CIP COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 31, 2018
Attendees (CIP Committee members): Karen Hambleton, Jason Allen, Jim Bibbo, Claire James, Marlene Freyler (arrived approximately 15 min. late)
Attendees (Other): Jim Valiquet, Police Chief; Chris Frey
Absent: Carol Troy, Sheila Jackson
Meeting was called to order at 12:03pm.
Review and Approval of 10.24.18 Meeting Minutes:
Marlene Freyler made a motion to accept the 10.24.18 minutes with the following changes:
- Road Shimming/Asphalt
- Edit “Karen stated that this item is really an operating expense” to instead read: “Karen stated that this is a necessary thing to do every year.”
- Edit “She suggested a non-lapsing road shimming/asphalt warrant, instead of a cap reserve account” to read: “She suggested a non-lapsing road shimming/asphalt warrant as we have been doing, instead of a cap reserve account.”
- Highway Equipment Expendable Trust
- Edit this section to read: “125K for Marshall Hill Rd. was mistakenly allocated to this fund for year 2020 on the spreadsheet. This should not be allocated to any fund savings, because it is expendable that year.”
Jason Allen seconded the motion to accept the 10.24.18 minutes with the above changes. Motion Carried: 4 – yes, 1 – abstain.
Follow-up Items:
Curbing on East Main St. – Karen advised that it is approximately 831 ft. from the corner of Cilley Lane to the corner of Rt. 114 and Old Warner Rd., and that it is this section of East Main St. which most needs curbing repair. Repair work is estimated to cost approximately 7K for this portion of the road’s curbing.
Chipper Rental – No update as of yet on the cost of rental for this item.
Lease Prepayments (Dump Truck and Cruiser) – Karen advised that the dump truck and cruiser leases can be paid earlier. However, given that 2019 is the final year of payment for the dump truck and 2020 is the final year of payment for the cruiser, prepayment at this point would not save the town much. (Approximately $515 for the cruiser could be saved if it was paid earlier.) Karen advised that the town would derive more financial benefit if the loader was paid off first.
Loader lease – Karen will follow up to see if it is possible to pay this this off in half the time.
Review of Spreadsheet Updates:
Highway Dept.
- Marshall Hill Rd. Paving – Jason explained that moving this item to 2020, as was done for the Fire dept. driveway paving project, would potentially yield yet further savings, as paving for West Main St. is also expected to be starting in the year 2020. Completing these three projects in the same year may enable a savings such that paving for Water St. (which is on the same stretch of road as Marshall Hill) could be possible. In any case, the further the length of the paving projects at any one time, the better the deal the town potentially stands to receive.
- General Road Maintenance – Karen pointed out that funds for road maintenance over the next ten years dropped from 1.3 or 1.4 million to under 1.1. million, which is short of the originally proposed amount. Claire suggested making up some of this difference in the latter portion of the current CIP years. Karen responded that she was concerned that pushing it to latter years would not be the best solution, as new projects may well be presented in latter years, which could interfere with the ability to properly allocate needed funding for roads, some of which are in poor shape. Claire suggested that the spreadsheet be revisited, to see if funding for roads can be brought closer to the original number without pushing back to latter years and without creating a tax spike(s). Jason commented that there really should be a roads plan in place, no matter what we are doing with respect to funding. Jim Bibbo pointed out that there used to be a Roads Committee in Bradford, which assisted in creating such a plan.
- Sand Shed – Jason explained that he moved the sand shed project to year 2023 and raised the cost from 85K to 125K. He stated that this is what it cost the town of Sutton to build their sand shed and was concerned that 85K was not enough to allocate for this project in such a way as to get it properly completed. Karen pointed out that the committee should really not change the scope of the project itself, rather that it should primarily be concerned with assigning the timing/tax year of the projects. Jason commented that if the project is moved to 2023, it may cost more than 85K to complete by then, and 125K would provide a conservative cushion in any case. Claire suggested that Jason go back to Steve to get his opinion on a reasonable estimate for the project if it were to be completed in 2023 instead of the original year proposed.
- Grader – This item was moved to expendable year 2022, to help buffer tax impact. An additional 25K was included in the budget for this item, to account for a potential cost increase which might occur over the next 3 yrs.
- Highway Equipment Expendable (by the town) Fund – Jason explained that he had proposed an additional fund on the spreadsheet, namely a Highway Equipment fund which would be expendable by the voters at annual town meeting. There is an existing Highway Equipment fund in place already (established 2015) which is expendable exclusively by the Select Board. The newly proposed fund would allow for voters to approve some of the larger ticket, future anticipated item expenditures at annual town meeting, while the existing fund would still offer the Highway department flexibility to expend funds for other (perhaps lesser equipment expenses and/or repairs, for example), without having to wait until town meeting for voter approval to do so.
Police/Fire Depts. (Discussion with Chief Valiquet & Review of funds existing and proposed )
Claire had sent an email prior to the CIP meeting to fire and police chiefs, Mark Goldberg and Jim Valiquet, respectively. The email requested clarification from both as to which fund(s) they had each proposed and for which purpose(s), in order to ensure an accurate understanding of these recommendations amongst CIP members.
Chief Valiquet was present and participated in this portion of the meeting. There was extensive discussion on the following topics of importance:
- Communications Equipment upgrades, specifically future technology upgrades provided though FirstNet.
- Chief Valiquet advised that all of the radios issued years ago by the department of safety grants are either no longer serviceable or coming up on end of life. This does not suggest that they won’t last years into the future, rather that the manufacturer is no longer servicing these radio components. Technology and “meeting the future” with FirstNet will be an item of importance going forward. As such, MDTs (mobile data terminals) and J1 communication devices will be needed at some point in the future. The Chief also stated that having MDTs might lower dispatch costs.
- Jason asked for Chief Valiquet’s thoughts on the estimated cost involved for future FirstNet upgrades. The Chief responded that he would recommend funding the cost in stages – the first stage being funding for MDTs in police vehicles. He estimated that approximately 5K per vehicle, plus potential associated software costs would be reasonable to expect, and that saving a total of around 25-30K over the course of three yrs. would be one way of planning fund allocations. He also advised that there could be an opportunity to save 50% with the utilization of highway grant funds, assuming this is available in the future.
- Following the discussion above, the CIP committee members were in agreement that keeping the current Communications Fund open (as opposed to earlier discussions of potentially closing it) would be best, and that going forward, it can be funded for the purpose of FirstNet related communication equipment technology upgrades as outlined by Chief Valiquet.
- Claire shared with the CIP committee members that in addition to Chief Valiquet, Chief Goldberg also advocated for setting aside funds for future anticipated upgrades to communications equipment. However he felt that for the fire department’s needs in this area, funds should be set aside in the newly proposed Fire Equipment fund (which would be used to cover new or replacement equipment such as SCBA, rescue tools, mobiles, portables, base radio stations, etc.)
- Chief Valiquet advised that all of the radios issued years ago by the department of safety grants are either no longer serviceable or coming up on end of life. This does not suggest that they won’t last years into the future, rather that the manufacturer is no longer servicing these radio components. Technology and “meeting the future” with FirstNet will be an item of importance going forward. As such, MDTs (mobile data terminals) and J1 communication devices will be needed at some point in the future. The Chief also stated that having MDTs might lower dispatch costs.
- Protection of Citizens’ Information and Personal Data
- Chief Valiquet advised that this should be prioritized as a concern going forward.
- Chief Valiquet stressed that firewalls, good equipment, good software and protecting all data on citizens is important, and that there have been lawsuits that have arisen as a result of the lack of this security. Additionally, there is a cost to maintain these things; they are not a one-time expenditure. (Firewalls need updates, pcs needs updates, etc.)
- Emergencies
- Chief Valiquet advised that regarding emergencies, unforeseen issues such as accidents should not create an emergency. However for a large emergency/disaster such as a natural disaster of some sort, the town should be in a position to sustain itself for at least 72 hrs. (which is typically the length of time it takes for the state and federal governments to arrive).
- Chief Valiquet advised that the town does have a plan in place for emergencies and recommended the committee members acquaint themselves with it.
- Jason asked Chief Valiquet if he had any idea of approximately how much a natural disaster might cost a town. The Chief suggested taking a historical look back at local floods, ice storms, hurricanes, etc., to see how much/how extensive the damage was. That information can then be used to extrapolate an approximate expense scenario. Karen advised that a lot of this can be found in the Hazard Mitigation info. She further advised that the town of Hanover was hit with a microburst a couple of years ago and it fell to them as a town to cover the cost of damages. They are now consciously building their fund balance so that they have a savings which can be utilized in the case of future emergencies.
- Chris Frey commented that in the event of emergencies, the town can use its fund balance as a means to cover unexpected costs. Jason advocated for this approach as well. Claire pointed out that having to cut into the fund balance would potentially result in not being able to cover regularly scheduled/expected expenses in any given year. There was not a consensus amongst committee members as to which is the desired approach in the event of emergencies (i.e. – utilizing the fund balance vs. using money from an established emergency fund.)
- A question arose as to the 1991 Town Building Repair fund and the purpose for which this fund was specifically created. Karen advised that it is an emergency fund designated for town buildings but not for town emergencies in general. Claire asked if it would make sense to redefine this fund as a general emergency fund as opposed to buildings only. Marlene felt that there should be a separate fund for emergencies/disasters in addition to the 1991 Town Building repair fund. She proposed that a ‘Town-Wide Emergency’ fund for unforeseen town-wide catastrophes be established.
- Claire shared with the CIP committee members that in addition to Chief Valiquet’s recommendation for a general town-wide emergency fund, Chief Goldberg also recommended a town-wide emergency fund, with perhaps a cap of 50K.
- Claire confirmed the following newly proposed funds being requested by the Fire and Police departments:
- Police Equipment and Vehicle Fund (to fund replacement vehicle purchases and regularly needed/anticipated equipment)
- Fire Equipment Fund (to fund non-heavy equipment/vehicle items)
Other
- Claire reviewed some questions/discrepancies on Jason’s version of the CIP spreadsheet. Some items included:
- The Fire Station Repair fund was given a suggested cap of 30K by Chief Goldberg. Jason’s spreadsheet should be updated to fall in line with this suggested cap, as it was overfunded. (Specifically, 30K in year 2024 is not needed for this fund, based on current projections.)
- Fire Heavy Equipment expenditure years for the Medium Rescue Fire Truck and the Forestry Truck were reviewed to ensure the appropriate amounts were allocated for each item. Claire advised Jason that she had adjusted the allocation for the Heavy Equipment fund to 35K annually, to account for the expected total expenditures.
- Claire’s spreadsheet differed from Jason’s in the Town Building Repair fund line item. Claire updated this item to include annual allocations of $1500, in line with Karen’s suggested funding of $1500-2000 annually.
- New Police Facility fund allocations differed on Claire’s spreadsheet vs. Jason’s.
- Claire clarified which fund the salt shed savings were being allocated to on Jason’s spreadsheet.
- Claire advised that Jason’s spreadsheet does not have a police department subtotal (45K) for year 2023. This will be adjusted.
- Calculation totals for interest payments on loans/leases were not correct on Jason’s spreadsheet, as two line items which were listed for informational purposes only were included in the totals.
- Claire advised Jason that she included allocations for SCBA apparatus in the newly proposed Fire Equipment fund. Jason will add a line for this fund on his spreadsheet and include the appropriate allocations.
- Claire advised Jason that the Offsetting Revenues section of the spreadsheet should be double checked for any formula errors.
Meeting adjourned at 1:37pm. Next meeting date and time, TO BE ANNOUNCED, pending availability of Sheila Jackson.
Minutes submitted by Claire James.