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Capital Expenditures Committee
Proposed Minutes January 13th, 2000 Meeting
1. Meeting was called to order by the Chairman in the Civil Room at Cary Hall at
7:35pm. All members were present: Narain Bhatia, George Burnell, Tom
Griffiths, Charles Hornig, and Shirley Stolz. The Appropriation Committee was
represented by Sheldon Spector. Rick White and Jeanne Krieger were also
present.
2. Rick made the following points:
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He is worried that the amount of near-term capital spending needed may be
exaggerated. He mentioned that a figure of $120M was possible if one
believed all the numbers we see thrown about.
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He emphasized that the large-ticket capital spending process involved the
Selectmen, the School Committee, and the “Blue Ribbon Committee” to be
appointed by the Selectmen.
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Concerning roads, he’s convinced that the recent study overstates the
amount of work needed on the roads. For example, he believes that
reconstruction isn’t needed for some of the roads listed as needing it.
Rick also believes that we will soon see Chapter 90 funds restored to
their traditional levels.
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He feels strongly (with Jeanne’s support) that a DPW building study should
be done. He believes that it would show that the cost of relocating to
Hartwell Ave. would be mostly offset by the revenue the Town could gain by
selling the present site. He also reminded the Committee that the current
site, in private hands, could generate significant tax revenue.
3. Jeanne made the following points:
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She hopes the Committee’s five-year plan will reflect priorities more than
numbers. She feels we would better serve the community if we came to the
capital summit with questions/concerns rather than a proposal like that
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voted at our January 6 meeting.
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Jeane (with Rick’s agreement) felt that the COA proposal made sense and
doesn’t require a preliminary needs study. The current site doesn’t meet
COA needs, and the Town wants to support its seniors. (Rick said about
$25K was being allocated in FY 2001 for a design study.)
4. After Jeanne and Rick left, the Committee decided to re-engage the DPW and
COA issues.
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5. The Committee also decided to have a meeting on February 9 to discuss
strategy for the Capital Summit Meeting.
6. George and Charles agreed to cover School Committee Meetings while Tom is
away.
7. The following Committee actions were by unanimous vote:
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Rescind the Committee’s December vote that for FY 2001, the Committee
recommends the inclusion of the DPW’s Lake Street Drain Replacement at
$52,500. If there is insufficient money in the cash capital budget, cut
the School Technology program by $50,000. Instead, the Committee
recommends inclusion of the Lake Street project in FY 2002.
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Postpone the purchase of the new ambulance until FY 2002, and apply the FY
2001 money allocated to the new ambulance to a refurb of the Central Fire
Station. (Since the Town is funding the building/system census out of
override funds, this frees up $100,000 in FY 2002 that was to be used for
the same purpose.)
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8. (This leaves in place the Committee’s other votes of December 20:
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For FY 2001, the Committee recommends that the operating override
contain $500,000 dedicated to street maintenance and/or catchup street
maintenance. This money to be spent in addition to whatever Chapter 90
money becomes available.
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For FY 2002, the Committee recommends that $275,000 be set aside for
the purchase of new financial software and an Alpha replacement for the
Finance Department. The Committee feels that the $200,000 currently
budgeted in Scenario 1 may be insufficient and that that may
unreasonably constrain the choice of financial software. The Committee
feels that the School Department request for portables can be cut from
$300,000 to $225,000.
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For FY 2002, the Committee recommends the restoration of $30,000 to the
Recreation Department’s playground budget. Part of this money would
come from removing $20,000 requested by the Fire Department to study a
fire alarm upgrade and portable radio needs. Since capital expenditures
for these items have been moved out beyond FY 2005, this study is
premature.)
9. The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:15pm.
Minutes by Tom Griffiths