog’s waste which creates a potential health hazard and a nuisance. Creating a designated dog park would offer area dog owners a safe, secure location to exercise their dogs and offer a social outlet for area dog owners to meet people with similar interests without encroaching on our local parks and athletic fields. Studies also reflect that communities with dog parks report that they have fewer complaints regarding excessive dog barking, dog waste in public areas and aggressive dogs/dog bites.

I would appreciate it if you would please take a few minutes to fill out a short survey (online survey by SurveyMonkey.com).
Click here to take survey

This survey applies to all residents, dog owners and non-dog owners, as the answers should reflect the opinion of a cross section of residents (of our town), and whether they feel there is a need for a Dog Park. Although it is targeted to Longmeadow residents, I would welcome the opinion of anyone in our area. Depending on the outcome and interest, I may present it to the Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Department for consideration.

Thank you.
Elizabeth Llodra

Why Take Home Vehicles?

Take-home vehicles may sound like a “perk” to some, but if you have a life threatening incident, like a house fire or a hostage stand-off (rare but not unheard of in Longmeadow) you will be glad an incident commander is on the scene as soon as possible. An armed intruder, a broken water main, a serious sewer back-up, a road collapse, a snow or wind storm, any event which requires coordination of people and perhaps agencies, requires an incident commander.

The recent concern about take-home vehicles has resulted in a thorough report to the Select Board about their usage in Longmeadow. Six people, all of whom are on-call 24/7 for emergencies, have vehicles which are taken home at night: the Fire and Police Chiefs, the DPW Director, the Highway Supervisor, the Buildings Supervisor, and the Water Supervisor. Since the vehicles have to be purchased and insured anyway, the cost of taking them home is based on how far away the user lives, an average use of 17.5 gallons per mile and a cost of $3.02 per gallon.
The total estimated cost for taking home these vehicles is $3,761.71 annually.

The Buildings Supervisor is on the road at 4:30 a.m. during winter snow and ice events so that he can report road, parking lot and sidewalk conditions to the Superintendent of Schools by 5:00 a.m. He has also responded in the middle of the night to intrusion alarms at school buildings (10 of them during 2008) and Greenwood Center and roof leaks reported at the High School after hours.
Cost to the town: $153.93 a year.

The Fire Chief responds directly to the scene for any structure fire, hazardous material incident, or any call that does not sound “routine.” He carries in his vehicle personal protective clothing, radio equipment, a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and oxygen, pre-plans for buildings, maps and materials for establishing incident command. At least twice he has arrived on the scene before the truck and was able to minimize damage.
Cost to the town: $269.21 a year.

The Police Chief is able to monitor the situation from his cruiser as he responds to emergencies. He returns to the Police Department at least several times a week. The cruiser carries a variety of police related equipment, including weapons.
Cost to the town: $358.95 a year.

The Water Supervisor responds to every water main break and stays until the job is complete. He also comes in when the crew is flushing hydrants and responds to calls for suspected main breaks, low water pressure, checking pressure recorders, etc. In one case he came to oversee a water meter replacement for the Jewish Nursing Home in the middle of the night because the service could not be interrupted during the day.
Cost to the town: $1,036.46 a year.

The Highway Supervisor responds to every storm, trees down across roads or power lines, water main breaks, main line sewer blockages, sewer odor complaints, flooding, etc.
Cost to the town: $894.61 a year.

The DPW Director responds to all the emergencies that call out the Buildings Supervisor, the Water Supervisor and the Highway Supervisor. He is often contacted by the Police or Fire to report emergencies. Many occur late at night or early in the morning, on weekends and on holidays.
Cost to the town: $1,048.54 a year.

The public safety and public health benefits of the take-home vehicles seem obvious. The decreased response time for every kind of emergency mitigates the outcome. There is also another less obvious benefit to the town. We don’t garage these vehicles. (Picture the supervisor driving his own vehicle to the town yard or the public safety complex and chipping ice off it before he can respond to the emergency.) It is quite likely that the take-home policy provides better care for the vehicle and extends its life. Overall, the practice of take-home vehicles is probably more of a benefit to the town than to the employees.

By Kathleen Grady, Longmeadow Select Board Member

Town Manager's FY10 Budget

Town Manager Robin Crosbie presented the FY2010 Budget to the Select Board on February 23 for initial review and discussion.

A copy of the FY2010 Town Manager's Budget Report is now available online as well as the detailed FY2010 budget summary.

School Committee/ Select Board Broadcasts

If you are looking to watch the February 23 Select Board meeting, it is now available for web viewing on the LCTV website.

LCTV will be posting web rebroadcasts of both the School Committee and Select Board meetings on their website every week. Here is a direct link.

Two suggestions...

1. Check out the agenda on the Town Calendar on LongmeadowBiz.com to find agenda items of interest
2. Play the Windows Media Player version of the broadcast so that you can fast forward to the topic of interest.

FY2010 Budget Presentation/ 2-23-09 SB meeting

Because tonight's Select Board meeting was not be televised live on LCTV, I decided to attend to hear Robin Crosbie/ Town Manager review the FY2010 budget. A few copies of her presentation were handled out and I have asked for a copy (as well as a copy of the full budget report) to post on the Longmeadow.org website.

Note: Because the schedule called for live broadcast of the School Committee meeting, LCTV videotaped tonight's meeting for broadcast later this week.

The General Fund FY10 budget recommendation by the Town Manager is:

Total- $47,111,554 - an increase of $478K or 1.0% increase from FY09
School Dept- $28,452,158- an increase of $331K or 1.2% increase from FY09

[note: This increase in the School Dept budget varies from the $83K drop reported at the School Budget forum because this budget number is for the General Fund expenditures only. The total School Dept budget for FY10 as proposed at the forum is $31,239,338- which includes General Fund + other special school department revenues]

Here are some additional highlights from the TM's presentation...

• The FY10 budget is revenue based.
• The FY10 budget is balanced using current Free Cash
• Some unanticipated FY09 shortfalls (excess snow/ice removal costs + lower than expected revenue from excise taxes and investment income) affected the available free cash to be used to fund the FY10 budget.
• The budget is based upon the most recent revenue and state aid estimates which could easily change (--> lower) in the future.
• No cost of living adjustments (school or town) are included with the proposed budget. With town employee and school department teachers contracts expiring in June and August, there is a potential increase in overall costs of $300,000/ % increase in COLA.
• In spite of our recycling efforts, the cost of curbside waste collection is projected to increase by $46K in FY2010 ( a 6.4% increase) mostly because of the reduced value and revenue (-$43K) of recyclable materials.
• The Longmeadow School Dept budget as provided to the Town Manager was cut by $117K (FY10 requested = $28,569,837 vs. FY10 Recommended = $28,452,152).
• The planned capital allocation for FY10 was cut from $940,000 (2% of operating budget) to $831,311, a cut of $109,000. (Capital is not included as part of the operating budget.)

I was glad that the Select Board decided to spend more than the allocated 15 minutes (actually close to one hour) to listen to the TM's presentation and to ask questions about the budget. Paul Santaniello, SB chair indicated that this will be the first of a number of discussions over the next three weeks to finalize the budget for presentation at the Annual Town Meeting.

Overall, a good start by the Town Manager to a difficult budget process.

FY2010 Budget

Based upon the agenda for tomorrow's (2/23/09) Select Board meeting, it appears that we will be getting a 15 minute review of the Town Manager's FY2010 Budget Report.

I would encourage Longmeadow residents to watch this discussion on LCTV at 7:15 PM. Update: The SB meeting on 2/23 will not be broadcast LIVE.

With only 15 minutes, I suspect that our town manager will only be able to review overall budget highlights. 15 minutes seems much too short a time for such an important topic so hopefully the SB chairman will extend this allocated time.

I am particularly interested in how this budget report handles the potential shortfall in revenue to cover the upcoming town employee collective agreements that are expiring at the end of the current FY2009 year. I'm guessing that the proposed balanced budget will not include any provision for possible town employee related salary increases for the FY2010 budget nor budget any funds in this direction or include any contingency plans.

The Longmeadow School Department proposed budget for FY2010 that was approved last week by the School Committee which was $83K less than the current FY2009 also did not provide for any teacher salary COLA increases. The SC did acknowledge that any teacher salary increases must be met with additional school department budget cutbacks in order to meet the FY2010 budget commitment to the Select Board.

I would expect that the Town Manager and Select Board also need to work out the details on how to fund the FY2009 revenue shortfalls before they can fully understand all of the revenue sources such as "free cash" and the operational stabilization fund for FY2010.

Everything that I read in the newspaper seems to suggest "a not to worry attitude" and that Longmeadow is much better off than the rest of the town and cities in Massachusetts. That attitude seems strange given all of the budget issues that we have faced during the past couple of years.

Stay tuned for an interesting budget season.

Post-Identity politics & Paul Santaniello

Chairman Paul Santaniello sat down recently with me to discuss the economy and its challenges to our state and our town. Click HERE to watch the interview.