As chairman of the Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee for a number of years, Chuck McCullough has been at the forefront of reviewing and bringing to Town Meeting expenditures over $10,000 as requested by town departments. But more recently over the past year or so, McCullough, with the assistance of the committee members, has begun taking deeper dives in order to gain better insight that would aid planning. Everything from culverts to HVAC systems to copy machines and the bike path are town assets and as such need the oversight of those charged with watching the town’s cash register, McCullough believes.
Capital Planning members have met with department heads to better understand the capital needs of each to plot those needs on financial spreadsheets, but more importantly from McCullough’s perspective to try and anticipate a need before the need becomes an emergency.
On December 6, the committee met to plan the next steps as they begin to prepare for the annual Spring Town Meeting. Present at the meeting was Town Administrator Mike Lorenco, who said, “I’m planning to have everything from the department heads by mid-January,” in terms of capital needs.
Lorenco’s effort is focused on having everything done with a bit of time to spare before Town Meeting. He agreed with McCullough that in order to draft a 10-year plan, a primary responsibility of the committee, data is critical to try and avoid surprises. But the unexpected is just that – unexpected.
“The HVAC controller at Old Hammondtown School is dead,” Lorenco announced. He said the 20-year-old equipment had been declared functional at an assessment but that now it needs immediate attention. The cost estimate, Lorenco said, is $152,000. He went on to share that federal and county monies made available on the heels of the pandemic are not exhausted so some of those funds might be used to replace or repair the HVAC systems at both local schools, Center and Old Hammondtown.
“We have 1.7 million (dollars,) Lorenco said, explaining that he would try to apply those funds for the ailing schools versus going to Town Meeting and asking voters to approve funding for the repairs.
The committee returned to the theme of taking on a larger role or, as McCullough framed it, “being a driver” with respect to the capital needs throughout the community. “We need to be the driver, asking the probing questions,” he said. To that end a spreadsheet is in development that identifies Capital Planning Committee members who will partner with specific department heads to have those in-depth discussions and data collection.
McCullough also said in a follow-up that department heads will be invited to attend a meeting to discuss financial needs and their implications. The invitation, he said, will carry a list of questions from which the committee is seeking responses.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee is scheduled for Monday, January 3, time and location to be announced.
Mattapoisett Capital Planning
By Marilou Newell