Longmeadow residents voted on 26 warrant articles during the annual Town Meeting.
Resident David Gustafson speaks during Longmeadow's annual Town Meeting held Tuesday night at Longmeadow High School.LONGMEADOW — Residents voted on more than 25 warrant articles during the annual Town Meeting Tuesday at Longmeadow High School, including a $56.2 million budget and nearly $900,000 to pay for the clean-up of the October snowstorm.
Residents approved Article 2, which will allocate $890,000 to pay a portion of the nearly $12 million cost of the clean-up. The town will use $100,000 of the approved funds toward paying the interest on a $9.2 million bond taken out to pay for the storm costs.
Select Board Chairman Mark Gold said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the town for a large portion of the storm clean-up costs, but the town has to pay the cost up front and will still have to pay $2.8 million.
Residents voted in favor of Article 6, a balanced budget of $56.2 million for fiscal year 2013, which was amended on the Town Meeting floor by about $105,000.
Town Manager Robin Crosbie said in order to pay for collective bargaining agreements, the budget had to be amended to include $29,669 for the fire department and $75,000 for the school department.
Crosbie said there was a lot of collaboration between the Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee to present a balanced budget for the town.
No action was taken on Article 8, which was a tax rebate intended for seniors over the age of 70. Council on Aging Board of Directors Chairman John Bowen said while the council feels this proposal is a good one, it may need to be revised in order to get approval by the state.
The article proposed a tax break for residents over the age of 70 who have lived in town for more than 10 years and who have an income no greater than $35,000 for a single person or $39,000 for a two-income family.
Bowen said the town modeled its proposal on the town of Sudbury’s proposal that was passed last year. He said the state, however, has not approved that town’s proposal.
Bowen hopes to present the proposal again during the fall special Town Meeting.
Article 11 was approved, allocating $20,000 for tree services. The money will go toward dealing with tree damage from the October storm that will not be covered by FEMA.
Voters approved Article 12, which will allocate $872,048 for capitol projects, including $300,000 for road reconstruction and pavement and $200,000 for sidewalk and guardrail replacement.
Capitol projects also include $40,000 for electrical upgrades at Williams Middle School, $25,000 for alarm systems at both Williams and Glenbrook Middle School, $55,000 for a heating unit replacement at Greenwood Center, $75,000 for a storm water drainage system evaluation and more.
Crosbie said there are a lot of storm drainage problems in town. The evaluation would allow an engineer to identify the lines that need to be repaired in order of priority.
Department of Public Works Director Michael Wrabel said while some emergency repairs have been done on sidewalks, he is hoping to do a more thorough and permanent job with the allocated funds.
Voters also approved articles 13, 14 and 15 totaling nearly $2 million for replacement of sewer and water lines and repairs to the Emerson Road sewer pumping station. Wrabel said about $30 million is necessary to repair all of the sewer lines in town, and the work will take more than a decade to complete.
Voters also approved articles 21 and 22, which will allocate $156,500 from Community Preservation Act funds to replace a boiler, repair a driveway and replace a sewer lateral outside the Community House.
Residents approved Article 27 to place $258,464 in the Other Post Employment Benefit Liability Trust Fund.
Voters did not approve Article 28, which would have provided $10,000 to evaluate allocation of Public Works personnel and operating costs.