During the cold, bleak months of winter, the town turns its attention to how to spend its money in the coming fiscal year. The Capital Planning and Investment Committee typically gets its work done in January, and this year members voted to recommend spending $1,992,000 for a variety of purposes, from buying land for a new athletic field to replacing the seats in Cronin Auditorium at the Bromfield School.
At the committee’s Jan. 15 meeting, Chair Nate Finch said the balance of the Capital Stabilization Fund was $2.7 million. Finance Director Jared Mullane had told the group to assume a $906,000 infusion of free cash at the end of this fiscal year, giving the committee about $3.6 million in its wallet. Finch also said it would be prudent not to lower the balance much below $1.5 million. When the recommendation dust settled, the balance stood at $1,668,000, with a $200,000 elevator upgrade still on the table.
CPIC voted to recommend all but one of the school’s requests for fiscal 2026. Bromfield School requests that received thumbs up from the committee include replacing the aging seats in the auditorium, replacing four exterior doors that don’t close properly, and installing sound-absorbing panels in two classrooms to mitigate noise from exposed ducts. A fourth year of funding was recommended to continue laying new floors; the final round will be requested next year. Athletic equipment, including pitching machines, benches, and scoring tables for school fields was also recommended.
Both of the Department of Public Works requests—additional funds for road repairs and money for a new roadside mower—met with CPIC’s approval. Chapter 90 funds that the town receives from the state each year do not keep pace with the cost of materials, according to the town’s previous DPW director, Tim Kilhart. During his last five years on the job, he requested additional funds from CPIC annually, and he made this request before his departure last fall. He also requested money to replace the department’s roadside mower, which he said broke down frequently last year.
Land purchase for new athletic field
The Park and Recreation Commission’s request to fund $400,000 of the $2.4 million McCurdy track restoration project initially met with CPIC’s approval, but the committee reversed that decision at a Jan. 23 meeting upon learning that Park and Rec and the Community Preservation Committee preferred that CPIC use that money to acquire land for a new multipurpose athletic field instead. Recreation Director Anne McWaters told CPIC members that a private landowner had come forward with a 6-acre parcel near Harvard Park for $415,000. She said Community Preservation could make the purchase, but the process would be more difficult because of state laws regarding CPC funds. The committee agreed to recommend funding the land acquisition along with $25,000 for legal and surveying fees; the Community Preservation Committee will foot the entire bill for the track renovation with a multiyear bond.
McWaters also withdrew the commission’s request for $1.7 million to renovate and expand the field house at the track. The commission is currently looking into ways to reduce the cost of the renovation, such as assistance from students at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical school.
CPIC also recommended paying for computer upgrades for the Police Department, and an upgrade to the alarm system as well as new radio repeaters for the Fire EMS Department, and it recommended the department’s request for $300,000 toward the cost of a new ambulance. The existing ambulance was scheduled to be replaced in two years, but a $250,000 grant from the state, given to each town that was affected by the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center, moved the new ambulance up on the capital schedule. The old ambulance will be used as backup.
No action on new fire station
The committee took no action on the Fire EMS Department’s request to fund the schematic design for a new station and the acquisition of land on which to build the station. The recent discovery of remnants of the old landfill under the existing Transfer Station and the Department of Public Works has put the DPW renovation project on hold, and the Select Board is considering moving the DPW and the fire station to a single site with shared common spaces to save money.
The committee denied the facilities director’s request for $280,000 to pave the parking lots at Town Hall, Hildreth House, and at the town center and Still River fire stations. Member Charles Oliver said that all but the fire station lots had recently been paved, and Fire Chief Rick Sicard told the committee that the fire station lots did not currently pose a safety concern, but they would need repaving soon.
Finally, for the third straight year, CPIC denied the School Committee’s request to replace $210,000 worth of school lockers at Bromfield. Although the lockers are 20 to 40 years old and rusting, the project got the lowest average rating of all the school requests this year. In addition, CPIC may need to pay for a $200,000 elevator upgrade at the Public Safety Building in fiscal 2026, a project the committee considered more urgent than the lockers. It is currently waiting for more information from the facilities manager on possible solutions to upgrade the aging elevator before making its recommendation. The committee also tabled the Police Department’s request for a new drone pending the outcome of a state bill that might pay for it.
The town will vote on each of CPIC’s recommendations at Annual Town Meeting May 3.
