CIP COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
October 17, 2018
Attendees – Claire James, Carol Troy, Jason Allen, Jim Bibbo
Absent – Sheila Jackson, Marlene Freyler, Karen Hambleton
Meeting was called to order at 12:13pm.
Review and Approval of 10.10.18 Meeting Minutes:
Jim Bibbo made a motion to accept the 10.10.18 minutes. Jason Allen seconded. Motion Carried: 4-0.
Follow Up Items:
First Responder’s Emergency Fund – After some discussion amongst committee members, it was determined that it would be less confusing to keep the police and fire funds separately as opposed to combining them.
Pick-up Truck with Plow – Jim Bibbo advised that the Select Board has decided to hold a public hearing for the proposal to buy a 2018 pick up truck for 36K (assuming it is still available). The public hearing date is scheduled for November 19th @ 5:30pm.
Chipper – Cost of renting this item is still to be confirmed by Steve Hall.
Six Wheel Dump Truck – Steve Hall will advise if the department can get a surplus dump truck for less. Still to be confirmed.
Curb Installation – Karen is following up with Mike Croteau for further information on this post Steve Hall’s feedback, which he received from the curb installers.
Review of Spreadsheet and Tax Impact for year 2019:
Claire provided a working CIP tax impact spreadsheet, noting that only the year 2019 was accurate and that following years would need to be double checked, as would trust fund balances, total warrant article expenditures for 2018 and current town valuation. Claire advised the committee members that all requested projects for 2019, if completed that year, would result in nearly doubling the capital improvements portion of the total tax impact to the town, as compared to the year 2018. ($210,750 was the total recommended project expenditure figure for the year 2018, as compared to $494,750 being requested for 2019. This represents a difference in 284K). Given this, discussion as to which projects might be allocated to different expenditure years ensued amongst board members. Some suggestions included the following:
- Pick-up truck – Jason stated that he thinks the highway dept has enough pick-up trucks, such that another one is not an immediate need, and that there is another pick-up truck that the department can still use. Per Jim, this particular item will be decided at the Select Board’s public hearing.
- Chipper – Jason suggested that this is an item that can be moved, as the current chipper is still functional, albeit difficult to find parts for. Claire stated that renting a chipper could be a short term solution if needed, if it makes financial sense to do so.
- Salt Shed – Jason suggested that the salt shed be moved to another expenditure year.
- Marshall Hill Rd. Paving – Claire suggested moving Marshall Hill Rd. paving to another expenditure year. Jason countered that some money should be put into savings for paving in 2019, even if it’s not enough to complete Marshall Hill Rd., otherwise the town will have a tough time getting ahead and will always be spending money as soon as it is received, as opposed to building its trust account balances. He suggested allocating 75K for paving in 2019.
- New Police Facility Fund – Jason suggested moving allocation for this project to another year. Claire suggested reducing it to 10K instead for the year 2019.
Jim Bibbo discussed unencumbered fund balances and pointed out that the municipal taxes for the town were offset by a decrease in the school budget in 2018. However this will not be the case in 2019. Jason pointed out that the tax impact for year 2020 as indicated on the spreadsheet is way too high. Claire agreed, stating that this is an error and that she will go through the spreadsheet to update the figures as needed. Claire will take the suggestions offered by the committee and come back with a revised spreadsheet at the next CIP meeting. Jason stated that he too would like to work with the spreadsheet himself, to see how moving certain projects would affect tax impact scenarios.
Meeting adjourned at 1:15pm. Next meeting date: Wednesday, October 24th, at 12:00pm.
Minutes submitted by Claire James.