2022 Fall Town Meeting Special Attention Articles

Article 1 - Funding MSBA Feasibility Study

To authorize funding for a Middle School Feasibility Study to assess existing facility conditions, study enrollment patterns, evaluate existing and needed educational space and ultimately identify a cost effective and educationally appropriate solution. 

Here are some options to help you learn more and make an informed decision:

You may visit the LPS website for reports and presentations.  

You may view the Superintendent's Corner featuring a discussion of our Middle Schools between Superintendent Marty O'Shea, Town Manager Lyn Simmons, Facilities Director Nick Georgantas and Glenbrook Principal Nikcole Allen.

You may attend an interactive, informational session on Wednesday, October 12 at 1:00 pm at the Longmeadow Adult Center

You may attend an interactive, informational session on Wednesday, October 12 at 7:00 pm at Williams Middle School.

You may attend a Town Meeting Warrant Information Session hosted by Town Manager Simmons on October 19 at 6:00 pm at the Longmeadow Adult Center 

For parents who may need childcare on the evening of October 25, please see the message below from LHS Principal Tom Landers:

"The LHS Key Club will be offering child care services for up to 20 child sign-ups on the evening of October 25th from 6:45 pm to 8:30 pm so that parents with child care conflicts can attend some of the Town Meeting. This is open to children ages 5-10 only.  Children must be signed up in advance via the Sign Up Genius linked here. We will have approximately 10 LHS Key Club volunteers and Catherine Gizelis (Key Club co-advisor) will be there for adult supervision.

Children can be dropped off at the LHS Library any time after 6:45 pm and must be picked up there by the same person who dropped them off - we will be requiring that parents sign their children in and out for safety purposes.

In the LHS Library, we will have a child-friendly movie playing in the Lab as well as coloring, board game, and reading stations around the Library. Children will be monitored at all times."

Article 20 - Outdoor Water Use Bylaw

To see if the Town will vote to adopt the Outdoor Water Use Bylaw.

A different version of this warrant article was on the Annual Town Meeting warrant in May 2022. At that meeting no action was taken on the warrant article. Taking no action allowed staff more time to review and revise the bylaw to ensure it meets the needs of the Longmeadow water distribution infrastructure. A new version was presented to the Select Board in September and went through several more edits. The bylaw that is being voted on at the Fall Special Town Meeting no longer has any irrigation system registration requirements, inspection requirements or mention of backflow prevention devices. 

Articles 22 - 26 - General Code E-code Project

These articles relate to a codification project that started in January 2020. Working with General Code, the Charter, General Bylaws, and Zoning Bylaws all went through a comprehensive editorial and legal analysis. The warrant articles will reorganize, renumber and fix inconsistencies while also providing a new format for residents and staff to use the bylaws. 

Reading the changes in the warrant may be concerning without the background on why the change is being recommended. To provide that background this document has been created that explains the rationale for the change and provides the current code reference. A copy of that document can be viewed here. Copies will also be available at the October 19 warrant information session, the open office hours on October 24 and 25 and at the Fall Special Town Meeting. Voters are strongly encouraged to review this in advance of the meeting due to the length of the document. 

A PowerPoint presentation providing the background on the project and showing examples of what the end result will look like will be given at Town Meeting, a copy of that PowerPoint is available here. 

Great care was taken by the Conservation Commission, Planning Board, Select Board and Zoning Board, along with town staff, to not recommend changes that may have been controversial. The goal is to adopt the new format and later on go back and work on individual bylaws that may need review. 

For questions on these warrant articles please reach out to the Town Manager's Office at (413) 565-4110 or townmanager@longmeadow.org