On May 1, the Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee (CPC) met to prioritize its list of projects priced over $10,000 to be advanced at Town Meeting. The year-long process of receiving requests from town departments including the two schools, Center and Old Hammondtown, takes into consideration the town’s ability to afford the projects without increasing taxes.
The Capital Planning Committee was created about 15 years ago as a method to judge requests based on the need of the department and the ability of the taxpayers to bear the financial burden, and then the committee decides which requests to present to Town Meeting.
The capital planning process focuses on a 10-year schedule where some projects advance up the priority list while others remain lower on the list for future consideration. Department heads meet with the committee to justify their requests and, where applicable, also provide the method by which the request will be paid for.
This year the list is rather short, but with a big financial impact – a new fire station is listed as priority numero uno.
Town Administrator Michael Gagne told the committee that $310,000, partly from free cash and partly from previous appropriations not spent, may be used to fund the design, engineering, bidding, and selection of a construction company for the new station.
The estimate for the new building is just over $9 million.
Gagne said that by deploying those prior unspent appropriations instead of borrowing new money means that the balance for the project would not have to be bonded until March 2020, with a first payment due in March 2021.
“By doing it this way you’d be further ahead on the retiring debt schedule,” Gagne said. He has stated in previous meeting that through retiring debt, the town could build a new fire station with only a slight impact on taxpayers.
The FinCom members agreed that the Fire Station was a highest priority, with Gagne expecting property owners to see a $13.38 increase based on a median-home assessed at $440,000.
Next in line is $210,000 needed to finish safety improvements to Highway Department buildings on Mendell Road, bringing them into OSHA and ADA compliance.
Number 3, also for the Highway Department, is $12,000 for a trench-shoring box to prevent trench cave-ins.
Fourth, and last to make the list, was $49,500 for school curriculum modules, which is also a line item in the local school budget.
The committee also discussed the ORRHS athletic fields and auditorium improvements.
CPC member Chuck McCullough said of the $2.5 million the school committee requested, “It’s a bit disjointed, not really a plan…”
CPC Chairman Alan Apperson said, “We’re being asked to make a decision on incomplete information.”
Gagne said ORR should have a 10-year plan for improvements versus trying to pay for a single project in the absence of financial impact studies.
There is no future meeting of the Capital Planning Committee scheduled at this time.
Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee
By Marilou Newell