Capital Improvement Committee Meeting ~ November 2, 2023

2023-11-02 · Capital Improvement Committee · 3:21:01 · watch on YouTube →

The Capital Improvement Committee met for the second time in the 2024 CIP cycle, first to hear a presentation on long-range capital planning and then to question department heads on their 2024 requests. Mark Roy, introduced as the town's business manager, presented a model that sets a level amount to be raised into reserve each year so the balance never falls below zero, and said buildings and debt service are missing from the town's current planning. Members said the town is not ready to put that approach to the April town meeting and will keep using the existing equipment replacement schedules this year, with the comprehensive plan possibly introduced in 2025. Chief Rob Tripp (?) presented a $50,000 fire and rescue reserve request toward a 2029 ambulance and a $25,000 request for computer-aided dispatch equipment; Calvin, the road commissioner, presented an $87,000 pickup and a replacement equipment trailer; and town manager Jerry Douglas (?) presented requests for revaluation, town office reconfiguration, ordinance codification and the Union Church. No votes were taken. Members will score the applications and return on November 30.

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. 1:22
   Opening and introductions

   The chair opened the second meeting of the 2024 capital improvement program process and the committee members introduced themselves by name and street. They were joined by town manager Jerry Douglas, fire chief Rob Tripp, road commissioner Calvin, and Mark Roy, who introduced himself as a partner in an advisory firm and said business manager is the title he usually goes by.

2. 7:10
   Long-range approach to capital planning

   Mark Roy (?) described planning capital needs 20 to 40 years out and raising a level amount each year rather than deciding budget by budget. Members said the town's high annual bond payments have made it hard to save and pay at the same time, so the equipment replacement schedules have been used as a proxy for a plan. Mark Roy (?) said buildings are missing from the long-term request list and that debt service could be folded into the same plan.

3. 12:56
   Estimating costs decades out

   Mark Roy (?) said far-out costs can be estimated with an inflation factor rather than an exact figure, and refined as the purchase date approaches. He gave the example of another client town that had been raising $300,000 to $400,000 a year and then had to raise $800,000 when a public safety building needed replacing.

4. 18:46
   Whether to bring roads into the plan

   Members said they would prefer to keep the plan to vehicles and equipment for now and leave roads aside until later. The advice given was that the annual paving program stay in the road commissioner's operating budget, with culvert, bridge and road reconstruction projects treated as capital requests.

5. 23:52
   Fire department reserve model walkthrough

   Mark Roy walked the committee through a spreadsheet and graph for the fire department showing the beginning reserve balance each year against the amount raised each year. He described the reserve rising toward $800,000 to $900,000 before an outflow he gave as $1.1 million around 2034, with a level raise of about $180,000 a year through 2040.

6. 29:05
   Planning horizon and inflation factor

   The fire schedule runs to 2044 while public works runs about ten years, which members attributed to how much harder public works equipment is used. Members discussed whether the inflation factor written into the town's policy is still being applied, and agreed that money should still be set aside when a purchase is deliberately delayed.

7. 34:13
   Warrant articles and a single capital reserve

   Mark Roy (?) described the two standard articles used in another town he advises: one to raise and transfer a set amount into the capital reserve, and one authorising the select board to spend from it as needed. He gave the example of that town paying about $30,000 for mould remediation at its library out of the reserve without a special town meeting.

8. 39:23
   Single fund versus separate reserve accounts

   Joe (?) said segregating reserves by department pits public works against the fire department, and that one fund would let the select board move money to whatever breaks first. The chair agreed with the concern but said they still prefer separate accounts, and it was asked whether residents would rather see two articles of $180,000 or one combined figure.

9. 44:40
   The amounts under discussion

   The figures spoken were about $205,000 for public works and about $180,000 for fire, roughly $380,000 combined, against roughly $100,000 a year the town has been putting into reserves. Jill (?) said that because the debt schedule is falling, the bottom line residents see would be closer to flat than the raw increase suggests.

10. 49:59
    Tax impact and rising costs

    Mark Roy (?) said he would never promise taxpayers a future saving and would tell them to plan on a 3 to 5 percent property tax increase each year. Jerry Douglas (?) said the town had not raised the mill rate in three years other than 2023 and expected that to catch up with him as the new manager. It was noted that roughly 70 cents of every dollar going through the town office goes to the school.

11. 55:22
    What the committee wants from the consultant

    Mark Roy (?) asked for direction on whether to build a comprehensive plan or continue with annual ranked requests. Members noted the town's existing CIP policy requires ranking, which level funding would negate, and concluded the policy should be rewritten after the plan exists rather than before. Members also said that if the approach is introduced it should be introduced comprehensively rather than a piece at a time.

12. 1:00:28
    Ramping up rather than jumping to the full amount

    Mark Roy (?) said the town could keep the full plan but raise less than the recommended level amount in the first years and ramp up to a plateau over about five years. Members said the select board and the budget committee would need to be on the same page for it to pass, and that implementation might fit better in 2025 than at the April 2024 town meeting.

13. 1:05:37
    Educating voters on the plan

    Members suggested a 10 to 15 minute presentation by Mark Roy at the start of town meeting to explain the plan, on the model of the select board chair's budget presentation. Jill's point was repeated that as debt service falls and is replaced by reserve contributions, the total is not a large additional spend so much as a change in which bucket the money goes to.

14. 1:10:39
    Warrant format and the fire department requests

    Members discussed whether 2024 items should appear as individual articles, grouped by department, or combined, and supported keeping an article authorising the select board to spend from the capital reserves in an emergency. Chief Rob Tripp then said the fire department requested $265,000 last year, including exhaust removal, a generator, a rapid response vehicle and $125,000 of ARPA funds toward the Quint, and had cut back this year because public works was asking for more. The chair noted the application is titled ambulance reserve fund although the account is the fire and rescue reserve.

15. 1:16:43
    $50,000 toward a 2029 ambulance

    Chief Rob Tripp (?) said the rescue runs 9,000 to 10,000 miles a year over 39 square miles of town, and that in 2029 the plan is to keep the existing rescue as a second unit rather than trade it, because trade-in values are around $10,000 and the department has had two calls needing two ambulances on the same day. He said ambulance billing through the department's Massachusetts contractor, whose name is unclear in the recording, has had rates raised and collections resumed and should roughly double revenue, which goes back to the town rather than to the department.

16. 1:22:14
    Quint and pumper refurbishment

    Chief Rob Tripp (?) said spending $125,000 to rehabilitate the 1994 Spartan Quint buys about ten years, which is why the schedule shows a $600,000 replacement in 2034 rather than the seven figures a new one would cost, and that the $125,000 shown in 2027 for the 2004 pumper is also a refurbishment. Members said the $50,000 request looks light against what is coming. The chief noted the town approved a generator last year but took the roughly $32,000 out of the capital reserve rather than raising it.

17. 1:27:58
    Fire department computer-aided dispatch, $25,000

    Chief Rob Tripp (?) said crews currently get only radio traffic and have to print dispatcher notes from Outlook back at the station, and that the notes carry information dispatch has no time to broadcast, including which hospitals are accepting patients and whether weapons are on scene. He cited the Lewiston call the previous week, where Durham Rescue was dispatched to the Walmart distribution centre, and a Lisbon call where the crew did not know they were responding to gun violence.

18. 1:33:53
    CAD rollout, cost and priority

    The first phase would cover three of about seven units; the software comes through the Androscoggin County dispatch upgrade and the request is for hardware, mounting and Wi-Fi only. The hardware price was given as roughly $24,500 from a local company against the $25,000 request, with a recurring Wi-Fi subscription to sit in the operating budget. The chief said he had it marked priority two.

19. 1:39:29
    Detail in the written applications

    A member speaking from a budget committee perspective said requests reach the budget committee with no narrative behind them, which forces department heads to repeat themselves, and recommended the applications be updated with what was explained at this meeting. The chair said some of Calvin's applications were no more than a sentence, which makes them hard to defend.

20. 1:44:34
    Road commissioner's pickup truck

    Calvin answered the written question of why the public works director needs a pickup: he plows intersections and subdivision roads, checks every route for consistent conditions before crews go home, closes roads and sets signs, carries tools to sites, and carries a device that measures and segments the roads.

21. 1:49:38
    Condition of the current pickup

    Calvin (?) said the 10-year-old 2500 is gas and should have been diesel, that everything was bought at once when the department started ten years ago, and that the truck is rusting through the rocker panel from salt and calcium chloride. He said the truck is not broken, it is old, and he does not want to wait until it fails and then wait another year or two for a replacement.

22. 1:55:00
    Pickup cost and trade-in

    Calvin (?) said the $87,000 figure came from the dealership for the truck fully outfitted, painted and with radio installed, with no trade-in factored in, and that the CIP has never factored trade-ins. Members noted that if the purchase is deferred the town should be putting the money aside instead.

23. 2:00:13
    Equipment trailer replacement

    Calvin (?) said the 2004 trailer was bought used, appears to have been assembled from parts of two trailers, had to be welded this year to pass inspection, and its brakes seize regularly. It is used two or three times a month to move the excavator and other equipment, and used replacements are hard to find at reasonable prices.

24. 2:05:38
    Whether the public works reserve request is enough

    Members said roughly $200,000 a year would be needed to fund the ten-year replacement schedule, but the request is well short of that once the $87,000 pickup is taken out of reserve. Members said it makes more sense to ask for what is actually needed rather than a figure that will be cut, and the chair said the pattern of underfunding needs to be broken.

25. 2:11:29
    Raising money into reserve versus the operating budget

    Calvin (?) said he asked for the truck from capital because a truck ordered after a June approval may not arrive until the following year, and operating money would lapse. Mark Roy (?) said the town's reserves have been held inside the general fund and that separating them into their own fund is easier to explain and easier to account for.

26. 2:17:13
    Renting or contracting excavation work

    In answer to written questions on the break-even between renting and owning loaders and backhoes, and on contracting ditching to a Durham excavating company, Calvin (?) said contracting is how the roads fell behind in the first place and the machine has more than paid for itself. A member suggested comparing costs with New Gloucester, which contracts its ditching out and owns no excavator, and suggested speaking with Ted Shane (?) there.

27. 2:23:01
    Revaluation reserve

    The request adds to money already set aside; figures of $60,000 already in and $120,000 requested were given, with $180,000 as the total, described as a budget number rather than an estimate because the work has not been bid. The RFP is written and going to Donna, the assessing agent, with the intent to get a real price. Members said the reason for a full revaluation is fairness between taxpayers as much as state law, and that a market adjustment is not an alternative after 15 years.

28. 2:28:40
    Town office reconfiguration, $15,000

    Jerry Douglas (?) proposed dividing the current meeting room in half with a wall, with a fire door, electrical, lighting and heat included, to create office space because the town office is out of room. He said a quote was obtained, that it would not trigger ADA upgrades, and that one part-time employee currently works at a TV tray.

29. 2:33:41
    Where meetings would be held

    Select board and planning board meetings that are streamed would move to the fire station, with other committees able to use the Eureka Center. Members said it is important that committee meetings continue to be recorded and streamed, both for public information and because without a recording the town must take minutes instead. Devin currently handles the filming.

30. 2:38:46
    Boardroom, funding source and ARPA eligibility

    Jerry Douglas (?) said he does not think a community center that gets rented out is the right place for official business and that the town should have its own boardroom. Asked why the $15,000 is being raised rather than taken from the municipal capital fund, he said that fund holds only about $90,000, and confirmed the project is ARPA eligible.

31. 2:44:09
    Cost of an addition, and records storage

    Asked what an addition would cost instead, Jerry Douglas gave a guess of a 30 by 30 addition at 900 square feet times $200 a square foot, about $180,000, and said he would confirm the square foot figure. Members also discussed scanning stored plans and property files, and agreed the storage space would still be needed.

32. 2:50:05
    Ordinance codification, $15,000

    The request came from the code enforcement officer, who finds the land use ordinance internally inconsistent and out of step with state law after years of copying and pasting. The company would compare the ordinance against state law and the comprehensive plan and return a punch list for the planning board and select board, not draft amendments. Members asked whether the planning board had reviewed the proposal; the chair of that board was said to be aware of it.

33. 2:55:19
    Capacity to act on the review

    Members warned that paying $15,000 for a list of errors with no money or capacity to fix them would push changes to 2025 and a town meeting vote to 2026. It was suggested the town ask some of the 23 other towns the company has done this for what workload it created. Members noted a council form of government could make the changes in weeks but Durham's changes must go to town meeting.

34. 3:01:03
    Save the Union Church

    Money approved at the last town meeting to replace the sills was never spent because the work cost more than was available. The building is town owned, is on the register, and has been used by the Historical Society to store artifacts since the selectmen granted them use in 1988. A structural engineer's assessment is pending and the Union Church committee is waiting on it before recommending a use to the select board; Jerry Douglas (?) said the town attorney budget is about $10,000 and he does not want to over-use it.

35. 3:06:39
    Buildings responsibility and the engineer's view

    Jerry Douglas (?) said he had already spoken to the engineer and there is nothing structurally wrong with the building. He also said Calvin has taken on town buildings and grounds as part of his role, which is how the town is trying to get a system for looking after municipal buildings.

36. 3:11:47
    Union Church figures

    The sill estimate was $50,000 and there is about $21,000 in the reserve, after the $10,000 raised last year on the operating side lapsed. The request discussed would bring the account to about $91,000, and members said the figures were hard to follow. It was said the building cannot be moved because it is on the register, though it could be demolished after a public hearing.

37. 3:17:02
    Next meeting

    The placeholder date of November 13 was judged too tight for members to complete their scoring, and the week of Thanksgiving was ruled out. The committee settled on Thursday November 30 at 6:00, with scores sent to Michelle beforehand in the spreadsheet format she will circulate.

What was decided

• 55:22
  Whether to adopt the comprehensive level-funded capital plan for the 2024 requests. Members said the town is not ready to bring it this year and will stick with the existing equipment replacement schedules, with introduction possibly in 2025 rather than at the April 2024 town meeting.tabled
• 1:10:39
  How the 2024 capital items are presented on the town meeting warrant, individually, by department or combined. Jerry Douglas (?) said it is the select board's warrant, that he has to get their input, and that it is not a decision for the committee to make tonight.tabled
• 3:01:03
  Jerry Douglas agreed to contact Lois to update her on the Save the Union Church application and the questions the committee discussed.passed
• 3:17:02
  Next meeting moved from the placeholder date of November 13 to Thursday November 30 at 6:00, with members sending their scores to Michelle beforehand.passed

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

• 49:59
  Hot mix for paving cost $82 a ton this year and the quote for next year is $110. It was also said the town had not raised the mill rate in three years other than 2023.
• 44:40
  The plan amounts spoken were about $205,000 a year for public works and about $180,000 for fire, roughly $380,000 combined, against roughly $100,000 a year the town has been putting into reserves. A figure of 75 was also spoken for the fire department in the same exchange, so the fire number is not consistent in the recording.
• 2:05:38
  Last year the public works reserve request was $100,000; the budget committee lowered it to $50,000 and $50,000 is what passed at town meeting. Members said the road commissioner has been told good luck when he has asked for more, and that both the fire and public works requests still look underfunded.
• 2:17:13
  The town's assessment ratio is 67 percent, against a state expectation of 70 to 110, and it has been 15 years since the last revaluation. If the town does not act the state can penalise it through tree growth and veterans reimbursements, which would mean those taxpayers lose the benefit.

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: 1 passage of motion language, against 4 decisions summarised.

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