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Local News Briefs & Tidbits: 5-15-09

by Bill Dusty

CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO TABLE BUDGET
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield City Council voted on Wednesday to “lay on the table” this year’s city budget until more concrete numbers were available from the State regarding future cuts in state aid. The vote was 6 to 2 in favor of tabling the budget. City Councilors Bruce Stebbins and William Foley voted against the measure. City Councilor Kateri Walsh was reportedly absent.

The Boston Globe reported on Wednesday that the Massachusetts state Senate has proposed an additional $356 million in cuts in local aid for the 2010 fiscal year budget. The total budget would be $1.3 billion less than a budget proposal previously put forward by the House, according to the Globe story.

“By laying the matter on the table we can bring the budget up for further discussion at anytime and make necessary revisions as additional information from the State is released,” wrote City Councilor Tim Rooke in an email. “Each time we need to make a revision we can work cooperatively with the Mayor, Finance Team and the SFCB with local control and amend the budget.”

Rooke said that the proposed budget would become a “working document” for the time being, and that its final passage may not happen until after June 30 – the date that the Springfield Finance Control Board’s term in the city is set to expire. “So if in fact we may be going month to month until the final budget is passed,” wrote Rooke, “it is best to keep the City Council, Mayor and Finance Team working together. As amendments, reductions, [or] increases are made they shall be discussed and debated on an ongoing basis.”

The state Legislature has also proposed an increase in the state’s sales tax to 6.5 percent in order to avoid cutting state services. The Boston Globe reported on Thursday that Senate President Therese Murray favored an increase in state sales tax rather than see any such cuts.

[See related city budget story over at the Valley Advocate.com.]

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CONTROVERSY RETURNS IN LONGHILL GARDENS BATTLE
SPRINGFIELD – Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has called for the city to look into the feasibility of locating a new Forest Park Middle School at the site of the former Longhill Gardens Condominium complex. In a Republican story dated May 12, 2009, staff writer Peter Goonan reports that according to Sarno, the site could save the city “significant expenses in displacement and/or relocation costs for homes and businesses compared to other sites.”

According to sources, a report was submitted to the Mayor by Maureen Hayes, of Hayes Development Services, on May 4, 2009, outlining the site’s advantages: “It is located in the Forest Park neighborhood, it meets or exceeds the minimum size requirement; it is in single ownership; it would require no displacement of occupants and it would involve no relocation costs.”

Local civic group Springfield Forward sent out a letter to Sarno on May 8, 2009, arguing that the city had received just such a recommendation from the organization “months ago” and that the city chose to ignore that option. “Worse,” reads the letter, “the City, via correspondence from Phillip Dromey of the City’s Planning & Economic Development Office, reported to US HUD that the City had done it’s [sic] required search and there were no alternative uses for the site pursuant to 24 CFR.”

The Mayor chose to ignore “better options,” read the letter, and instead continued his support of a plan by real estate developer WinnDevelopment to transform the property into a low-income housing project.

“Clearly,” the letter went on, “information provided by the City to a Federal Agency was false, misleading and made in bad faith.”

The fate of the former Longhill Gardens complex has deeply divided the three major civic groups in the Forest Park neighborhood, with Springfield Forward being opposed to the Winn redevelopment plan and the Forest Park Civic Association and Concerned Citizen for Springfield supporting the plan. Heated exchanges between the groups have highlighted past neighborhood meetings.

Springfield politicians have also been dragged into the fray, with City Councilor James Ferrera III being the target of a March, 2009 editorial in The Republican. Ferrera opposes the Winn deal, the Republican has editorialized its support for the plan. Other local politicians who have voiced their opposition to the Winn plan include City Councilors Bud Williams and Kateri Walsh, and state Representative Cheryl Coakley-Rivera (who, in a letter to HUD dated January 27, 2009 and Cc’d to Sarno, had voiced her support for locating a new Forest Park Middle School at the Longhill Gardens site).

Supporters of the Winn plan have long asserted there is no other workable alternative for the site. Online at Masslive.com – the Republican’s Internet portal – the Springfield forum is a-buzz with arguments for and against the plan. Supporters are largely represented there by online persona “NoPol,” who many believe to be Russell Seelig, a member of Concerned Citizens for Springfield. In past years, Concerned Citizens was at the forefront of the fight against Longhill Gardens’ former owner, Longhill Omega, LLC. The group, apparently primarily a real estate non-profit, purchased five condominium units on the site from the City of Springfield via a Request for Proposals at a bargain price of $1,000 a-piece plus “outstanding condo fees,” allegedly (according to a source) to use as leverage in their pending legal battle versus Longhill Omega.

The Longhill Gardens complex went into receivership back in 2007. Longhill Omega owner Shalom Segelman was ordered jailed at the time on contempt of court charges after failing to allocate $150,000 for court-ordered repairs to the property. Valley Real Estate was appointed receiver of the property. Then in November of 2008, WinnDevelopment won the property at auction after offering the sole bid, for $2.2 million, in what was largely seen as a formality (the property’s mortgage holder at the time of the auction, Longhill Acquisitions, LLC, was an affiliate of WinnCompanies, according to a December, 2008 Republican story). WinnDevelopment had already been approved for state and federal subsidies prior to the auction.

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KEEP SPRINGFIELD BEAUTIFUL UPDATE
SPRINGFIELD – The local non-profit, Keep Springfield Beautiful (KSB), reported on Thursday a total of 85.02 tons of waste collected for this year’s annual citywide cleanup. That total included 3.45 tons of tires and 3.95 tons of electronics.

The May 2 cleanup effort went largely without problems, although several issues were addressed at a wrap-up meeting held on Thursday evening at the Mason Wright retirement center on Walnut Street. One of the most glaring issues was the overwhelming amount of people showing up for bulk drop-offs at selected sites in the city. The original goal of the citywide cleanup was to promote civic volunteerism in helping to pick up trash on the city’s streets, lots and parks. In recent years, however, many people have seen the cleanup day as merely an opportunity to clear out their basements and attics, free of charge (the city normally charges an $8 bulk fee, per item). This practice needs to change, members of the KSB Board agreed. Proposals for the 2010 cleanup included holding the bulk pickup on a separate day and also charging a small fee for drop-offs. Residents may also be asked to present IDs as proof of residency.

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THE INTRUDER MEETS HOWIE

I had the opportunity to see Howie Carr last week when he showed up at the Barnes & Noble book store in Holyoke for a book signing. I purchased a book (bargain-priced at $6) and also got this nifty photo taken.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on May 15th, 2009 and filed under Cities & Towns, City Hall, Latest Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.