Capital Improvement Program Committee
Town of Willington
Meeting Minutes
Town Office Building January 14, 2013
Lower Level Conference Room 7:00 p.m.
Vice-Chairman Jim Bulick called the meeting to order at 7:12 p.m.
with the following in attendance:
Members Present: Absent:
Jim Bulick, Vice-Chairman John Patton, Chairman
Allen Furphy Jim Poole
Donna Latincsics, Business Mgr.
Christina Mailhos, First Selectman
Tyler Millix
Ken Schoppmannn, Bd. Of Finance Chairman
Kelly Trueb
Melissa Welsh
Also present:
Stuart Cobb, Emergency Management Director/WFD #1
Peter Latincsics
Lynn Nicholls, Public Works Director
Joshua Strickland
Approval of minutes 1/8/13 & 1/10/13
The January 10, 2013 minutes were not complete, therefore the approval of minutes will be postponed until the next meeting (1/15/13).
Further Review of CIP requests
Senior Van—Board of Finance Chairman Ken Schoppmann explained that the van would be paid for by a grant. He would advise keeping it in the CIP Plan if a grant does come as it is not funded through the Board of Selectmen’s budget. There is no grant application at this time and they do not know what organization will be releasing one.
Vice-Chairman Bulick asked for a vote to leave the senior van on the list but in the “off the budget” column.
VOTE (all yes).
Land Acquisition—Melissa Welsh suggested pushing the $50,000 request for land acquisition out. We should build up money for something we could do something with. Board of Finance Chairman Ken Schoppmann noted that if a purchase was important the Conservation Commission should go to the Board of Finance, appropriate the money and then go to Town Meeting.
He suggested we leave the money there and asked for a vote.
VOTE to leave money where it is for land acquisition (5 yes, 2 no).
Board of Finance Chairman Ken Schoppmann spoke to the committee about the bottom line and where we are at this point, where we want to end and what amounts need to be kicked out. He discussed bonding for the Library, the benefits of leasing and pooling various vehicles together for one lease. Leasing does not apply to road projects. Ken explained that he wants to abstain from voting on each individual issue because he doesn’t want to endorse items without seeing the rest of the budget. Further discussion was held about the CCC Fund, Fund 4, Fund 17, Funds 311 and 264 leasing for 7 years vs. 10 years, etc. It is important to keep funding Capital Improvement projects and keeping the plan sustainable.
Melissa Welsh led a short discussion regarding crossing out the Kollar Road project ($15,000) and second project for $98,000.
Donna Latincsics suggested we look at the list of projects and also how many pieces of equipment we can lease. Board of Finance Chairman Ken Schoppmann reviewed the items listed below.
- Yes to replacement of doors at Center School.
- No to Center School sidewalk and slab repair in the back of the building. Put this project off till next year.
- Replace up to 3500 feet of 5” hose for WHFD—Kelly Trueb explained that this is needed to pass inspection. What they have is almost twenty years old. Board of Finance Chairman Ken Schoppmann suggested leaving that on for now.
- Exhaust issue at Station 13—this is an exhaust capture system and is a critical safety issue. The exhaust from the vehicles stays in the building which also houses the kitchen and office space. Ken wants it left on.
- Replacement of 2001 pickup truck ($45,000 for WFD #1)—Ken suggested pushing this to the lease column.
- Water system at River Road Recreation—leave in, or Ken suggests bonding a group of projects together.
- Refurbish the rescue truck for WFD #1—leave in.
- Public works sweeper, backhoe and holder mower: An extensive discussion continued on new vs. used, opposition and support, and priority of each item. Lynn Nicholls requests a new backhoe (1st priority) because the old one (a 1998 model purchased from another town) is always overheating and the attachments have issues. Peter Latincsics is strongly opposed to the backhoe—“just fix the pins; you don’t fund a new one when we don’t have upkeep on the one we have”. Lynn stated that the backhoe would be used constantly—the old one would stay at the Transfer Station. The boom on the one we have swings automatically and it won’t lift to do catch basins. Vice-Chairman Jim Bulick asked if Lynn had a list of catch basins—she does, and for example, St. Moritz Circle area
catch basins are starting to deteriorate. A sweeper would be #2 on her list. The holder mower would be #3. Jim Bulick suggested pushing out the sweeper and mower out for one year.
VOTE: (6 yes, 1 no).
Discussion continued about pricing for a used sweeper and backhoe and keeping the holding mower where it is.
- Melissa Welsh opened the discussion on the Phases of Turnpike Rd. Phase I is complete. Phase II is mostly funded by a STEAP grant and $145,000 of LOCIP. Phase III will be partially covered by the 2012 STEAP and maybe by the 2013 STEAP if we get that grant.
- Bus lot--$10,000 is needed for a trailer. This brings the total to $40,000—a total for drainage repairs plus the new trailer.
- Engineering work on Polster Road Bridge.
Board of Finance Chairman Ken Schoppmann led a discussion on various projects on the CIP list. He had Jim Bulick add the land acquisition to next year. They put the trash compactor in Fund 4 to reduce our large balance. He asked what the total lease payment would be $45,000 for the pick-up, $75,000 for the backhoe and $30,000 for a sweeper, a total of $150,000. Flat funding vs. increasing capital spending was discussed. We will only be getting an additional $15,000 (approximate number) from the slight increase in the 2012 Grand List.
Ken noted that we should bond things out—things we are taking out are not bonding issues. Polster Road Bridge is a bonding issue. We still have $219,000 of items not funded. Sooner or later we have to have a tax increase since there is no growth in the Grand List. We cannot depend on STEAP grants to take care of everything; sooner or later we have to spend, wisely. Do we want to raise the level for what we gave back last year in education? The money is for one-time hits, the following year it will revert back to what it was. It comes down to need vs. want. We have minor projects and nothing frivolous.
Stuart explained the Exhaust System needs at WFD #1.
Donna Latincsics will make changes to the spreadsheet for the next meeting.
The next meeting will be tomorrow night @ 7:00 p.m. at the Willington Library.
Vice-Chairman Jim Bulick motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 p.m. Melissa Welsh seconded. (VOTE: all yes).
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Noyes
Recording Clerk
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