Springfield firefighters, aided by firefighters from Agawam and West Springfield, launched boats to search for the girls.

SPRINGFIELD – Two girls, seen floating on a raft or section of dock on the Connecticut River Saturday night, safely made it to shore in Longmeadow.

Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said officials began receiving reports of the two girls, who weren’t wearing life jackets, shortly after 8 p.m. They were last seen floating under the South End Bridge.

The Fire Department launched two boats to search for the girls and firefighters from Agawam and West Springfield were on standby, Leger said.

The search was suspended after firefighters were informed the girls had safely made it to shore on their own, Leger said.

Residents will be asked to vote on the project at a special town meeting set for May 25.

Since February, Lancer Pride has promoted efforts to fully renovate Longmeadow High School. The School Building Committee has submitted a plan that will cost $78.5 million, with Longmeadow residents contributing $46 million.

Another group, Citizens for a Better Longmeadow, has called for a scaled-back version of the project.

Residents will be asked to vote on the project at a special town meeting set for May 25.

A K-12 school supported by a church in Longmeadow is preparing to re-open in tents.

Timothy Traynor, of Wilbraham, stands with a patient outside a tent set up as a temporary hospital space in Milot, Haiti, last week. The Sacred Heart Hospital is run by the CRUDEM Foundation in Ludlow. After a month at home, Timothy Traynor was disheartened at what he saw when he returned to Haiti last week.

“I was in Port-au-Prince and it was horrific. Compared to when I left, I can’t see any progress,” he said. “Things looked just the way they did when I left and that was the way it was just after the earthquake.”

Traynor, of Wilbraham, was volunteering at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Milot, Haiti on Jan. 12 when the earthquake hit, killing an estimated 230,000 people. A retired contractor, Traynor was doing preliminary work to prepare for an expansion of the hospital, which is run by the CRUDEM Foundation of Ludlow.

He remained in Haiti for 10 weeks and went home in March. On April 17, he returned to Milot.

The hospital, which is about 90 miles outside Port-au-Prince, was mostly undamaged and had visiting team of American doctors and nurses as well as its usual Haitian medical staff, making it one of the rare places that could take the seriously injured.

Within a week hundreds of patients, many with wounds had not yet been treated, flooded the hospital. Staff took over two nearby schools and as many as 1,200 medical personnel from a variety of hospitals, including those in Springfield and Boston, flew to Haiti at different times and at their own expense to help, Traynor said.

Three months later, some have been discharged from the 72-bed hospital, but it still has about 500 patients, most of whom are being cared for in tents. No one expects that number to decrease soon, Traynor said.

Most new patients are coming to Milot for routine care and surgery because there are few medical facilities in the capital city, he said.

“We have about 250 people who are recovering from the earthquake. It is the commitment of the hospital that no one go home before they are ready,” he said.

A portable prosthetic factory has been donated so amputees can get limbs fitted at the hospital. But, officials are estimating as many as 50,000 to 60,000 have lost an arm or leg and will have difficulty surviving, Traynor said.

The hospital is relying on a group of Jesuits in the Dominican Republican who are making weekly deliveries for food. Royal Caribbean Cruise lines have also provided food, water and other assistance.

“What is happening here is there are still a lot of people who are hungry. They were hungry before, but the food situation is critical,” he said.

The First Church of Christ in Longmeadow recently received good news that the CONASPEH School which members helped support, is preparing to re-open with kindergarten through grade 12, according Mark H. Pohlman, of Longmeadow, a church member.

“They have 10 tents that they are going to use for classrooms and they are starting to receive desks and blackboards,” he said. “The seminary (school) is going to be starting next month and they are hoping to start the nursing school again in the fall.”

The four-story school collapsed in the earthquake, killing 14 nursing students and three staff, he said.

Before the earthquake, the school had about 600 students, but no one is sure how many survived. Many who did have been asking for the school to open again, Pohlman said.

CONASPEH, which is lead by about 50 parishes in Haiti and assisted by a number of churches in the United States, now wants to build a new school for about 1,500 students.

Some benefits have come from the disaster. American International College, in Springfield, and Regis College, in Weston, have contacted church members to tell them they would like to work with the nursing school.

“We are looking for ways to coordinate with Sacred Heart Hospital,” said Pohlman, a retired orthopedic surgeon, who spent a week in February assisting at the CRUDEM hospital.

Officials estimate it will cost about $1 million to rebuild the school. Meanwhile, the church is resuming its efforts to raise money for scholarships to the CONASPEH School, he said.

Donations continue to trickle into the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the Red Cross, which has raised about $300,000, said Dawn M. Leaks, assistant director of chapter support.

Nationwide, the American Red Cross has raised more than $400 million for Haiti.

“We are still seeing fund-raisers, especially at schools,” Leaks said. “We will need it, the work in Haiti is going to take a long time.”

The CRUDEM Foundation is also embarking on a $5 million fund-raising campaign in the hopes of building an addition for about 150 beds, Traynor said.

It will be years before some hospitals will re-open in Port-au-Prince so the Sacred Heart Hospital will continue to receive many patients, he said.

Adding to its campaign, the agency still needs to raise money to continue daily operating expenses, which have skyrocketed because of the number of patients has increased so much, he said.

“I would like to thank people in Springfield for their generosity,” he said. “These are going to be tough months .¤.¤. We have a long road ahead of us. Please don’t forget us.”

How to help
CRUDEM: This Ludlow Foundation operates a hospital outside Port-au-Prince and has a special fund for earthquake victims at www.crudem.org. Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 804, Ludlow, MA, 01056.
The First Church of Christ in Longmeadow: Church members have regularly traveled to Haiti via the church’s relationship with the National Spiritual Council of Haitian Churches (CONESPAH). Send checks marked “Haiti relief” to the church at 763 Longmeadow St., Longmeadow, MA, 01106
Americares: Donations can be made online at www.americares.org; by phone, 1-800-486-4357; by mail 88 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, CT, 06902.
American Red Cross: Donations can be made online at www.redcross.org; by phone at 1-800-733-2767 or by mail at Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C., 20013, checks can be marked “Haiti relief.”

A two-thirds majority vote will be necessary to approve the funding for a high school project in Longmeadow.

04.28.2010 | An architectural drawing of the proposed new Longmeadow High School.

LONGMEADOW - With only weeks remaining before voters decide the fate of a $78 million high school renovation and reconstruction project, residents on both sides of the issue continue to lobby for support.

A two-thirds majority vote is needed at a special Town Meeting on May 25 before a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion override can be put on the ballot in June to fund the project.

Further reading: Posts to the blog "Longmeadow Buzz" tagged "Longmeadow High School Project."

“This is the time to lead,” Selectman Robert Aseltine said.

View full sizeThis is an architectural drawing of the proposed Longmeadow High School renovation project.Robert H. AseltineLONGMEADOW – The Select Board will not take an official position on the proposed $78 million reconstruction of Longmeadow High School.

The decision to neither endorse nor oppose the project and a Proposition 2½ override needed to finance it came after School Committee and School Building Committee members, along with residents, urged the board to take a stand before the May 11 Town Meeting.

Selectman Robert H. Aseltine, who said he feels the board needs to tell residents where they stand on the issue, made a motion to endorse the project, but it failed without a second.

Aseltine then made a motion to oppose the project as a board, but that motion also failed when it was not seconded.

Robert Barkett

No signs in favor of the project have been reported stolen, police said.

This is an architectural drawing of the proposed Longmeadow High School renovation project.Photo by Don Treeger / The RepublicanThis sign in front of a house on Pinewood Hills Drive urges people to vote against the proposed $78 million Longmeadow HIgh School renovation project. Police are investigating the theft of a number of signs expressing this sentiment.LONGMEADOW – Police are probing the theft of lawn signs urging residents to vote against the proposed $78 million renovation of Longmeadow High School.

“We are looking and will prosecute those people responsible if we find them,” Capt. John D. Stankiewicz said, adding that seven such signs have been reported stolen over the last three days.

No signs in favor of the project have been reported stolen, Stankiewicz said.

Police have received reports that a dark sports utility vehicle may be associated with the thefts, Stankiewicz said.

Potential charges against those responsible would depend on the total value of the missing signs. They could include the felony of larceny over $250, Stankiewicz said.

Many of the "vote no" signs may be missing, but there are still plenty of signs like these around town that encourage people to vote for the high school renovation project. A two-thirds majority vote is needed at a special Town Meeting on May 25 before a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion override can be put on the ballot in June to fund the project.

The School Building Commission will host two sessions on May 19 to present plans for the renovation.

The sessions, both of which will be held in the school cafeteria, will run from 6 to 6:50 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The first will include a presentation by project engineers while the second will include a question-and-answer session with Katherine Craven, executive director of the state School Building Authority.

Questions for Craven must be submitted via e-mail to the building committee by May 13; the address is longmeadowsbc@yahoo.com.

The goal this year is to plan 50 years with the assistance of community donations.

LONGMEADOW – With more than 12,000 trees lining the town’s streets and several thousand more in parks and on school grounds the Department of Public Works is constantly looking for money to care for the living ones and to replace the dead and dying.

Republican file photoMichael G. Wrabel“We have about $100,000 in the budget to take care of our trees whether it’s pruning, trimming or removal,” said public works director Michael G. Wrabel Jr. “With so many street trees and additional trees on the school grounds, Town Green and other town facilities it can get very expensive.”

To help with replacing trees, the department has initiated a memorial tree program for community donations.

“We have had people in the past call and ask if they could plant a tree in a family member’s honor and we looked into other communities that have these programs and thought it would work well here,” he said.

Voters will be asked to approve more than $200,000 worth of repairs at Town Hall.

LONGMEADOW – Residents will vote on 30 warrant articles, including the town’s operating budget of $52.4 million and $758,500 in capital projects, during the annual Town Meeting to be held Tuesday.

Article 7 will ask residents to approve a $52.4 million budget with $34.1 million going to the School Department.

Initially the budget called for the elimination of more than 30 teachers. The current budget will save at least 19 of those jobs, said Town Manger Robin L. Crosbie.

While the town will eliminate at least five full-time and seasonal maintenance positions, many town services were restored during budget talks including hours to the Adult Center and the Storrs Library.

Crosbie said the services were restored in response to residents who mounted “aggressive e-mail campaigns to save those service programs.” An assistant director position at the Parks and Recreation Department was also restored along with funding for athletic field maintenance.

Article 11 asks voters to support $150,000 worth of restorations to Center Elementary School, $157,000 for heating system and door replacements at the Greenwood Center, and $139,000 on a mower, a pickup truck and a tractor for the Department of Public Works.

Article 18 asks voters to approve $65,000 for repairs to the Community House, and Article 19 requests more than $200,00 for painting, window replacement, carpentry repairs and the installation of an American with Disabilities Act compliant rest room at Town Hall.

“We are trying to preserve some very old buildings and they need regular maintenance,” said Department of Public Works Director Michael G. Wrabel Jr.

Wrabel said that the Town Hall in particular is getting some much needed attention.

“There are many buildings in town that need repairs and (Town Manager) Robin Crosbie wanted to make sure that we tried to address a lot of those issues before looking at the Town Hall,” he said.

Wrabel said he works closely with the Capital Planning Task Force to discuss priorities for each department.

“We all need money, but we try to pick out buildings or equipment that really need immediate repairs to bring forward at Town Meeting,” he said.

Article 30 is a petition article asking residents to approve a bylaw that will require all current and future negotiated contracts to be announced in the local newspapers as well as a hard copy to be deposited at Storrs Library for review.

Petitioners believe the bylaw will promote transparency, openness and factual accuracy of negotiated contracts.

The annual Town Meeting will be held at Longmeadow High School at 7 p.m. The Longmeadow High School renovation and reconstruction project will not be voted on during the annual Town Meeting. There will be a separate meeting on May 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Longmeadow High School to vote on the project.

It was thanks to efforts by a friend in California and work by the office of U.S. Rep. Richard Neal that the ceremony at Westover Air Reserve Base occurred.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanRetired U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt., Francis A. Galligan, of Longmeadow, proudly shows the Purple Heart and Bronze Star he was awarded at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee Monday. At right is his longtime friend Alfred Domenech of California.CHICOPEE – Francis A. Galligan spent more than three years as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II, witnessing countless atrocities and enduring beatings and other torture.

At 89, the memories still linger, and, occasionally, the nightmares come.

“It is a horror I would hate for anyone to go through. It doesn’t disappear,” Galligan, of Longmeadow, says.

It took 66 years, but on Monday, a grateful nation bestowed medals, including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, for his service all those years ago upon Galligan.

While Clark started the effort to get some name recognition, so many people showed an interest in participating that he decided to make it a less political event and turn it into an environmental one instead, he said.

LONGMEADOW – What started out as a way to get to know residents has become a larger effort to beautify the town.

Michael R. Clark, 20, a candidate for Select Board, started a nonprofit organization called the Green Up Foundation with several friends including high school students Derek Harmanli and Ethan Requardt. The group will host a townwide cleanup effort on May 15.

“I really started it as a way to get my name out there and to let people know what I’m about,” Clark said.

So many people showed an interest in participating that Clark decided to make it a less political event and turn it into an environmental one instead.

“We have reached out to schools and other groups in the community and are basically opening it up to anyone in town who wants to participate,” he said. “It’s really about getting people in the community to work together and get to know each other.”

The Green Up event will kick off at 10 a.m. at Bliss Park. Groups or individuals can register to clean or plant flowers in a particular park or school ground.

“We are going to be cleaning up the grounds behind the high school where there is a lot of trash,” he said. “We’ll also be planting flowers all over the town.”

Around 2 p.m. volunteers are invited to go back to Bliss Park for lunch.

“We want it to be a fun event that brings people together for a good cause,” Clark said.

The foundation hopes to make the cleanup an annual event.

Job cuts in the DPW will be made through reductions in hours and seasonal employees.

LONGMEADOW – Voters at the annual Town Meeting approved a $51.5 million budget Tuesday which calls for the loss of at least eight full-time members in the school department and five in the department of public works.

Town Manager Robin C. Crosbie said preparing the fiscal 2011 budget was “an arduous process.”

Crosbie said the current budget is based on a 4 percent reduction in local aid.

“We had a $225,000 loss in state aid and $39,000 loss in local aid, particularly excise taxes,” she said.

The job cuts in the DPW will be made through reduction in hours and seasonal employees. The police and fire departments, parks and recreation department, Council on Aging and library did not lose any full-time employees.

Residents voted in favor of Article 6 which allows the transfer of $50,000 from the town’s fiscal 2010 reserve fund and $100,000 from fiscal 2010 employee benefits and health insurance line items in the general budget to begin funding $30 million in retiree benefits known as Other Post Employment Benefits.

Both the Audit Committee and Finance Committee approved this article.

“This is an unfunded liability that is looming out there and we feel very strongly that we need to start making payments towards funding that liability,” said Mark Barowsky, chairman of the Finance Committee.

Crosbie said the town currently pays $1.1 million per year in health insurance for retirees and as the workforce ages the impact of the payments will affect the annual budget more severely if a fund is not created now.

Voters supported Article 9 which creates a fund for the school department that will support the school lunch program and athletic fees.

Money for the fund will come from school owned vending machines that sell water and sports drinks.

Voters also approved Article 11 which contained more than $700,000 in capital projects including more than $250,000 for repairs at Center School, Glenbrook Middle School and Williams Middle School and more than $100,000 for public works department vehicles and other equipment.

Energy-efficient lights installed throughout the Greenwood Center will bring a monthly savings of up to $750.

LONGMEADOW – The Select Board has signed an agreement with Western Massachusetts Electric Co. that could save the town more than $60,000 a year in electricity costs.

By switching to energy efficient lighting and motors, the town will see a significant decrease in their electrical bills, said Adrian Phaneuf, facilities director for Longmeadow.

The utility company’s small business energy advantage program will pay for 70 percent of the cost to replace old lighting and motors in town buildings with energy efficient equipment. The balance of the costs will be paid by the town through a no-interest loan. The cost to the town for implementing these changes will be about $62,600.

“We looked at implementing the results of similar energy audits in the past, but the payback period was just too long. Now that there’s a 70 percent reimbursement rate, we can look at implementing this in many other buildings,” Phaneuf said.

Currently the town is working with Advanced Energy Group, an electrical contractor in East Longmeadow, to install energy-efficient lighting in the high school pool area as well as energy-efficient motors in the school’s cafeteria freezers. They are also changing the lights throughout the Greenwood Center where the town’s senior center and many parks and recreation programs are located. New interior and exterior lights will also be installed at all of the schools, the police and fire departments, the Community House and Town Hall.

Phaneuf said small changes will result in big savings for many of the facilities.

“In the high school alone we are replacing 28 lights in the pool area. We will save about $2,000 a year in electricity bills just from making that change,” he said. Phaneuf estimates a $750 savings a month at the Greenwood Center once it is completely redone.

Xiuli Li originally was charged with maintaining a house of prostitution and employing unlicensed masseuses.

Photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanLaw enforcement officials gather outside the Chinese Massage Therapy parlor, 271 Belmont Ave. in Springfield last November.SPRINGFIELD - After a splashy series of raids at local Chinese massage parlors late last year, two city women arrested during the law enforcement blitz face only misdemeanor charges.

The owner of three massage providers in this city and Longmeadow, Xiuli Li, 48, originally was charged with maintaining a house of prostitution and employing unlicensed masseuses. An employee, Xia Huang, 49, was charged with giving unlicensed massages.

Now Li is facing a misdemeanor charge accusing her of allowing an unlicensed worker to give a massage and Huang is charged with a misdemeanor as the unlicensed employee.

Eight massage parlors across Western Massachusetts were searched by a phalanx of law enforcement agencies in November. The allegations were that the businesses were doubling as houses of ill repute and had ties to a Chinese organized crime ring out of New York.

“That’s a laughable allegation, and quite frankly a bigoted one,” Li’s lawyer, Daniel D. Kelly said.

He added that a magistrate clerk rejected charging Li with two prostitution counts during a show-cause hearing and a third sex-related charge was recently dismissed by prosecutors.

The bridge connects the South End Bridge with Longhill Street.

SPRINGFIELD - The Route 83 bridge over Interstate 91 will be closed to traffic, starting on Monday.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced that the bridge will be closed approximately three weeks. The closure will not occur until after the morning rush on Monday. The bridge carries Route 83 over I-91 from The Julia B. Buxton (South End) Bridge.

A detour will send drivers to East Columbus Avenue, to the intersection of Main Street, where they can reconnect with Longhill Street.

The bridge will be closed so that the contractor can clean and paint the structural steel. As part of this work, the contractor will use various lane closures on Interstate 91 for the duration of the bridge closure. Variable message boards have been activated to warn drivers of the upcoming closure.

This work is the final major piece of I-91 bridge rehabilitation project, according to a release from the state Department of Transportation. The project is scheduled for completion in November of this year and is ahead of schedule.

The $78M project will be paid for in part by $34M in state funds.

The Republican / Michael S. Gordonembers of Lancer Pride, from left, are Denise D. Collins, Kimberly J. Burns and Elizabeth A. Baron, chairwoman. They’re seeking to build community support for a Longmeadow High School construction and renovation project.LONGMEADOW - With $34 million in state funds on the line, proponents of a $78 million Longmeadow High School construction and renovation project are urging residents to vote in favor of the financing needed for the project. If voters do not approve the Proposition 2½ debt exclusion override necessary to move forward with the project, Longmeadow will be the first community to essentially refuse state School Building Authority funds, said Elizabeth Baron, chair of Lancer Pride.

Lancer Pride is the committee formed to support a “yes” vote in favor of the override to finance the new construction of the high school. The group has established its own website, www.lancerpride.org at which it shares the building plans, details on the costs and a virtual tour of problems with the existing building.

A two-thirds’ vote of the May 25 Special Town Meeting is necessary to have the override question placed on the town election ballot on June 8.

The $78 million project will be paid for in part by $34 million in state funds. The remaining $44 million must be paid for by the town through the debt exclusion override.

Lancer Pride was formed after many people started asking what they could do to help the project move forward, according to Baron. The group is made up of not only parents and students, but also many residents who do not have children but still support the project, she said.

Kimberly J. Burns, Denise D. Collins and Sherri Ehrenberg are also founding members of the group. The women have been hosting informational sessions at private homes and in public venues to explain the project and garner support for the override.

“We will go wherever there are people who want to know about the project,” Collins said.

“This is not a done deal,” Burns added. “We still need people to come out on May 25 and June 8 and vote for this project.”

A second group, calling themselves Citizens for a Better Longmeadow, argues that the high school can be renovated over time with less financial impact to the town. The average homeowner will see a $455 annual increase in property taxes over the 25-year life of the bond.

A new high school is the largest capital improvement project ever faced by the town, according to Baron.

“After going to schools all across the state (the authority) placed us at number eight on their list of priority projects,” Baron said. “We all know the dire condition of the high school, and now is the time to act.”

Opting to renovate the building over time with small improvement projects, she said, would only put Band-Aids on a very large problem.

“It is not conducive to students to have constant renovations going on,” Baron said. “It is also a temporary fix to a very long-term problem.”

Public forums and information sessions have been held over the period of several months at which residents could voice their concerns about the project, .

“The community had a chance to give their input,” Baron said. “It is not a group of people saying this is the right project for the town it is a $750,000 feasibility approved by the town which has given us this recommendation. The engineers are the experts on this.”

The project was approved by the state authority on March 31. The town has 120 days from that date to agree to fund its portion of the project, Baron said.

Baron said she is concerned there has been a lot of misinformation about the project, particularly a suggestion that if the project is rejected it will have another opportunity to present a different plan to the state.

“Our goal is getting the correct information out,” she said. “There are 400 projects throughout the state that need to be funded and the School Building Authority can choose to spend the money on another community.”

Bay Path College President Carol A. Leary and keynote speaker Michael J. Kittredge, founder of the Yankee Candle Company, Inc. addressed the class. The school awarded 572 undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Republican staff photo by Don TreegerThe 113th Commencement of Bay Path College. Here, Dr. Carol A. Leary,(R), Bay Path President, makes sure that keynote speaker Michael J. Kittredge (L) look perfect before the start of the ceremony. In the center is S. Prestley Blake, Trustee Emeritus.

LONGMEADOW - Graduating students at Bay Path College advised each other to be “bold, daring and brave” during the 113th commencement ceremony at Bay Path College Sunday.

Graduating students Christine Hollingworth, of Lenox, Kathleen Warton, of Malden and Kelly Frye, of Bloomfield, Conn. addressed their peers during the ceremony.

“Hold your heads up high and never let anyone tell you there is something you cannot do. Bay Path College has given us the tools and taught us how to learn, now it is up to us to instill dreams in others,” Hollingworth said.

College President Carol A. Leary and keynote speaker Michael J. Kittredge, founder of the Yankee Candle Company, Inc. also addressed the class. The school awarded 572 undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Sherri A. Kies, of Easthampton, was a former criminal investigator in the military who graduated Sunday with a degree in forensic science.

“This is a wonderful school,” she said. “The class sizes are small so you really get to know your professors and the other student in the class.”

Kies will go on to pursue her master’s degree at the college in the fall.

Antoinette M. Leaks, of Springfield, graduated from the college’s One-Day-A -Week Saturday program.

“Going back to school as a mature adult I found the Saturday program to be what I needed,” she said. “ I had a great experience at Bay Path.”

Veronica Smith, of Windsor Locks, Conn. said she loved her experience at Bay Path.

“I really enjoyed going to school here,” she said. “ The professors really made themselves available if you needed anything and I found that there was a real sense of community among the students.”

Frye, who spoke for the One-Day-A-Week Saturday program, acknowledge the many women who have full-time careers and families and decided to go back to school.

“While this day represents your achievement as on day a week students, this day also represents your achievements as seven day a week employees, mothers, wives, girlfriends, best friends, aunts, sisters daughters and the list goes on...This day represents your excellence,” she said.

The four candidates were also asked what they would do to generate alternative sources of revenue for the town.

This is an architectural drawing of the proposed Longmeadow High School renovation project.LONGMEADOW – Candidates for Select Board all want to see fiscal responsibility, improvements to the town’s infrastructure and a solution to the current Longmeadow High School building needs.

But they are split on whether the town should move ahead with a $78 million renovation project of the high school.

Mark P. Gold The Longmeadow Youth Sports Council hosted a candidates forum at Longmeadow High School Tuesday to give the public an opportunity to ask the four candidates questions.

Candidates for two seats on the Select Board include Mark P. Gold, who is up for re-election, Michael R. Clark, David Gustafson and School Committee member Christine L. Swanson. The four answered a variety of questions about town issues including the high school renovation project, infrastructure needs, fiscal management and long-term plans.

Town elections are scheduled for June 8.

Gold said he does not support the high school project due to the financial constraints it places on taxpayers. “The taxpayers in this town are not an endless source of funds,” he said.

Michael R. Clark While he believes the school needs work, Gold said he does not think such a large scale renovation and construction project is right for the town at this time. The total cost of the school project is $78 million with $34 million coming from the state School Building Authority.

Clark, a 20-year-old University of Massachusetts student, said he supports the renovation because it will bring the school into the 21st century. Clark said the school project will benefit students and other town residents with an open design that includes a large cafeteria and lobby to display artwork and an auditorium for school productions and town events.

“This is meant to be a community-used building,” he said.

David Gustafson Gustafson said the project has pros and cons. While $34 million in state funding is hard to resist, he said the 10 percent increase in taxes on the average homeowner will be difficult for many families, especially senior citizens.

Swanson, a member of the School Committee and co-chairwoman of the School Building Committee, said she supports the project 100 percent.

“I actually wrote the statement of interest that went out to the state School Building Authority for this project,” she said.

Swanson said the building would benefit the entire community and would actually save the town money in energy costs once it is built. The building, which would use green technology for lighting and heating, will cost the town $44 million.

Christine L. Swanson Candidates were also asked what they would do to generate alternative sources of revenue for the town. Clark and Gustafson said they would look at small areas in town where land is available for commercial space including 10 acres off Frank Smith Road. Gold said in the past year he has been working to get a solar energy power plant in a closed landfill in town. The field would generate a lot of revenue for the town with very little startup costs.

Swanson said that while it is important to generate ideas like the solar power plant it is more important to act on those ideas.

“I’m disappointed that this hasn’t been done yet,” she said.

A 36-inch diameter water transmission pipe crossing the Connecticut River was shut down.

SPRINGFIELD - A 36-inch diameter water transmission pipe crossing the Connecticut River near the Julia B. Buxton (South End) Bridge was being shut down Thursday afternoon due to a leak.

The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, in a prepared release, said customers citywide will continue to receive water service.

However, residents and businesses primarily in the South End of the city, East Longmeadow and Longmeadow may experience lower water pressure, said Katherine J. Pedersen, commission spokeswoman. Other areas may also be affected, she said.

It is not known yet long it will take to repair the leak, and how much it will cost, Pedersen said.

Until further notice, the commission is asking that consumers in the affected area curtail their outdoor water use during peak demand hours daily from 4 to 8 a.m. and from 4 to 8 p.m.

At approximately 11 a.m. Thursday, the commission was notified that silty water was observed in the Connecticut River where the pipe crosses, Pedersen said. Upon investigation, the leak was discovered.

Five water mains cross the Connecticut River at three crossing points to provide water to customers in Springfield and some surrounding communities. One of the mains that enters the city in the North End is already shut down for a $4 million repair and partial replacement project.

The leak discovered Thursday involves a pipe that was installed in 1928, and the age of the pipe may have factored in the leak, Pedersen said. The water is piped in from Cobble Mountain Reservoir in Blandford.

The commission would be monitoring water pressure overnight and beyond.

Water flows and water quality have not changed over the past few months, Pedersen said.

Customers may call the commission with questions and comments at Customer Service at (413) 787-6060, or after 4:30 p.m., can call Customer Field Service at (413) 787-6206.

The leak near the South End Bridge may be expensive to repair, a Water and Sewer Commission spokeswoman said.

SPRINGFIELD – The shutdown of a leaking water pipeline on Thursday that crosses the Connecticut River has not resulted in any significant problems with water pressure, according to the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission.

The leak, however, is likely to result in a very costly repair project, commission spokeswoman Katherine J. Pedersen said Friday.

The 36-inch diameter pipeline that crosses the river near the Julia B . Buxton (South End) Bridge was shut down Thursday afternoon after the leak was discovered. Divers will be used next week to evaluate the extent of the leak and help the commission and its engineers determine the best course of action, Pedersen said.

It is unknown how long the water transmission line will be out of service, but an adjacent pipeline ensures there will be no loss of water to customers, she said. The commission had stated on Thursday that there could be lower water pressure in the South End of the city, Longmeadow and East Longmeadow, served by the line.

Both pipelines that cross the river near the South End bridge were installed in 1928 on the riverbed, approximately 19 feet below the water surface, Pedersen said. The leaky pipe’s twin had a leak in 2004, near the shore, resulting in a $350,000 repair project, replacing 35 feet of the pipe, Pedersen said. This pipe leak may be further out in the river, raising concerns about the cost of repairs or replacement, she said.

The pipe has not been infiltrated by unclean river water due to maintained pressure and design safeguards, Pedersen said. The water originates in the Cobble Mountain Reservoir in Blandford.

She was not aware of any customer complaints about water pressure, as of Friday afternoon.

“All pressure and water quality parameters appear to be normal,” Pedersen said. “There were minor variations to pressure in spots – one to two pounds per square inch. That’s negligible.”

The city also receives water from a pipeline near the Memorial Bridge and from two pipelines in the North End of the city. One of the North End pipelines is currently shut down due to an ongoing $4 million repair and partial replacement project.

Two-thirds of the voters must approve the high school project in order for the issue to go on the town election ballot.

This is an architectural drawing of the proposed Longmeadow High School renovation project.LONGMEADOW – Officials are expecting so many voters to turn up for the special Town Meeting on Tuesday that they will begin registration at 5:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. meeting and provide additional parking locations.

“We’ve been doing extensive planning anticipating an extremely large voter turnout,” said Town Manager Robin L. Crosbie.

The meeting, which will be held at Longmeadow High School, will focus solely on the proposed $78 million high school renovation and reconstruction project. During its Feb. 1 meeting, the Select Board voted to hold a separate town meeting to address the issue after parents, students and other residents in support of the project said there was too much information to process in the same night as the annual town meeting when other important issues, such as the fiscal 2011 budget, would be discussed.

Residents will decide whether to place a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion override question on the ballot for the June 8 election. Two-thirds of the voters must approve both the special town meeting question as well as the ballot question in order to receive the $34 million from the state School Building Authority. The town will be responsible for $44 million of the project. The average homeowner will see a $455 annual increase in property taxes over the 25-year life of the bond.

The School Building Committee has held many public forums and informational sessions to prepare residents for the vote. Lancer Pride, a committee formed to support a “yes” vote in favor of the override, has hosted private informational sessions for people interested in learning more about the project. Citizens for a Better Longmeadow, a group opposing the project, has also held public forums. Its argument is that with more than $100 million in infrastructure needs throughout the town, the project should not pass.

Superintendent of Schools E. Jahn Hart said that while she agrees that many town buildings need work, the high school is the only one currently available for state funding.

“Instead of suggesting that we shouldn’t approve the high school project because the town has many other needs, why not establish a townwide facility committee to review all of the town’s buildings to develop solutions to addressing those needs,” she said. “For now, there is a solution to one building’s needs ... and there is funding available to support that solution.”

The Citizens for a Better Longmeadow argues that the high school can be renovated over time with less financial impact on the town.

Crosbie said the meeting will begin at 7 p.m., but she encourages residents to arrive early and walk, bike or share rides to the high school.

“Overflow parking will be available at Blueberry Hill School and the Longmeadow Shops for those who choose to drive,” she said.