The Capital Planning and Investment Committee voted last Thursday to recommend that the town fund capital projects for fiscal year 2013 totaling $357,269, including $80,825 to pay for previously incurred debt. Not included is the request from the Municipal Building Committee for capital funds to renovate Town Hall and Hildreth House.
Of the 20 items originally submitted to the committee, 11 were funded.
Seven of the nine items submitted by the school department were funded, including repaving the Pond Road parking lot, resurfacing the tennis courts and providing lighting for them, replacing the carpeting in room 238 of the Bromfield School, replacing parts of the HVAC system, and installing a new alarm system at the high school.
The capital committee decided not to fund the School Committee’s request for two capital improvements to the Bromfield House administration building: building a sidewalk to the elementary school and connecting the building to the town sewer.
Capital requests coming from the Department of Public Works did not fare so well. At earlier meetings, the capital committee decided not to fund a request for sidewalks ($25,000) and a compost facility at the Transfer Station ($50,000). Richard Nota, director of Public Works, earlier agreed that a request for $175,000 to add on to the maintenance bay used by his department to service its vehicles could be deferred to another year. A request to replace guardrails in town for $25,000 was voted out at this meeting.
Using a standard rating sheet that had points for categories such as “justification of need” and the relative certainty of the projected cost, each committee member rated the projects. The total of each individual member’s rating was used to rank the capital requests. The committee voted to fund all projects that earned 70 or above and two projects that earned 64: a well pump replacement for the Water Department that is state mandated, and the repairs to the tennis court.
Most of the requests had been rated at earlier meetings; however, at this meeting committee members questioned Brian Smith, the chairman of the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee, before rating the Harvard School Committee’s request of $52,500 to fund repair and replacement of non-working parts in the Bromfield HVAC system. After hearing Smith’s explanation of the projected work, members rated the project at 76, putting it above the 70-point threshold.
The capital committee also heard from two members of the Master Plan Steering Committee, chairman Joe Hutchinson, and Lucy Wallace, from the Council on Aging, who presented the timeline of their committee’s work. The $100,000 to fund the next phase of the Master Plan doesn’t require capital committee funding, but the plan could affect capital requests in future years.
The Capital Planning and Investment Committee has approximately $927,000 to allocate in fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2014. If the recommended items are funded for fiscal 2013, the fund will have $387,731 remaining for fiscal 2014 and whatever money comes back from funds unspent in fiscal 2012. This budget does not include the projected renovations to Town Hall and Hildreth House.
On Thursday, Feb. 23, the capital committee was scheduled to discuss the Municipal Building Committee’s request for funds.
