Town of Bradford
CIP Minutes
July 15, 2014
Page 1 of 3
TOWN OF BRADFORD
CIP MEETING MINUTES
JULY 15, 2014
6:00 PM
Call to Order and Roll Call:
Marcia Keller, Chair opened the meeting with John Pfiefle (left at 7:20), Selectman, Cheryl Behr, Administrator, Stephanie Alexander, Project Manager, CNHRPC, Barry Wheeler – Highway Dept., Dick Keller, Jim Bibbo, Lois Kilnapp (left at 6:50), Claire James (arrived at 6:45).
Attendance sheets were handed out and initialized by attendees.
Stephanie Alexander stated that at the last meeting, after 3 sessions of interviews and the review of 50 different department applications, the committee heard about projects that need to be done in town. Each department brought forth those particular projects that it would like to see implemented over the next 6 years (between 2015 and 2020). Now the committee’s job is to begin to prioritize them, looking at the years during which the applications were requested by each department. Prioritization scale options were discussed in order to enable the committee to move forward in a logical manner and apply a degree of objectivity to the different applications put forth by each department.
Project Prioritization options put forth by Stephanie Alexander:
Option A – a 1-5 prioritization scale. 1 being the most urgent and 5 being the least. There are years associated with this option. An urgent project (a scale 1 or 2 project) would be placed into the CIP for years 2015/2016, scale 3 or 4 would be associated with years 2017/2018, a scale 5 would be 2019/2020.
Option B – a 1-6 prioritization scale. 1= urgent, 2= necessary, 3= desirable, 4= deferrable, 5/6 = premature or inconsistent, respectively. Any project beyond a 3 scale ranking would not be included in this year’s CIP but would be deferred to next year’s.
Option C – Can use Option A or B but do not assign years associated with projects. This option would remove some of the objectivity during the process, however.
John Pfiefle moved that the committee votes for one of the options put forth, nominating Option B. Dick Keller seconded the motion. Option B was carried by all present with the exception of Jim Bibbo, who abstained.
Application of Option B scale criteria to each of the projects:
Scale 1 – 2015
Scale 2 – 2016/2017
Scale 3-6 – post 2017
Library Application:
1- LI New Roof – Scale 1, yr. 2015
Transfer Station:
2- TS Trash Compacter – Scale 1, yr. 2015
Police Department:
3- PD Police Cruisers (2 cruisers) – Scale 2, yr. 2017 and Scale 3, yr. 2020.
4- PD Department Weapons System (replacement of handguns) – Recommended to be replaced every 10 yrs. and this time frame is nearly up. Was rated a Scale 2, yr. 2017
Community Center:
5- CC Roof Replacement – Scale 1, yr. 2015
6- CC Replace Heating System – Scale 2, yr. 2017
Town Hall Restoration Committee:
7- TH Bradford Town Hall Restoration – Scale 1, yr. 2016, which is the anticipated expenditure year – through 2020.
Highway Department:
8- HD Used Sand Screen – This is high priority and needs to be purchased immediately. Scale, 1, yr. 2015
9- HD Six Wheel Dump Truck/Plow/Wing/Sander – Currently has 4 trucks. One is a yr. 1998. This one should be replaced immediately. The rest can probably wait.
Scale 1, 2015
10- HD Six Wheel Dump Truck/Plow/Wing/Sander (2), Scale 2, yr. 2017
11- HD Grader – Scale 1, yr. 2016. (Originally asked for one in 2001 and was denied.)
12- HD Pick-up Truck with Plow – prioritized for yr. 2018
13- HD Chipper – prioritized for yr. 2018
14- HD Loader and Sweeper- Scale 3, yr. 2019
15- HD Six Wheel Dump Truck/Plow/Wing/Sander (1) – Current truck can last until 2020. Scale 3, yr. 2020
16- HD Salt/Sand Shed- Scale 3, yr. 2019
17- HD Generator for Highway Department- Highway Dept. does not have one currently but should have one. Fire and police department do have one. John Pfiefle questioned whether or not one could be purchased for less than 50K or possibly rented. Barry Wheeler suggested that the department might be able to get one for 40K or less. Scale 1, yr. 2015
Road Repairs: John Pfiefle suggested to Cheryl Behr that she put together a study of road usage – traffic, where people live, etc. and weigh this against the list of project priorities as put forth by Barry Wheeler. Stephanie Alexander stated that there are a couple of different ways to prioritize roads in a CIP plan. Some communities list their roads individually by application within a Municipal Improvement Schedule, which shows the tax impact. Other communities place the road improvements within a Road Management Plan, which contains different information about the individual roads. The committee will decide how to account for the roads: either as a capital expenditure or a road improvement plan.
Cheryl Behr suggested that anything under 100K in terms of the roads, should be considered “maintenance”, while anything over this amount be considered a “repair”. Barry Wheeler agreed with this suggestion. Stephanie Alexander suggested considering the roads in “blocks”, starting with the 2015 applications, of which there are 4. Barry also stated that there is not enough money in the operating budget to repair these roads. The money would need to be raised via warrant articles.
18- HD Repair Marshall Hill (this is a repair – ditching, draining, overlay) – Scale 1, yr. 2015. This was considered to be a capital improvement item.
19- HD Repair Hogg Hill – This was considered a maintenance item
20- HD Repair Old Warner Road – Would be considered a reconstruction and a capital expenditure. (from Rt. 114 – Ring Hill Rd.), Scale 1, yr. 2015.
21- HD Repair Green House Lane – This road needs a total rebuild, Scale 1, yr. 2015
Marcia Keller asked Stephanie Alexander for the management plan, to assist in making a decision. Stephanie stated that it is a work in progress. Marcia suggested taking Green House Lane, Cilley Lane, Gillingham Drive, Howlett Road and Massesecum Ave. out and instead including them in the annual asphalting budget. John Pfiefle suggested we make a decision regarding this during the next committee meeting.
Fire Department
John Pfiefle suggested taking, Sutton, Newbury, Warner and Bradford and creating a cooperative fire district. This would be a separate project and not part of the CIP plan. Jim Bibbo agreed that this would be a good idea. Other towns have not been officially approached. Warner would probably be willing to talk, per John Pfiefle. Sutton would likely be positive about such an arrangement. Newbury might not be as much but this is just a premature notion and would need to be discussed further.
41- FD Replace Breathing Air Compressor and Cascade Cylinders – Scale 2, yr. 2017
42- FD Replace Driveway – Scale 5
43- FD Fire Alarm System and add Security System- The fire alarm system would go along with a new fire house but is in violation currently so this should be done now. Scale 2, yr., 2018
44- FD Add to Fire House – Scale 5
45- FD Install Floor Drain Capture System – Scale 1, yr. 2015. This is currently in violation.
46- FD Replace Furnace – Scale 3, yr. 2019
47- FD Replace 1994 Pumper, 82-M2 – Scale 3., yr. 2019
48- FD Install Fire Suppression System in Fire House – Scale 5
49- FD Replace 1986 Tanker, 82-K1 – Low priority. Committee agreed to pass over for now.
50- FD Purchase and Install Washer/Dryer – Will do in conjunction with the floor drain in yr. 2015. Doing the two together will net a small savings. Scale 1, yr. 2015
Stephanie Alexander asked if the committee would like to go back to taking a look at the rest of the roads to determine which fall under maintenance items that could possibly be taken care of under the asphalt budget. Barry stated that application #s 27, 31, 35 could fall under this category. These items will be removed from CIP consideration. All other roads are too high in cost to fall into this category.
Stephanie also asked for guidance as to which of the applications/projects might change proposed expenditure years. What might the committee be able to take from 2015-2016 and move to 2017/2018, for instance? Marcia Keller and John Pfiefle had some discussion as to how the costs of the proposed projections might be best spread out.
As an aside, Barry Wheeler pointed out that the highway department in the town of Sutton has a lot of new equipment. (Brand new garage, new grader, almost brand new trucks and a brand new back hoe, plus 5 men working, plus money to put into roads, and the same tax rate that Bradford has. They have a 700K budge to work with. How are they doing it?) Cheryl pointed out that Bradford has very little debt. Sutton may be carrying a greater debt load to pay for this new equipment. Marcia Keller stated that in order to get a better picture of the situation, the cumulative total of all the departments in Sutton would have to be looked at. John Pfiefle stated that he would look into this.
For the next meeting, Capital Reserves and bond payments info will be included. Stephanie will be obtaining the current balance for these up to June 30 of this year or as current as possible. The committee also needs to know how each of these projects will be funded.
The town presently has 2 bonds outstanding:
1- Highway Garage (last payment is 2016)
2- Road Bond (300K bond – 35K annually for the next 10 yrs.)
Stephanie Alexander asked whether certain departments are planning to use capital reserve funds to fund their projects. Cheryl Behr stated that the police dept. does not have a capital reserve fund for cruisers or weapons systems. Dick Keller advised that they do have one for location The fire dept. has capital reserve for trucks and some building repairs. Cheryl stated that the fire dept. was looking to take everything out of their capital reserves to fund their heavy equipment needs and that the ambulance capital reserve would likely be used to contribute to the Henniker’s capital reserve.
Stephanie asked if there are any additional projects that could be moved to 2018. Marcia Keller stated that the only projects that the committee might move to 2018 fall under the highway department but that the committee is not in a position at this time to make such a determination.
School improvement schedule for capital expenditures was not included in the CIP plan. Stephanie asked for a vote from the committee to approve this exclusion.
Marcia Keller moved to approve this exclusion. Cheryl Behr seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. Jim Bibbo stated that it would be good for the committee to know what the school has planned, even though it is not going to be included in the CIP.
Vote to approve meeting minutes from June 11th
Motion was made by Stephanie Alexander to approve. Dick Keller abstained. All other members present approved.
Vote to approve meeting minutes from June 7th
A motion was made by Cheryl Behr to approve meeting minutes from June 7th. Jim Bibbo seconded the motion. Dick Keller and Barry Wheeler abstained. All other present committee members approved.
The next CIP meeting will be held on August 5th at 6pm. Stephanie Alexander stated that this meeting will entail looking at the municipal improvement schedule spreadsheet to determine project funding sources. Stephanie also advised that she will email the committee some relevant information one day prior to the next meeting, as she will be on vacation.
There being no other business, meeting adjourned at 8:03 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Claire James