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Chairperson Janice Snyder called the meeting to order at 4:33 p.m.
Members Present
Dr. Saud Anwar, Town Council
Chris Chemerka, Director of Finance and Operations, Board of Education
Michael Gantick, Director of Public Works
Michael Gonzalez, Board of Education
Patrick Hankard, Director of Facility Services, Board of Education
Elizabeth Pendleton, Town Council (Vice-chairperson)
Matthew Riley, Board of Education
Scott Roberts, Director of Information Technology (Town Manager’s Designee)
Janice Snyder, Town Council (Chairperson)
Craig Zimmerman, Board of Education
Members Absent
Dr. Kate Carter, Superintendent of Schools, Board of Education
Guests Present
Jeffrey Doolittle, Town Engineer
Raymond Favreau, Director of Parks & Recreation
Clay Major, Facilities Manager
Walter Summers, Fire Marshal
3. Approval of Minutes Previous Meetings
Ms. Chris Chemerka made a motion to approve the November 19, 2014 Minutes; Mr. Patrick Hankard seconded that motion; and it was approved unanimously with one abstention from Mayor Saud Anwar.
4. Discussion Items
Review Priority List for 2015/2016
Chairperson Janice Snyder discussed the Project List (Exhibit A) that was created by staff members during their priority setting meeting. Chairperson Snyder asked why the projects were not in priority order. Mr. Patrick Hankard said that staff could not decide on priorities, so they decided on the most important projects instead and set a cut-off amount. The green-shaded projects in Exhibit A are the staff recommendations. Chairperson Snyder asked if the Committee wanted to review the projects submitted by staff.
Mr. Craig Zimmerman said that the Board of Education received a memorandum regarding the turf field. He would like to see the turf field moved into the prioritized projects.
Chairperson Snyder asked if the Committee would like to review the projects one more time. Mayor Anwar suggested reviewing the projects once again.
Mr. Hankard discussed the girls’ softball field project. There is an inequity between the boys’ baseball field and the girls’ softball field. Superintendent Kate Carter is trying to pay for the project with existing operating funds for this Fiscal Year. If that occurs, the next priority is the replacement of half the sidewalks at Timothy Edwards which are uneven and broken. If the funds are not found for the softball field, this will become a capital request.
Mayor Anwar asked if any of the bond referendum money could be used to replace school sidewalks. Mr. Jeffrey Doolittle said the referendum was not intended for school projects but for road and drainage projects.
Mr. Scott Roberts discussed the second phase of the fiber optic project. Currently, fiber is being built between the high school, the Police Department, Community Center, Town Hall, and Public Library. The next phase would connect the Community Center, Wapping School, Fire Station 3, and the Town Garage. The Town Garage only has a 3MB internet connection and currently cannot access the Town GIS system. The first phase is currently active. The vendors are ready to install the fiber as soon as the Town’s application is approved. Mr. Roberts said the application process is slower than the installation process. Vice-chairperson Elizabeth Pendleton asked if there is any grant or state money that would be applicable to this project. Mr. Roberts said the Town received all available grant money for
the first phase.
Mr. Raymond Favreau explained the two Rye Street Park projects. The first project involves the tennis court improvements. The courts were originally built in the 1980s. Two of the back courts would be improved. A covered pavilion would also be added. Currently, the courts are not safe enough for tennis. The second project involves the basketball courts. They were built in the 1970s and reconstructed in the 1980s. They need resurfacing, and two courts could be made out of one oversized piece of pavement. Vice-chairperson Pendleton asked if the cost for the tennis court repurposing included the structure. Mr. Favreau said much of the work will be done in-house to save on costs. Mayor Anwar said that during the soccer season, kids were playing soccer games on the Wapping tennis
courts. He asked if those tennis courts could be used for soccer. Mr. Favreau said they were playing soccer on the tennis courts at Wapping because they are lit at night. Rye Street Park does not have lights. The tennis courts should only be used for tennis, as other sports ruin the surface.
Mr. Walter Summers discussed the ADA/Fire Code project at the Town Hall. This is the second phase out of two phases. Handrails and guards on the stairs will be improved. Fire separation in stair towers will be added. New fire alarms will also be added. Fire separation will be added in the second floor atrium as well.
Mr. Clay Major discussed the phone system upgrades for the Police Department and Community Center. The systems are original to the buildings and desperately in need of upgrades. Parts are difficult to find and many parts are obsolete. As the Police Department deals with emergencies, upgrading the system is extremely important. Mayor Anwar said this is a communication danger and asked if the new phone system will still be relevant in five years. Mr. Major said the vendor will specify a phone system that has existed for a long time and will continue to exist. AT&T no longer supports the old phone system.
Mr. Major discussed the Town Hall ventilation project. He updated the Committee on the replacement boiler in the Town Hall. This project is for heat distribution in the building. Programmable thermostats will be added throughout the building. Heat valves will be needed so each department can adjust their own heating needs. Mayor Anwar asked how critical this project is. Mr. Major said the system currently does have heating and cooling capabilities, but in order to cool off the current meeting room, he had to manually change the system over to cooling, and in about half an hour, he will have to manually change it back to heating. The entire building is affected by the change-over, and it is not fair to the employees to have them working in such fluctuating conditions. Some days, the Finance
Department is 64 degrees and it takes hours to warm up. Some employees have their own personal heaters while other employees are constantly warm. The Town Hall does not meet minimum standards for building comfort. Mr. Doolittle asked if the new system would be more efficient. Mr. Major said it would be efficient in the long run, but it is more important to control the atmosphere in the building in order to maintain comfort and building health. If this project is not done soon, Mr. Major believes it would never be done as there are almost no rebates or grants available to mitigate the cost.
Mr. Doolittle explained the Main Street Bridge project. The deck is being replaced on the Bridge. Part of the Bridge has been closed off per State direction because the outside girders are deteriorating. The State has given a substantial grant that will cover approximately 50% of the cost. Mayor Anwar asked if the referendum money could be used for this project. Mr. Doolittle said that the referendum was not intended for this project and funds cannot be used. A public process with the Town Council would need to be taken in order to change the use of referendum money.
Mr. Doolittle explained Phase 2 of Avery Street Reconstruction. $350,000 is the Town’s responsibility for design costs. The project totals $2.1 million, but the Town is only responsible for the design portion of the costs.
Mr. Doolittle explained the Abbe Road projects. The Town is responsible for design costs and 10% of the construction costs. The $90,000 should be enough to cover the Town’s portion.
Mr. Michael Gantick explained the Wapping School renovation and design project. There are plans for some Town staff to move into the Wapping School. Many changes need to occur if the Parks and Recreation Department is going to move into that building. Currently, the building does not have air conditioning. These changes need to be made in advance. If the Parks and Recreation Department moves to the Wapping School, changes would also need to be made to the Community Center to optimize the space for Human Services. The project total includes the design for both buildings but not the renovations.
Mr. Riley asked if the Wapping School project is on solid ground and not based on discussions. Chairperson Snyder said the Town Council has not made a resolution, and it might be a good time to commit to a resolution.
Mr. Riley asked about the funds for both the Avery Street Reconstruction and Abbe Road projects. Mr. Doolittle said the funds are for the designs, and if the designs are not finished, the Town loses the grant. Mr. Riley asked if the Town will lose money for the other projects if they are not acted upon. Mr. Hankard said the school projects are receiving reimbursements from the State. Mr. Doolittle said the State Department of Transportation is currently holding up the Eli Terry Safe Routes to School Program, so the Town should not be at risk for losing the money. Avery Street Phase 3 is not at risk because the Town has been preliminarily approved.
Mayor Anwar asked if the Wapping School is currently a school, will the Town lose the funding of $476,000 once it is given to the Parks and Recreation Department. Chairperson Snyder said that money is Board of Education money. Mr. Hankard and Mr. Doolittle explained the Wapping School roof issue.
Mayor Anwar said his felt the wording of the referendum was not very specific, and it may be worthwhile to get a legal opinion about using referendum money for the Main Street Bridge. Chairperson Snyder asked if Mr. Doolittle could discuss the matter with Town Manager Matthew Galligan on behalf of the Committee and get a written legal opinion from Town Attorney Keith Yagaloff. Mr. Summers suggested looking at the Avery Street project within that legal opinion as well. Mr. Doolittle said the Town Council will also need to determine the course of action because the money was intended for paving roads and drainage. It is not to replace bridges or road reconstruction. Mayor Anwar said a risk is losing the grant money. The purpose of the referendum was to have the money available just in case this situation
arose.
Mr. Gonzalez asked if the legal opinion said the Committee could not use the money for those projects, could the language be expanded to include those projects. Chairperson Snyder said the referendum would have to go back to the voters if the language were to be changed.
Ms. Chris Chemerka asked how much money is needed to pave the roads since some money would be lost if it were shifted to Capital Projects. Mr. Doolittle said they have a list of roads, not including the capital projects, that total $12 million. Ms. Chemerka asked what would happen to the roads that could be shifted off of the referendum money. Mr. Doolittle said they would end up on the capital projects list. Ms. Chemerka asked if the referendum roads would be ranked higher than the Main Street Bridge project. Mr. Doolittle said that all of the projects need to be done, but the reconstruction projects are much more expensive than the referendum money. The referendum money is used for repairs and less expensive treatments. The bridge will be closed if it is not repaired, but people will still travel
on the roads.
Mayor Anwar said that during the budget discussions earlier in the year, the Committee said that they did not want to lose grant money, so the Main Street Bridge should be a higher priority project.
Chairperson Snyder asked about the turf field, as Mr. Hankard and Mr. Zimmerman had to leave shortly. Mr. Hankard said the good news is that the entire amount of the project could be leased. The entire project is estimated to cost $1.6 million. The estimated interest rate is between 5% and 5.5% with a five year lease. The annual payment with a five year lease at 5.5% is $366,744. The best case scenario is a seven year lease with a 5% interest rate, and the annual payment would be $271,368. The delta amount would be $320,000. Chairperson Snyder asked if this amount would need to go into Capital Leasing. Mr. Scott Roberts said that it would. Capital Projects would carry the first payment, and then it would move to Debt Service.
Chairperson Snyder said that there is debt coming off in Debt Service in the next few years. The next school referendum will not be until 2017. There are some tax abatements that are also ending in the next few years.
Mr. Zimmerman said the turf field needs to be done. He suggested adding $200,000 for the turf field lease in Capital Projects and splitting the $180,000 between the Town and the Board of Education. Mayor Anwar wondered if it would require the Town Council’s attention.
Mr. Summers pointed out that any projects that received funding last year for different phases as well as the Main Street Bridge and road projects total $1.4 million for their next phases in the proposed list.
Chairperson Snyder suggested pushing off the Wapping School renovations since the School will not be vacated for a few more years. Mr. Zimmerman asked how it would be possible to plan a project starting in July 2016 when the Parks and Recreation Department wants to move in September 2017. Mr. Favreau and Mr. Riley discussed the usage of the space.
Ms. Chemerka said it would be hard to determine the budget for the Capital Projects without the referendum legal opinion.
Chairperson Snyder asked for a motion to add the turf field project to the priority list.
Mr. Craig Zimmerman made a motion to add $200,000 for the Turf Field Project in the temporarily approved Capital Projects budget; Mayor Saud Anwar seconded that motion; and it was approved unanimously.
Chairperson Snyder said that during the January 2015 meeting, the Committee will need to work on the list, draw the line, and get a recommendation for the Town Council.
Presentation to Town Council
Chairperson Snyder said the presentation to the Town Council will need to include the entire prioritized list. The presentation will need to be delayed until the Committee has a recommendation for the Town Council.
5. New Business
None
6. Old Business
None
7. Adjournment
Vice-chairperson Elizabeth Pendleton made a motion to adjourn at 5:45 p.m.; Mayor Saud Anwar seconded the motion; and all were in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
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Ashley Summers
Recording Secretary
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