Capital Improvement Committee
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES
July 28th, 2021
Present: Bob Holmes (Chair), Bob Edwards (Ex Officio), William Bryk (Member), Neal Pattison (Member), and Victor Rosansky (Vice Chair via Zoom)
Staff Present: Ashley Brudnick-Destromp (Assistant) and Carol Ogilvie (Planning Consultant)
Absent: Bill Fluhr (Member)
Others in Attendance: Rick Wood (Library)
*This Meeting was also made public via Zoom*
CTO: Chair Holmes called the Meeting to Order at 5:01 PM.
Roll Call for Attendance: Bob Holmes, “Here,” Victor Rosansky,”Here,” Neal Pattison- Absent, William Bryk, “Here,” Bill Fluhr, “Absent,” and Bob Edwards, “Here.”
Mr. Pattison entered at 5:03 PM
I. Review of Department Response:
Library CIP- Mr. Wood said that the Library wished to replace 2 existing flat roofs with metal roofs at a cost of $18,000. Chair Holmes and the Board responded that this would fall under Town Buildings as it is maintenance. Chair Holmes asked the board if they should continue with the Library’s request for $5k a year to be placed in capital reserves. There was a discussion on this. Ms. Ogilvie commented that she will work on making the worksheet clearer for department heads to report what was done the previous years. There was a discussion with Mr. Wood on what should count for CIP and what falls under maintenance of Town Buildings. Mr. Woods mentioned that the same contractor from the 2006 Library Addition has mentioned that there might be possible internal ceiling work that needs to be replaced and other things that will come from this project that was started this year from approval last year. Mr. Edwards commented in 2006 there was an $800k bond for the library addition, and he wanted to clarify if any of the work being requested had to do with the addition or if it was the other section of the building that was preexisting. Mr. Woods responded these upgrades were all for the older building. Mr. Pattison verified that the new metal roofs are low pitch and that is why the Library is requesting metal. Mr. Woods responded that is correct. Chair Holmes mentioned that the CIP is trying to look down the road and that it should be mentioned on the worksheet and if the cost/price is unknown to just mention that.
Chair Holmes then asked the Board how they wanted to proceed with the requested $5k a year into capital reserves. Mr. Edwards wanted to make sure there would be a discussion on the Town Wide Assets Management Plan.
Motion: Mr. Bryk made a motion at 5:16 PM to put $5k in capital reserves annually for Library, at 5:17 PM Mr. Edwards seconded it.
Discussion: Mr. Edwards said he was not in favor of putting away funds for unknown projects because the money comes from tax payers. Mr. Bryk mentioned that the requests were maintenance issues, and Mr. Pattison added to this as well and there was an open discussion.
*Mr. Rosansky was briefly disconnected from Zoom for 2 minutes during this conversation*
There was a discussion on clarification on CIP vs maintenance. The Assistant asked where all of Library’s requests are maintenance, should the Library have CIP or just increase their maintenance budget. This opened a discussion with Mr. Wood where he explained the Library also has their own funding, and they can use that funding for new computers and things of that nature so maybe they do not need CIP but he asked for clarification on what is considered CIP and what should be classified as maintenance.
Mr. Edwards went over the numbers for the operation budget last year with Mr. Wood, and mentioned that the budget was $182,000 for 2020, and $156,000 was funded by the Town.
Roll Call Vote: Bob Holmes, “No,” Bob Edwards, “Bob,” Neal Pattison, “No,” Victor Rosansky, “No.”
The Motion FAILED
Police- The Police Department requested in 2022 a new cruiser, and the Board mentioned how they are on a State mandatory rotation for vehicles. Chief Lord mentioned funding for RMS, body cameras, and other technical equipment for police ticketing. The Board discussed how last year the Police were approved for a capital reserve fund for technological advances coming down the line. The RMS system was projected to be $60k in 2023, so $20k is being put in annually until 2024 where it was requested $5k annually. The Assistant will reach out to Chief Lord and find out if there is any grant money available towards these items and to find out if he needs an increase to the $5k annually.
Town Buildings- Chief Gale has requested new roofs on Central Station (Route 31) and North Branch (Route 9) and mentions both are urgent but had split the cost over the course of 5 years for both to finance the replacement. The cost for Central Station is $100k and the cost for North Branch is $70k. The Board discussed if these were for shingles vs metal, and where the layout of Central Station is a concern, would doing a new roof be counterproductive if the building ends up needing to be expanded. The Assistant will reach out to Chief Gale to see if the roofs need to be completed sooner than 5 years, and the plans for Central Station as well as the type of roof he is requesting.
Fire- The new engine had a request of $75k annually last year but was lowered to $65k by the BOS. Chair Holmes wants the Assistant to find out if Chief Gale needs that additional $10k still to be put back in. The Board also would like a breakdown of the $40k in repairs needed at Central Station and that it should go under Town Buildings. The Assistant will submit it to the Town Administrator.
There was a discussion on the purpose/intent of the dry hydrant funding request. The Assistant explained the issues that the Planning Board is currently addressing in regards to creating Fire Regulations, in the meantime there is a great deficiency of Fire Protection within the Town that can be addressed. $15k a year would allow the Fire Department to install one dry hydrant annually. Mr. Bryk also spoke as a member of the Planning Board to give further insight. The Chair asked that the Chief provide a plan on where the first 5 hydrants would go, as well as show the estimate of the dry hydrant. The Assistant will reach out to the Chief for these requests. Mr. Pattison who is also on the Fire Department gave some additional information and answered questions regarding the need for more dry hydrants.
Highway- Chair Holmes asked the Assistant to email the Road Agent to clarify if he is just looking for an additional $15k to his original request for $105k or if the requested $120k is for a completely different vehicle. The Skip Liner request is $65k and there was no discussion on it since the Board felt it was pretty straight forwarded this needed to be done.
The Assistant mentioned she was still waiting for the Rec Department who reached out and said they needed more time, and that she has not received anything back from the A.R.T.S Department yet, but that she would put another request in their mailbox since they do not use email.
II. Review/Amend minutes from 6/02/2021:
Motion: Mr. Pattison made a motion to approve the minutes as written at 6:48 PM, Mr. Edwards seconded it at 6:48 PM.
Roll Call Vote: Bob Holmes, “Aye,” Bob Edwards, “Aye,” Neal Pattison, “Aye,” Victor Rosansky, “Aye,” and William Bryk, “Aye.”
III. Schedule Next Meeting:
The Assistant and Board discussed this and at the moment they will hold of on scheduling the next meeting until information has returned from the departments.
IV. Other Business:
The Board decided to table roads having a capital reserve account for this year.
Motion to Adjourn: Mr. Bryk made a motion to adjourn at 6:51 PM, at 6:51 PM Mr. Edwards seconded it.
Roll Call Vote: Bob Holmes, “Aye,” Bob Edwards, “Aye,” Neal Pattison, “Aye,” Victor Rosansky, “Aye,” and William Bryk, “Aye.”
The Meeting ended at 6:52 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Ashley Brudnick-Destromp
(Assistant to the Land Use Boards)