Capital Improvement Committee Meeting ~ October 25, 2023

2023-10-25 · Capital Improvement Committee · 1:35:50 · watch on YouTube →

This was the first meeting of the Capital Improvement Committee's 2024 budget cycle, held to elect officers and take a first pass through the capital requests submitted by department heads. Paul was re-elected chair and Michelle was elected vice chair. Jerry Douglass distributed a packet containing the department requests, reserve account balances, remaining ARPA funds, equipment inventories and replacement schedules, and walked the committee through the fire, public works, administration, planning and historic district commission items. Much of the discussion turned on the gap between what the replacement schedules imply the town should be saving each year and what departments are actually requesting. The committee set a deadline of the following Tuesday for written questions and scheduled a second meeting for November 2 with the town's financial advisor and the department heads, and a final meeting on November 13 or 16.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

1. 5:37
   Opening and introductions

   Paul opened the first meeting of the 2024 capital improvement process and explained for viewers that the programme covers town capital expenditures over $10,000, such as vehicles and building renovations, and provides a way to prioritise them and save for them. Members introduced themselves, including Jill, the newest member, who also sits on the budget committee.

2. 10:56
   Election of chair and vice chair

   Paul (?) said he was willing to serve another year and hoped to step back at some point, and credited Jerry Douglass with taking ownership of the process. Michelle was nominated for vice chair after Joe Tomm was said to be carrying other roles. Peter Jabo (?) joined at 6:08.

3. 10:56
   The 2024 CIP packet

   Jerry Douglass (?) described the packet: department requests on one side, reserve account balances on the other, remaining ARPA funds on the first page, the CIP policy, and equipment inventories with replacement schedules for fire and public works. He noted that paving sits in the operating budget rather than capital, so it does not come through this process.

4. 10:56
   Fire department replacement schedule

   The committee read through the fire schedule, which lists each piece of equipment with its replacement year, new cost, purchase date and life expectancy. The pumper, Engine 21, was bought in 2004 and is scheduled for replacement in 2029, and nothing is scheduled for replacement until 2027.

5. 17:02
   Fire reserve balance and ARPA-funded projects

   The fire reserve balance was given as 142. The diesel fume filtration system and the generator are installed, but the Quint refurbishment, funded from ARPA, has not been done. Of the ARPA money, about 45,000 remains from the one-ton plow truck article plus 3,000, giving close to 49,000, while 4,000 for tax maps is obligated for two years of updates.

6. 17:02
   How questions to department heads will be handled

   As in past years, members will review the materials at home and send written questions to Paul, who will collate them and pass them to Jerry Douglass for the department heads before they attend. Paul (?) asked for questions by end of day the following Tuesday.

7. 22:27
   Schedule and the financial advisor's presentation

   Jerry Douglass (?) said he would like the process wrapped up by the end of November and wants the town's financial advisor to present at the second meeting, showing what the equipment schedules imply the town needs to set aside over 10 to 15 years. The committee agreed to combine that presentation with the department heads' appearance.

8. 22:27
   Public works replacement schedule

   This year's public works requests are the road commissioner's GMC pickup, bought in 2014, and an equipment trailer from 2015. Two dump trucks fall in 2026 and 2027, followed by a loader and a backhoe, giving a major piece of equipment every year from 2026 through 2033, which Jerry Douglass attributed to much of the fleet having been bought at the same time when Public Works was set up.

9. 28:27
   What full funding of the schedule would cost

   Jerry Douglass (?) said flattening the public works schedule out gives about $1.9 million over ten years, or $200,000 a year, against the $100,000 requested this year to replenish the capital fund. The bond repayment schedule was not in the packet and he agreed to provide it.

10. 34:17
    The committee's role in setting amounts

    Jill (?) asked whether the committee could recommend increasing a department's request. Members said the committee scores against the policy criteria and the select board sets the amounts, though whether a request looks reasonable can be reflected in the score. It was noted that fire, public works and the town buildings together could imply saving around half a million dollars a year.

11. 39:43
    Using realistic planning numbers

    Members agreed the point of the committee is planning and that it is better for taxpayers, the budget committee and the select board to see what is coming, even if the numbers prompt a rethink of the ten-year replacement cycle. A culvert project was discussed as finished with 14,000 remaining from the appropriation.

12. 45:12
    Detail wanted in public works applications

    Paul (?) asked for more justification in Calvin's applications, specifically what repairs would cost and how much longer a vehicle could be kept, rather than replacement at a fixed ten-year mark. He noted the policy's application form on page five asks for benefits and alternatives considered, while the form the department heads actually filled out does not.

13. 45:12
    Fire department requests

    The fire requests are consoles and computers mounted in the trucks, a possible use for the remaining ARPA money, and a reserve request described as for the ambulance. Jerry Douglass (?) confirmed there is no separate ambulance reserve and that it goes into the single fire and rescue capital account.

14. 50:16
    Quint refurbishment and the schedule

    A member noted that the refurbished Quint, said to gain about another ten years, does not appear anywhere on the fire replacement schedule, which runs to 2039 with a gap between 2030 and 2039. The committee agreed to raise this with the chief.

15. 50:16
    Town office reconfiguration

    Jerry Douglass (?) presented the administration request to build a wall creating an office and a small conference room, describing part-time staff working at a TV tray and three staff, the assessor, the planner and the code officer, sharing a ten by ten office. Select board and planning board meetings would move to the fire station.

16. 55:39
    Where meetings would be held

    Members questioned moving meetings, and Jerry Douglass (?) said the Eureka Center has no technology, has poles in the middle of the room and is rented for private functions, while the fire station needs only a camera. He said he would dust off a 2006 study on adding to the town office building, since the town has never had a usable meeting room.

17. 1:01:07
    Revaluation

    The assessing request is toward a town-wide revaluation. Sixty is already set aside and another sixty is requested, against an estimate of 180,000 to 200,000 based on what other town managers have paid, with an RFP to be prepared with the assessor's agent and a wait expected because firms are busy.

18. 1:06:30
    Land use ordinance review

    The planning request would hire a private firm to go through the land use ordinance and produce a list of conflicts and provisions that do not follow state law, for the planning board and George to work from. Jerry Douglass gave signs as an example, where the ordinance says no signs while the state statute allows them, and said the planner works 20 hours a week and cannot take the whole review on.

19. 1:11:45
    Union Church

    The historic district commission's request is money toward the Union Church, a town-owned building insured through MMA. A structural engineer has inspected it, paid for in part by an MMA grant, and the report is expected within weeks; the engineer has told Jerry Douglass the building is structurally sound. The $10,000 voted at the last town meeting for the sills went into the planning operating account rather than capital and was not spent.

20. 1:17:22
    Options for the Union Church

    Members discussed National Park Service historic renovation grants, which they understood require the building to be income-producing and may not apply to municipal buildings, and the possibility of transferring it to a 501(c)(3), which the Union Church committee is considering. GPCOG and Maine Preservation were suggested as resources for the historic district commission.

21. 1:22:59
    Meeting dates and scoring

    The committee set its next meeting for Thursday November 2 at 6, with the financial advisor presenting first and the department heads then presenting their applications and answering questions. A final meeting was set for Monday November 13 at 6:30, moving to Thursday the 16th if it conflicts with a planning board public hearing; members will score after the November 2 meeting and discuss the scores at the final meeting.

22. 1:28:16
    Thanks and adjournment

    Michelle will compile the scores in a spreadsheet again. Paul (?) thanked Jerry Douglass and the department heads for the packet, saying it was the first time in the process the committee had accurate account balances and that the reserve accounts are now set up separately.

What was decided

• 10:56
  Elect Paul as chair of the Capital Improvement Committee for the coming yearpassed
• 10:56
  Elect Michelle as vice chairpassed
• 17:02
  Members will send written questions to Paul by end of day Tuesday, to be collated and passed to Jerry Douglass for the department headsoutcome unclear
• 22:27
  Combine the financial advisor's presentation and the department heads' appearance into a single second meeting rather than holding them separatelyoutcome unclear
• 45:12
  Ask for more detail in the public works applications, including repair costs and alternatives considered as the policy's own form requiresoutcome unclear
• 1:22:59
  Hold the next meeting Thursday November 2 at 6, with the financial advisor and the department heads presentoutcome unclear
• 1:22:59
  Score the applications individually after the November 2 meeting rather than meeting to discuss first, then hold a final meeting on November 13 at 6:30, or November 16 if the 13th conflicts with a planning board public hearingoutcome unclear
• 1:34:03
  Adjourn, seconded by Joe Tommpassed

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Worth knowing

• 28:27
  Jerry Douglass (?) said the public works replacement schedule comes to about $1.9 million over ten years, or $200,000 a year to fund fully, against the $100,000 requested this year. Adding fire and the town buildings, members said the figure could approach half a million dollars a year.
• 50:16
  2029 is a heavy year for the fire department, described as about a million dollars at today's prices. The pumper, Engine 21, was bought in 2004.
• 1:01:07
  The town's certified ratio is 67 percent, against a state range of 70 to 110, and Durham has not had a revaluation in 12 years. A full revaluation was estimated at 180,000 to 200,000, with 60 set aside and another 60 requested.
• 1:11:45
  The $10,000 voted at the last town meeting toward the Union Church sills was put in the planning operating account rather than capital, was not spent, and goes back to undesignated funds. The sills have not been repaired while the town decides what the building will be used for.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 2 passages of motion language, against 8 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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