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CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM COMMITTEE
TOWN OF WILLINGTON
TOWN OFFICE BUILDING
January 14, 2016
Members present: Stuart Cobb, Donna Latincsics, Peter Tanaka, John Patton, Chairman Kelly Trueb, Mark Makuch, and Barry Wallet. Members absent: First Selectman Christina Mailhos, Jim Bulick, Steven Vera.
Others Present: Superintendent Harding, Mike Makuch, Brian Violette, James Knight, Tyler Millix, Alex Moore and Josh Strickland.
The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Chairman Kelly Trueb.
1. Approval of Minutes.
The minutes from the December 30, 2015 meeting were discussed. As was discussed at the January 7, 2016, meeting it was decided that in the paragraph regarding the Sidewalk Committee any reference to historical district would be changed to historical area.
John Patton moved to accept the minutes as corrected, seconded by Stuart Cobb.
Vote: 6 yes (Cobb, Latincsics, Tanaka, Patton, Makuch and Trueb, 0 no, 1 abstain (Wallet).
Peter Tanaka moved to accept the minutes of the January 7, 2016, seconded by John Patton.
Vote: all yes.
2. Board of Education (BOE).
Superintendent of Schools Superintendent Harding was present to speak for the BOE. He stated that these submissions have not yet been approved by the BOE as their meeting to approve them this past week was canceled.
Their first submission is “Center Elementary School (CES) Replace 2 Unit Heaters” in fiscal year 2017-2018 for $15,715. They are wall units and are 36 years old, with their life expectancy being 15 years. Getting them to work right now is a struggle. There is a quote attached to their request from EMCOR Services.
Their second submission is “CES Generator” in fiscal year 2019-2020 for $40,000. Superintendent Harding noted that this could be pushed out a couple of years and they may be able to look at getting some grant money. The cost would be between $38,000 and $42,000. Barry Wallet asked why they would need a 40KW generator and Superintendent stated that a 40KW is what it would take to run the school. The proposed generator would be more like the generator at the Hall Memorial School (HMS). They do not want to use CES as an emergency shelter; the concern is for the pipes freezing in the winter. Right now someone has to go there and manually run the generator to keep the pipes from freezing and if someone can’t get there to run the generator, there would be a problem with the pipes freezing. A
discussion was had on different amp generators and what would be running in the school on the generator. Superintendent Harding stated that this could be pushed out to fiscal year 2019-2020 and he could bring in the people needed to discuss the electrical side of the generator.
The third submission is “CES Replacement Doors” in fiscal year 2016-2017 for $11,259. This would be for the basement doors, garage doors and gym doors. They have replaced almost all of the doors at CES and these are the last ones to be replaced.
The fourth submission is a “Tractor for HMS” in fiscal year 2017-2018 for $20,000. Superintendent Harding states that a constant problem for snow removal at HMS is the snow that the plows leave from Rt. 32 on the sidewalks, and their snow blower isn’t working too well to handle that. Superintendent Harding has been in contact with Derek Dimmock, Director of Public Works, and Derek may be able to get a 10 % discount on a tractor through a State contract. This tractor would cost $20,000. A tractor with a blower and mower attachment would be around $25,000, but right now they are just asking for the tractor. Mark Makuch asked what Public Works (PW) is responsible for in clearing the snow. Superintendent Harding stated that they are only responsible for plowing the parking lots. At times they will help
out with other snow removal, but it isn’t their responsibility. They do come and help with the mulch also when asked, but this piece of equipment would eliminate having to ask PW to help when they have their own work to do. Superintendent Harding stated he does appreciate the help that PW gives them.
Superintendent Harding mentioned that there is $35,000 in fiscal year 2016-2017 earmarked for HMS playground equipment. He states that this figure could be reduced to about $14,000 as they would like to cut down on the playground equipment. Now that fourth grade is at CES, only the fifth grade goes out for recess and he says he would like to take some of the current equipment out, put mulch down and possibly just go with a swing set/monkey bar combination. He will need BOE approval on this also.
Superintendent Harding spoke about the $10,000 given for each school for equipment repairs. He states they haven’t hired a Facilities Manager. They have been able to maintain the buildings with EMCOR Services and it has been working out very well. He anticipates that by next year they will be operating with less than the cost of a salary for a Facilities Manager which with benefits is about $70,000. This year was the most expensive because they had a lot of items that needed fixing and the cost will decrease next year. A discussion was had regarding hiring a company to clean vs. hiring another custodian and having them clean both schools, the Town Office Building and the Library.
Barry Wallet asked about upgrading security measures at both schools and if they were going to put any requests in for that. Superintendent Harding stated not at this time because they are talking about remodeling and consolidating and it might not be wise to add new security measures with a long life and then possibly not have the building for a long time. The two schools already have security measures in place. Any new measures would be very expensive.
Superintendent Harding said he would email Chairman Kelly Trueb and let her know whether the submissions were approved or not after the board has met and also what the CES generator will power at the school.
3. Fire Departments (Joint Submission).
Mike Makuch started with Willington Hill Fire Department’s (WHFD) first submission which is “Replace Rescue Tools” in fiscal year 2016-2017 for $35,000. They had this request in last year and are again requesting it be put in the plan. Mike wanted to address one of the questions from last year which was the compatibility of a rescue tool that they would buy with Willington Fire Department #1’s (WFD#1) rescue tool. WHFD’s rescue tool is a Halmatro and WFD#1’s rescue tool is a Hurst and they aren’t compatible.
If WHFD was to replace their rescue tool and switch to Hurst it would cost around $35,000. If they were to replace only the items that really needed replacing for the current rescue tool, it would cost less ($10,000 to $20,000) depending on how many pieces they replace. Mike passed around some pictures of what the equipment looks like now with the wear, tear and breakage. Stuart Cobb did some research on how much it would cost to replace WHFD’s rescue equipment with Hurst to make it compatible with WFD#1 and it’s higher than the original price of $35,000, as it would be around $40,000 to $45,000. WHFD could possibly sell some of their rescue equipment. A discussion was had on how often the rescue equipment is used and when both departments purchased their equipment. Mark Makuch asked if they ever
have the rescue equipment from both departments working at one scene and the answer was yes. Peter Tanaka asked if they could possibly start with some of the major tools and then build it over the years to keep the cost down. Again the answer was yes. Stuart Cobb went over the costs of some of the major equipment; the power units (gas or electrical) $8,400 each, spreaders $8,700, cutters $6,500, a ram $5,100, hoses $2,000, etc. Mike Makuch stated it comes down to whether compatibility or price is the most important issue. Compatibility is where the prices quoted by Stuart come in to play. If price is the issue, then the two $8,400 power units wouldn’t be replaced just some of the equipment related to them. Stuart talked on compatibility stating that they have had issues with both departments trying to connect each other’s equipment. Kelly Trueb pointed out that in last year’s plan, they had requested $35,000 and the Committee
bumped it down to $30,000 in the plan and for full replacement the figure would now be $40,000 to $45,000. Mike stated that the hope is with the sale of the current equipment that would get the price back down to $30,000 to $35,000.
WHFD’s second submission is “Replacement of Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Bottles” in fiscal year 2017-2018 for $40,000. Mike Makuch stated in 2019 the WHFD SCBA tanks expire and cannot be retested or recertified again and will need to be replaced. In 2018, WFD#1 will need the full SCBA packs replaced as theirs will age out and need to be replaced ($110,000). A discussion was had on doing both replacements in the same year to possibly save some money, looking into and applying for grants again this year (they have been turned down for grants the last two years and this is the last year they can apply for a grant for this equipment because next year they will have to replace the equipment and won’t be able to get parts). A discussion was had on whether this could be put into lease payments and
paid out through Fund 17 (emergency equipment reserve). Donna Latincsics stated that there are now three lease payments coming out of Fund 17 for the next three years and they will be going into the Fund 17 fund balance to make the lease payments and they have to be careful with that. Tyler Millix stated it would be less of a burden for the taxpayers if the money for the SCBA’s could come out of this fund. Donna stated she will look into that. A discussion was then had on paying for items with lease payments vs. paying for them outright. Tyler Millix spoke on Fund 17 and how the money is reimbursement from the insurance companies (does not come from the taxpayers) and for the last 16 to 17 years the Town has not had to pay for a firetruck or an ambulance as Fund 17 has covered that. Tyler states it’s a huge benefit to the Town. Tyler stated that every town or ambulance service in Tolland County bills for ambulance service and Willington is
one of the only towns that puts that money back into their equipment. Most departments in the County keep that money and it goes into their slush fund. A contractual obligation was made with the Town here in Willington years ago that has worked out very well for both the Town and the departments and it allows for things like replacing these tanks and packs without burdening the taxpayers. Tyler states it is good to have.
The third submission for WHFD is the “Parking Lot Replacement” in fiscal year2017-2018. Mike Makuch stated that at the moment they don’t have a price for the parking lot. They asked Derek Dimmock to look at the parking lot to see if it can be chip sealed. Derek stated that wouldn’t be an option as there are too many cracks and the cracks are too big and they will just break open. Another problem is by the bay doors; the aprons are crumbling because they made the bay doors wider and taller and the columns more narrow to accommodate larger equipment. When that was done some of the foundation was exposed, they capped it over, but water keeps getting into it and breaking it up as it is exposed to the outside of the building. Derek stated that the only way to fix this properly is to resurface the
parking lot. They were unable to get prices for this in time for the meeting, and although it is in an outlying year, they wanted to let the CIP Committee know that it is an upcoming concern and they will be continuing to look for a solution for the parking lot.
The fourth submission is “Repair Bay Floors” in fiscal year 2017-2018. Mike Makuch stated that the last time they did that was at least 20 years ago. They have done some patching, repairing and scrubbing to the floor and now they are down to the concrete which holds water more as opposed to when they have the epoxy on the floor, the water runs off the floor which keeps the floor cleaner and the dust down. They do not have a price for that yet either. Mark Makuch asked if Mike had a ballpark figure on that, and Mike stated that in the early 90’s when they last had it done it was a few thousand dollars but he’s not sure what it would be now.
The fifth submission is Rust Repair and Equipment Modernization 1991 Engine Take 149” in fiscal year 2019-2020 for $90,000. They have pushed that out another year as the truck which is a 1991 vehicle, hasn’t aged as fast as they had anticipated (typically 20 years for firetrucks). They will continue to monitor the truck and as long as it holds up they will keep pushing it out another fiscal year, but do not want to take it off the plan.
The sixth submission is “Design and Construction of New Fire Station” in fiscal year 2019-2020 for $4,700.000. Mike Makuch states that they aren’t looking for this right away, but they want to keep it in the CIP plan for the future. Mike stated that this would be a new (separate) station on a different plot of land. Mike discussed that they had some parcels of land that they looked at in the past to build the station and some issues regarding that.
Chief Alex Moore from WFD#1 then started with their submissions. He stated that the first submission “Replace SCBA” in fiscal year 2017-2018 for $110,000 had already been discussed in combination with WHFD.
The second submission is “Fire Station Addition” in fiscal year 2016-2017 $47,900 for planning, engineering and inspection, in fiscal year 2018-2019 $300,000 for planning, engineering and inspection and in fiscal year 2020-2021 $2,950,000 for construction and $50,000 for equipment purchases for a total of $3,000,000. Alex Moore handed out a proposal for that which is attached. Tyler Millix stated that this addition is different from WHFD’s new station request as they would be using this addition to provide and training/meeting area, bunk room, storage and additional office space. The Town paid for a study a few years ago regarding the two fire departments and the senior’s. Tyler felt that that study did a good job for WFD#1 on what was needed, how things could be reconfigured and the costs for that, the plot
of land the building sits on, etc. and he would like Chairman Kelly Trueb to disseminate it to the committee for their perusal. Tyler will email it to Kelly. In the end, to apply for grants they had to have a proper plan in place. Last year they engaged the architect to start the process. The current building does not have a basement; however, the addition would have a basement, first and second floors. The addition would be added on to the left side of the building if you are facing it. Tyler stated that they have people there 24/7 and more room is needed. Stuart Cobb stated that the $47,000 in fiscal year 2016-2107 would be for conceptual plans and calculating the plan per square foot. The $300,000 in fiscal year 2018-2019 would be for the electrical plans, plumbing and a full set of blueprints from beginning to end. Stuart stated that the information they have been given is that 10 percent of the cost of the building is doing
the plans. They won’t know their final figure until the first part is complete.
4. Senior Center.
No submissions.
Stuart Cobb was asked to speak about the trends of Fund 17. He then handed out a report that Donna Latincsics had done on Fund 17 for fiscal years 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 with the report ending as of July 31, 2015 (which is attached). Stuart noted that over this three year period you can see how the revenue goes up and down but averages out over the years (2012-2013 was $193,5356, 2013-2014 was $185,628, 2014-2015 was $201,182). Tyler Millix noted that they were told with OBAMACARE coming into place that they may see revenues go down. That has not been the case as the revenues have actually stabilized. The expenditures are fairly stable, the capital lease expenditure being the big chunk of money that comes out every year. Donna states that the $112,383 for lease expenditures in
2014-2015 is the highest that will be.
5. Plan Discussion.
Kelly Trueb stated that she would like to start this discussion off with something that was discussed at last week’s meeting, which was the disagreement about what was the agreed upon amount for this fiscal year (2015-2016) of the $100,000 that was earmarked for the Old Town Hall. Kelly did research the minutes from the meeting last year when this was discussed as to whether the $100,000 covered just the painting and renovation to the outside of the building or if money was left over, it included inside renovations with the rest of the $100,000. Kelly then handed out a copy of the section of minutes of the February 11, 2015 meeting (which are attached) where it states “Approval for $100,000 will remain for exterior painting and other upgrades inside the building. First Selectman Mailhos can work on the interior
renovations with any surplus from the exterior painting expense.” As the painting cost was $42,500, there was still $57,500 remaining that could be used for inside repairs. Kelly stated that First Selectman Mailhos would like to see that go to inside repairs, and if they can’t get to the repairs this year she would like it added to her request for next year and not have to put in another request. John Patton stated that she would have to go back to the Town for that. Kelly stated that she just wanted it cleared up that if First Selectman Mailhos was to use the money this year, she would just have to go to the Board of Finance to get it approved. All were in agreement of this.
Barry Wallet would like to see better estimates on the CIP requests in the future so no one is guessing at the costs of projects. All were in agreement with Barry. Mark Makuch wanted it made clear that even though sometimes the estimates are higher than they should be, the money is still being spent wisely.
The next three meetings were discussed. The next meeting on January 20, 2016 is the last meeting of departments presenting their requests with Public Works and Animal Control being the presenters.
Peter Tanaka moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Stuart Cobb. Vote: all yes.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:03 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Eileen Smith
Eileen Smith
Recording Secretary
Board of Selectmen
860-487-3100
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