Corrected and updated Jan. 10, 2022
The town committee that reviews requests for major purchases and projects has wrapped up its deliberations and recommended the town spend $1.8 million for a dozen undertakings in fiscal 2023.
The Capital Planning and Investment Committee received 18 requests totaling $7.1 million from departments and boards. After exploring costs and benefits with their proponents, committee members approved 13. (See table below)
The final list, completed at a Dec. 22 meeting, proposes that 12 of those projects be paid for with money drawn from the town’s Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund and the last, purchase of new SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) respirators for the Fire Department, with a municipal loan.
The 12 projects paid for with money from the capital fund would, if approved by Annual Town Meeting, cost $1.4 million, roughly half the fund’s current balance of $3.1 million. However, Town Meeting typically replenishes the fund each spring with free cash from the prior year. This year’s free cash—certified by the state last October—is $1.7 million. How it is used will be up to Annual Town Meeting, but it could be transferred to the capital fund to restore its balance.
CPIC members voted unanimously to borrow the $370,534 needed to purchase new respirators for Harvard’s volunteer firefighters. Principal and interest payments on the loan would add to town debt that’s excluded from Proposition 2½. Excluded debt requires a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting and a majority vote at Town Election.
With the town’s debt payments hovering close to Harvard’s 12% limit on debt as a percentage of the annual operating budget, CPIC members were reluctant to approve borrowing for other large projects on the committee’s list. They recommended, for example, that the $226,000 bucket loader requested by DPW Director Tim Kilhart be paid for with capital fund money. The debt limit was voted last March by the Select Board on the recommendation of the Finance Committee. But some committee members said they were also concerned that using debt to pay for crucial projects risks the delay of necessary work, such as road repair, or of needed purchases, such as new air-handling units at the schools, should those requests fail at a town meeting or election.
The greatest number of capital requests on this year’s list came from the schools, which submitted eight. Six were approved. (See “Schools seek capital funds for Bromfield projects, network updates”)
The largest—and most debated—request came from the Parks and Recreation Commission, which asked for $4.5 million to find and build a new athletic field complex. The proposal had the support of the Open Space Committee and schools, but received the lowest rating of all 18 projects. CPIC members voted instead to set aside $50,000 for a field stabilization fund that could be used to look for available land and formulate a more complete plan. (See “CPIC recommends $50,000 for field complex fund”)
Among the five proposals that failed to make the cut were design money for a new DPW facility ($550,000) and fire station ($29,000), deferred maintenance of the Public Safety Building elevator ($150,000), and replacement of Bromfield lockers ($100,000).
CPIC took no action on a request by Kilhart for a new mower, neither rejecting nor recommending the $26,000 request. Instead the committee suggested Kilhart put the purchase before Town Meeting voters as a separate article, but took no vote on the matter.
The capital committee is responsible for evaluating purchases of goods and services whose cost is greater than $20,000 and have a useful life of at least five years. Departments and boards submit their requests each fall, which are reviewed and rated by the five voting CPIC members. The committee then presents its recommendations to the Select Board and Finance Committee, which make their own determinations. By charter, the Select Board has the final say on which capital projects are presented to Town Meeting.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct two errors. Although we reported otherwise, the capital committee did approve the request of the Commission on Disabilities for money to study the needs of the town. And the elevator that was denied money for maintenance by the committee is located in the Public Safety Building on Ayer Road, not in the Bromfield School.
