2011-ATM-CEC-rpt (supplement & errata)

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CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMMITTEE SUPPLEMENT&ERRATA REPORT TO 2011 ATM $117,000 in FY2012 under the DPW Compost Facility Revolving Fund for two Capital projects, we are including it in this report. One request is for the replacement of three deteriorated culverts under the access road to the Hartwell Avenue Compost Facility. (See Article 7(a)). The second request is for an assessment of the viability of the Hartwell Avenue Compost Facility as a site for a privately operated, anaerobic, "green waste" processing facility. (See Article 7(b)) Small-Ticket Projects Small-ticket capital projects are funded from the tax levy and do not qualify as big-ticket projects. Generally, they cost between $25,000 (the minimum qualification for consideration as a capital expenditure except for those funded by the CPF) and $1 million, and represent projects that should be funded on a regular, timely basis to maintain Town infrastructure. With the creation of the Department of Public Facilities as well as the Building Envelope "set-aside" passed in the June 2006 operating override, a new emphasis has been placed on continual infrastructure maintenance a move that this Committee naturally applauds. As that Building Envelope "set-aside"was scaled for just the Municipal buildings (see Article 13(j) for this year's request, which now includes systems along with the envelope), we were also pleased to see a parallel "set-aside" for the Schools buildings in FY2010 (see Article 13(c) for this year's request, which also now includes systems). In this respect, we continue to work closely with the stewards of our assets to prioritize, plan, and project such work for a period of five years or more. In the FY2012 capital budget, requests have also been made for new capital renewal "programs" in the areas of School Building Flooring and Systemwide School Window Treatment(see sub-items within Article 13(d) for this year's request) and in School Paving (see Article 13(h) for this year's request). Five-Year Capital Plan The table on the next two pages summarizes the Town's five-year capital plan that this Committee is submitting for Town Meeting consideration. It reflects the FY2012 amounts whose appropriation we expect to be requested at the 2011 ATM as addressed in this report and the contemplated FY2013-FY2016 requests. We started with what is shown in the Brown Book, Page XI-18. Those requests have been updated based on any later information we received and we have made numerous, additional, entries in the out years where this Committee feels funding might well be requested based on earlier studies, design & engineering work, or the existence of a multi-phase project; but where, to our knowledge, there is, often no formal position taken by the Town. In that vein, there are important caveats to that table: • Please see the footnotes for some information on the status of one or more of the entries. • As noted earlier in the Executive Summary, there are a very-large number of Big-Ticket Projects facing this Town in the near future whether for funding by the GF (either within levy or more likely via excluded debt, if approved by the voters) or the CPF and not all of them are shown in the out-years of this five-year plan (e.g., addressing the roadway infrastructure needs, as just one example). Even without the values of the TBD entries which will inevitably total many millions of dollars once determined the total of the now- cited out-year items in our table is $95.2 million. That total for those 4 years is, on average per year, 78% more than the FY2012 request. Even with some successful debt-exclusion referendums, that will likely require major reprogramming of those out-year projects. While this Committee appreciates the Town's concern about citing a very preliminary estimate for a project whose scope and timing are not at all well defined at this point in time such that any such number or timing may become contentious when later, better-defined, dollar values, execution dates, and planned funding sources are developed this Committee finds the current approach untenable when there's a prescribed need to present, evaluate, and make recommendations on the Town's five year capital needs. We continue to urge the Town to present a prioritized and time-phased list of such Big-Ticket Projects and indicate the plan for funding of its current best-guess of the likely costs. 15