CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM COMMITTEE
TOWN OF WILLINGTON
TOWN OFFICE BUILDING
February 8, 2017
Members present: Chairman Kelly Trueb, Stuart Cobb, Donna Latincsics, Randy Belair, Peter Tanaka, Jim Bulick John Patton and Barry Wallett. Members absent: First Selectman Christina Mailhos.
Others Present: Deputy Chief Tyler Millix, Assistant Chief Trevor Gantick, Captain Josh Strickland from Willington Fire Department, Inc. #1 (WFD #1) and Stephanie Summers.
The meeting of the Capital Improvement Program Committee was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Chairman Kelly Trueb.
Stephanie Summers stated that she is here to urge the Committee to consider the Conservation Commission’s request for money for open space in Town. She has been taking part in some of the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) upgrade meetings. In their previous plans, they designated a goal for 20% open space in Town and they are far below that goal. She believes one of the things they’ve learned in recent times is that it’s something that needs to be planned for particularly with neighboring communities around Willington have seen huge changes in the nature of their towns because they have not attended to it in due course. She cited Tolland and Ellington in particular who have scurried to get some open space funds in place. She understands that Willington isn’t in a position to do a huge outlay
of funds, but she would like to see some kind of movement that reflects what the community is saying with their meetings on the POCD. Recently she was at one of those meetings in this room that was packed with people and the consensus was to have money for open space, so she is just urging the Committee to think about the future and support that idea. She thinks it’s something that the Town shouldn’t miss out on. She thanked the committee for listening and she was thanked by the Committee for her time.
2. Approval of Minutes.
The minutes of the January 26, 2017 meeting were discussed.
Peter Tanaka moved to accept the minutes as printed, seconded by Randy Belair.
Vote: 7 yes (Trueb, Bulick, Cobb, Latincsics, Belair, Tanaka and Wallet), 0 no, 1 abstention (Patton).
3. Plan Discussion.
Chairman Kelly Trueb stated that John Patton took a lot of his own time to put together a spreadsheet for the Committee to look at tonight which has the requests in order starting with the Board of Education (BOE) and ending with the Parks and Recreation Department/Commission. John stated that there was a lot of history in the spreadsheet that he eliminated, but he hasn’t been able to recreate some of the formulas as he eliminated items and he is still working on that. He stated that the Committee has to go through the spreadsheet and really start trimming because the way it is now isn’t going to work. He thinks the best way to do that is to go project by project and do a first call, see what makes sense and what doesn’t make sense. Then go through it a second time and start working out the list of the lowest
priority that gets cut. He stated that he assumes with the $600,000 decrease in State aid this year, that according to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) in their minutes, they would like the CIP budget to go down a little bit from what it is. Donna Latincsics noted that she didn’t read those minutes, but that they always said that the CIP would follow the growth in the grand list, and as there isn’t any growth in the grand list, it would make sense to follow that logic that the Committee decrease it’s spending a little bit. John put everything into the general fund category unless it specifically talked about bonding or leasing. He stated as they go through the items, they can pick out what can be leased, paid for by LoCIP (Local Capital Improvement Program), etc. He said the Governor’s budget reinstated the LoCIP for next year and doubled it. Next year Willington is up for $107,000 in LoCIP funding according to the Govenor’s budget.
John stated that another question to answer; do they assume that to be correct and plan accordingly, does the Committee say there will no longer be LoCIP funds and zero that fund out which will change the Committee’s perspective, or the Committee can say they think it will be $107,000 and put half of that in the out year’s (because that is how they fund some of the projects, and they move projects that can be funded by LoCIP from the general fund to LoCIP). They try to do that first as these are (LoCIP) state funds that are given to the Town every year and this is the first time John has seen where they have been totally eliminated. This is a five year plan, and LoCIP funds can only be used for certain projects which are non-mobile, non-education related projects. John stated that they also need to look at what they want to bond (large projects, i.e. the fire station addition). If some projects are smaller and don’t make sense to bond, you can
take a larger project and add smaller projects to it and bond them all together. John then explained bond anticipation notes. There is also the capital reserve fund which traditionally has been the Committee’s buffer. They try to spend in round figures $550,000 a year out of the general fund. Sometimes they don’t have all the projects, or the timing isn’t right for the projects to do, so money is put in the capital reserve fund (like a savings account) to keep it at the $550,000. One of the basic tenants of the plan is that they don’t have wild swings in the mill rate. John stated that you don’t want to take everything out of the capital reserve fund either or the Town would be put in a bad position. It comes down to which projects they don’t think are necessary, which projects they want to pay for out of LoCIP, reserve funds or bond. The money is being moved from on-budget to off-budget. When you move projects to
off-budget or a lease or a bond, you have to pay for it in future years (if you move it to year two, you have to pay for it in year three, which comes out of the general fund).
Chairman Kelly Trueb suggested that they start at the top with project 1.1 (BOE) and work their way down to project 6.2 (Parks and Recreation Department/Commission). All were in agreement of this.
1.1 School Facilities Study for $10,000 - $15,000 in fiscal year 2017-2018. This can be eliminated as the Board of Finance (BOF) has already voted to fund this project. Chairman Kelly Trueb mentioned that as they go through the BOE projects they have to take into consideration what needs to be fixed now vs. what might fall under the school facilities study.
1.2 WPS New Security Monitoring System for $93,677.40 in fiscal year 2018-2019. After a discussion on what to do with this project, the security system and what it would cover, the phone system (possibly combining it with the security system), etc., it was decided to fund this project for $50,000 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
1.3 Town and School Phone Systems for $196,544.40 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
Leasing of the phones was discussed and John Patton explained how municipal leasing works. After a short discussion on the phone system the BOE is proposing, their current phone system, costs, etc. it was decided to cut their proposal to $100,000 and push it out one year to 2019-2020.
1.4 CES Upper Wing Accessibility for $350,000 in fiscal year 2017-2018.
A short discussion was has on this project and as was discussed at the January 12, 2017 meeting with the BOE, Center Elementary School has already been made handicapped accessible and approved by both the ADA and the State. With that in mind, this project was removed from the plan.
1.5 CES Playground Mulch Replacement for $6,600 in fiscal year 2017-2018.
It was noted that normally most requested projects have a value of at least $10,000 although they have approved some for less. After some discussion on the BOE’s surplus at the end of this fiscal year, it was decided to remove it from the CIP plan and recommend that they cover this project with any surplus they might have at the end of the fiscal year.
1.6 CES Upper Wing Exhaust Fans for $9,425 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
Stuart Cobb asked if this project and the next project 1.7 CES Classroom Heat Replacement could be combined and a reimbursement be applied for from the State with regards to school construction. Donna Latincsics will ask Dr. Jacobi, the Interim Superintendent about that.
1.7 CES Classroom Heat Replacement for $72,982 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
A discussion was had on this project, maintenance and repair of it and the town wide energy study. The Committee would like a follow-up on this project from Emcor (the maintenance company that takes care of both schools) on whether the compressor can be removed from the system and what kind of savings to expect from that. This project will be pushed out to fiscal year 2020-2021.
1.8 CES Window Replacement or Film for $79,915 in fiscal year 2019-2020.
After a discussion on this project, a suggestion was made by John Patton to do a few windows every year until all the windows were done instead of doing them all at once. It was decided that they would start funding this project in fiscal year 2019-2020 with $10,000 a year, every year until all the windows are replaced.
1.9 CES Gym Air Conditioning Upgrade for $25,580 in fiscal year 2019-2020.
A discussion was had on this and everyone was in agreement that it was needed. It was decided to leave it where it is.
1.10 HMS Exterior Trim Doors, Pilasters for $17,800 in fiscal year 2017-2018.
A discussion was had on this and it was decided to leave this project where it is.
1.11 HMS Sidewalk /Landing Replacement for $18,740 in fiscal year 2017-2018.
After a short discussion on some of the repairs that have been made to the sidewalk, it was decided to push this project out a year to fiscal year 2018-2019.
1.12 HMS South Roof Repair for $87,122 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
A discussion was had on the roof whether there might be State money for that, how they got money from the State the last time they had work done on the roof, what the repair to the roof would be, etc. It was decided to leave this project where it is and Donna Latincsics will check with Dr. Jacobi to see if there would be any State reimbursement on it.
1.13 HMS Parking Lots Chip Seal for $22,786 in fiscal year 2019-2020.
A discussion was had on when to chip seal or when to resurface. It was decided to leave this project where it is.
1.14 HMS Student Locker Replacement for $20,031.30 in fiscal year 2020-2021.
After a short discussion on this project, it was decided to push it out to 2021-2022.
1.15 HMS Oil Tank Replacement for $44,000 in fiscal year 2017-2018.
A discussion was had on the new oil tank and whether it would be above ground or underground. Donna Latincsics is going to send Karl Acimovic an email to see if the current oil tank is fiberglass, because that makes a difference as to when the tank needs to be replaced per DEEP guidelines (fiberglass have a longer replacement time). For now this project will be left where it is.
1.16 CES Generator for $40,000 in fiscal year 2019-2020.
A discussion was had on the generator, if it was necessary, the security system, electronic clocks and intercom system not working in a lockdown if there was a power loss, etc. It was decided to push this project out to fiscal year 2021-2022 and have the BOE look for a security grant that may help cover it.
2.1 Update Phone & Voicemail system at TOB (Town Office Building) for $15,000 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
It was decided to remove this project request as there is already a request from the BOE for a new phone system which will cover the TOB.
2.2 Municipal Permitting Software for $30,160 in fiscal year 2016-2017.
A discussion was had on this project and the surrounding towns that use it. It was decided that because we have a paper system that works fine and there isn’t any large building activity at this time, this project will be removed.
2.3 Renovation in Selectmen’s Office/Move ROV (Registrar of Voters) for $20,000 in fiscal year 2016-2017.
After a short discussion on this project, (fixing Robin Campbell’s window, but not renovating offices and moving the ROV upstairs), that the money needed to take care of the window could come out of the Selectmen’s budget and this project will be removed.
2.4 Fireproof and Regular File Cabinets at TOB for $20,000 in fiscal year 2016-2017.
This project was discussed and during the discussion the fact was brought up that one has already been bought for the ROV. It was decided that this project would be eliminated and the floors should be reinforced first before adding any filing cabinets.
2.5 Floors, Windows and Walls at Old Town Hall (OTH) for $18,800 in fiscal year 2017-2018 and $52,500 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
After some discussion on this project and weighing it against other projects that might have more of a priority, it was decided to push the $18,800 out to fiscal year 2018-2019 and push the $52,500 out to 2019-2020.
It was decided at this time to move to the Fire Department requests as they have been patiently listening to this meeting.
5.1 WFD#1 (Willington Fire Department, Inc. #1) Replace Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) for $110,000 in fiscal year 2017-2018.
After some discussion on funding sources for this it was decided to do a lease for 7 years on this request.
5.2 WHFD (Willington Hill Fire Department, Inc.) Parking Lot Replacement and Bay Floor Resurfacing for $70,000 in fiscal year 2017-2018.
After some discussion of splitting this project into two projects, it was decided to put $40,000 towards the parking lot replacement in fiscal year 2017-2018 and push the bay floor resurfacing out to fiscal year 2020-2021 for $30,000.
5.3 WHFD Replace SCBA Bottles for $30,000 in fiscal year 2018-2019.
After a short discussion on grants, it was decided to leave this project where it is.
5.4 WFD#1 Fire Station Addition for $100,000 in fiscal year 2018-2019 and $1,750,000 in fiscal year 2019-2020.
A long discussion was had on fire department corporations, funding, the scope of the project, studies that have been made on both fire departments, maybe taking some of the items off of the project (EOC, office to sequester the First Selectman, etc.), the future of the town, etc. Jim Bulick asked if the $100,000 was spent making the project “shovel ready” and then they didn’t do anything else on the project for five years, what would that do to the plans. It was agreed that they might have to be adjusted some do to rise in costs, but the plan itself probably wouldn’t change. A discussion was had on STEAP grants. It was decided to leave this project where it is.
At this time, it was decided to continue the plan discussion at the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 13, 2017 at 6:30 p.m.
Jim Bulick moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Barry Wallett.
Vote: All yes.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:56 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Eileen Smith
Eileen Smith
Recording Secretary
Board of Selectmen
860-487-3100
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