HomeMy Public PortalAboutCapital Planning Committee -- 2012-01-05 Minutes Capital Plan Committee
Town Hall
January 5th, 2012
Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 2:53 P.M.
Present: Lisa Vitale, Lisa Souve, John Dickson, Don Poole and Charles Sumner.
Also attending were Hans Bauhaummer-Nauset Schools Business Manager; Ellen
Ojala- Recreation Department.
The first department for review was Nauset Regional Schools. They only have a
draft Capital Plan at this point as they are working on a Buildings Need Study for
both the High School and Middle School. Their Capital Plan has not been
presented to the Regional School Committee yet. The plan that Hans brought did
not have 2016 or 2017 in it; he was requested to add those years to the plan so
they would be the same as all the other departments. The Region is different
from the other departments in that they are funded the same amount every
year, 459K and the item that changes is the percentage of that figure that
Brewster pays, based on enrollment figures from October 1st. Hans said that he
would have that percentage figure tomorrow. A discussion ensued regarding
whether the 459K should be increased by an inflationary factor each year as it
has been the same since 2006. Charlie Sumner supports this concept as does
Wellfleet, but Orleans and Eastham have been reluctant to pass this. Don will
make this suggestion at his BOS presentation. It would have approved by all four
of the participating towns. Hans said that typically the BOS just approves the
amount of 459K and the percentage and that the amounts and projects on the
plan are just a courtesy to the Town. Lisa said that is not correct, she has to pay
the bills for the projects as they come in and needs to know which projects the
Regional Committee approves and which are completed or if something is
changed so she know where to allocate the money.
The High School plan was discussed first. The High School has technology on a 5
year plan with amounts in each year for replacements of equipment and
upgrade; replacement and renovation of classrooms, including labs- 1 per year;
carpeting on a cycle in 2011, 12 and 14; the phone system which is 20 years old,
is on for replacement in 2012 for 20K; custodial equipment, including auto
scrubber, buffer stripper and auto scrubber 10K in 2013; cafeteria renovation in
12 and 13- this will be done after the Capital Window and Roof replacement is
completed; locker replacement in 2013, 20K. The committee asked if the window
and roof replacement project which was approved at the Fall Town Meeting had
been started yet. It is still in engineering phase, will go out to bid in January and
must be completed due to the state funding requirements by December 31st,
2012. Some additional items on the list are: parking lot resurfacing which could
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be a higher number than what is projected, 85K in 2014, depending on whether
they can patch some of the cracks or need to resurface parts of the entire lot;
replacement of the wood siding which they are looking at if a different product
than cedar shingles can be used; interior door replacement 10 K in 11 and 12,
won't be done until the roof and window project are done. The committee
remarked that they have a lot of projects going on at the High School in 2012.
Both the High School and Middle School plans have capital money in FY11 for
Building needs study which is occurring now. John asked if they expected the
plan to change significantly based on those studies. Hans will let the towns know
what could be expected outside the 459K yearly, based on the buildings studies.
For the Middle School, the plan has membrane roof repair amounts from FY11
through FY15. The roof is coming to its' 15 year life span and will have to be
replaced, instead of repaired at some point; this will be part of the building study
but 250K in FY15 will probably not be enough. Technology is on a yearly basis
with more in FY13, 42K and FY14 50K. The carpet in some areas is being
replaced with tile in FY12, 22.5K and FY14, 25K. Some items that have been
completed can come off: #7 window sashes, #6 Telephone system replacement;
#8 Mullion/Doors once it is completed in FY13; #9 replacement of roof fans; #10
painting of exterior pipes; and #11 replacement of air compressor. Some other
items on for FY13 are replacement of school furniture 25K, oil burner upgrades
25K, and technology infrastructure upgrade 40K. Lisa Souve asked about the
parking lot sealing 8,500 in FY12 and if money was recouped from the rental of
space to the bus company. Hans explained that amount from the bus company is
not significant because it is shared by all the schools, even though they are
actually parked at the Middle School. The Committee asked about the 40K for
drainage and carpet in FY12 and Hans explained that there was a section of the
building where water was coming in and the carpet was getting soaked and
ruined; they repaired the drainage problem and will be replacing the carpet once
they have seen that no more water is coming in.
For the Central Office plan, relocation to the Middle School is not occurring so
they committee asked that it be taken off the plan. Central Office has some
projects ongoing and upcoming in FY12, shingles, carpet replacement and some
minor capital repairs, but does not have anything on the plan right now going
forward from FY13. Lisa asked that Hans insert FY16, FY17 and changes that
were requested from the committee and submit it by next Tuesday. It will be
presented as a draft by Don, but Hans will provide Brewster's percentage, which
is expected to go down, by the January 23rd presentation date so the Board will
know what their portion of the 459K will be.
The next department was Recreation, Ellen Ojala- Director. They have one item
for FY13 which is Facility Repair in the amount of 10K. Ellen explained that the
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primary use of this money would be to make more of their facilities handicapped
accessible, particularly Freeman's Fields. They want to put Handicapped spaces
in, walkways and viewing areas. Ellen is working on a cost estimate now. There
is another request for 10K in FY15; Don asked why they were waiting. Ellen said
that the Handicapped accessibility project would be completed first as it was the
most important and the remaining repairs of fields, dug outs, fences etc would
be done in the following year. They are also in the process of replacing the
concession stand at Freeman's Way, but have received donations for that
project. The Recreation Department has several sailboats, sunfish, and kayaks;
the committee asked that Ellen update and verify the list of items even if they
were donated. They have replacement of Vision Sailboats in FY14-8K, this money
comes out of the Recreation Revolving Account, but the facility repairs will come
out of Capital. John asked about the Dock Replacement project which was
approved for FY12. Ellen is working on specs now and then it will go out to bid.
Charlie is checking on a possible state bid. The project is expected to be
completed by the summer. There was a request for usage of the dock in the
spring, but an alternative is being sought. Ellen will update boat information and
also remove the Tennis Court Relocation project from the plan.
The last department for review was the Board of Selectmen, Charlie Sumner.
Charlie brought in an updated plan. Most of the Town Hall renovation projects
are completed and won't need to be re-done for another 15 to 25 years. The
items that are on for FY13 are exterior painting 30K, waste water planning 125K
and cable equipment & services 120K. For the waste water planning, there is
also money in FY14 and John asked if we should carry some forward past FY14
as this is an ongoing, multi-phase project. Charlie said that he checked with
Susan; they cannot put a number on it until they have a better sense of the
issues which will probably be this summer. The committee asked about the 120K
for cable and what that was for. Charlie explained that it is to link the municipal
buildings, except water and golf on a fiber optic loop. GIS aerial mapping is on
the plan for FY14, 125K. Charlie said that they are waiting to see what happens
with Open Cape and that may bring the number down. Don expressed the need
for the Assessors' maps on the website to be updated and correlated.
For the Drummer Boy portion of the budget, the only item on the plan is interior
repairs to the gift shop building, 20K in FY14. This building is used for storage
and staging, but the interior needs to be maintained. The outside of the building
was re-done. John mentioned that the Selectmen are forming a Drummer Boy
Committee which would also look at making Drummer Boy Park more accessible
by putting a walkway around the park and a ramp to the bandstand. Charlie said
there is already a ramp around the back. Lisa S. will add a line 7 in the amount
of 25K for Drummer Boy Access improvements. This led to a further discussion
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regarding the Access Committee and whether their projects, particularly for the
beaches should be on the Selectmen's budget or on the DPW budget. The Access
Committee would like to put in a hardened walkway at Paine's Creek from the
handicapped spaces that were put in last season when the lot was redone. They
would also like to put a new Super Deck walkway at Crosby and take out the
wood one which gets covered with sand. Don suggested that the Crosby
boardwalk could be moved to Linnell where the surface is flatter.
The Capital Plan Bylaw change was next on the agenda. John made the (3)
changes to the Bylaw that were requested by the Committee which was C1
change the deadline for submittal of the Capital Plan from 1/15 to 31; C3 to
change the wording regarding capital plan requests that are outside of the
originally submitted plan and the requirements for new requests and D2 to
eliminate the verbiage, make the base line 100K and the timeline 5 years. John
stated that there is no specific consequence to not passing the article, but it
allows the town to have a voice and gives voters information. Don would like to
see the word article struck and have it been an informational piece of the
warrant only. John does not think that it would engender discussion if it is not an
article and noted that it is an article in Harwich and Orleans. Lisa S. asked why if
voters wanted to be informed about the Capital Plan, they do not come to posted
Capital Plan review meetings. Charlie suggested that they put it on the warrant
and let the voters decide if this is information that they want. Don does not see
the benefit and noted that we have an active Taxpayers Assoc. and that the
town is not trying to sneak items through and the items can be discussed when
they actually come up for a vote. John called for a vote on the Brewster Town
Code change and Charlie Sumner, John Dickson and Lisa Vitale voted in favor
and Don Poole and Lisa Souve voted against. The Bylaw passed as written. Lisa
Souve said that there should be a line which tells the public how the items are to
be paid for: debt exclusion, free cash, water receipts, golf receipts, ambulance
receipts. John motioned to re-open the vote and amend the last line of the
Bylaw, D(2) to include anticipated source of funding, all voted in favor of re-
opening and amending. John moved the amended Bylaw, Charlie second: Lisa
Vitale, John Dickson, Charlie Sumner voted yes; Don Poole, Lisa Souve- no. The
amended By law was passed. Don will present both sides of the Bylaw to the
BOS, but will note that it did pass 3-2 in Committee. A copy of the final version is
attached to these minutes.
Long term debt strategy discussion: Lisa Vitale brought in spreadsheets for
members to look at the long term debt structure and strategize about when the
best year to consider the new Fire Department project was. Based on the current
debt structure, it was agreed that there was big value to pushing the project into
2016 after the Library and Eddy School debt had been paid. John asked if the
NHS Green project was included in this spreadsheet and Lisa V. said no because
the Town of Brewster was not the borrower. Charlie brought up the issue of the
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January 5`h, 2012
Eddy School roof and HVAC repairs and that this may be an additional project
they have to borrow for as well as problems with the alarm system at the Eddy
School, probably in 2014/15. John asked for clarification on the process, i.e. if
they plan the money to be borrowed in 2016, when does it come before Town
Meeting and where does the engineering money come from. Lisa Vitale explained
that they could use temporary notes and borrow for the plan design phase and
not bond the estimated 10 million until 2016 or 2017. Charlie suggested they
look at just the projects that impact the tax rate next meeting. Lisa Souve will
bring her plan in. The committee discussed whether it should be brought to a
high design level which would cost 350-400K, instead of full plan design which
would cost 850K that way if it is voted down at Town Meeting, not so much
money would have been spent. Charlie suggested that Chief Moran be brought in
for the next meeting so he can be apprised of what the recommendation will be
and have input. It was also suggested that the Eddy School be asked for a firmer
number on the Roof/HVAC project and come back in as well to discuss the
timeframe. Because of the multiple revisions that need to be made to the plan
itself, the next meeting was rescheduled from the 10th to the 12th at 2:45. Since
the committee members did not have a chance to review the minutes from
12/8,15 & 20, it was decided to hold them until the next meeting and include the
minutes from 12/22. Adjournment was motioned by Lisa Souve, second Don and
voted unanimously at 5pm.
The next meeting is scheduled for January 12th, 2012 at 2:45. Chair Don Poole
will present to the BOS on January 23rd, 2012.
Respectfully submitted,
• '7 C,(,tiri t
Donna J. Kalinick
Administrative Clerk
Town Administrators Office
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January 5th, 2012