##VIDEO ID:_2fEl6him9Y## being 601 I'd like to call the November 14th meeting of the capital planning committee to order uh I'd like to introduce the capital planning committee members for those that may be watching at home for the first time so just starting to my left if you're facing me um David golin from the finance committee David braslau from the board of Library trustees Christopher lavali citizen member Dennis King from school committee Joe Tierney another Cit ass member and also Darlene lucier Town accountant is with us as well as Town manager Paul Cohen um our mission for those that may not have watched these meetings before is we review all of the capital projects and needs um for the that for the coming fiscal year uh for fiscal year 26 and we assist the town manager by making a recommendation and helping the town manager develop a capital uh budget for the coming fiscal year as well as an update for the as for a five-year Capital plan that we do each year so um that being said tonight we'll be following the posted agenda and the first hearing uh is from Municipal technology and with us this evening is Ted lutter Our IT director and Ted's going to be discussing project number one good evening everyone uh it's not a very exciting project um I'm just looking for money uh to to refresh our firewalls um it's the last piece in uh a multi-year project to uh refresh the entire network we have done the um Edge switches a few years ago we're currently this Fu year working on the core switches and uh uh Wi-Fi and upgrading the firewalls will uh make us uh our Network be uh up to date um all refreshed typical stuff you do in it um again not really exciting I'm happy to answer any questions um that you may have yes how did you come up with 100,000 um I I contacted my uh consultant and asked him how much it would cost up through the the firewall firewalls and that was the number he gave me is there just one consultant I mean do we bid this at all just goes to one person how's it work uh we the consultant that we use we we we buy from the state contract the consultant we use uh uses uh um is a consultant we've used for years um and he's the one that has um put all the policies in for our Network he's he's been our consultant since we switched to uh this network I'd say8 to 10 years ago yeah so with the state bid list had that any you know anything over 50,000 that that eliminates the need to um you know you kind of know you're getting it's a Cooperative uh price for other towns and cities and towns and things like that so it it's it's the price that you uh the the state bid list allows you to buy without having to go out to bid because it's vetted by the state that's how we do it how many firewall devices are there two that run in a pair so it gives us redundancy um it gets to the we're at the point where it cost more to maintain the firewalls than to refresh the firewalls um uh you know so if if we we weren't given the money to do these fires we would pay another maintenance fee which would end up costing us more money than if we just replace the firewalls over over like a threeyear period it saves US money how old are they six they'll be we're we're we would be starting our seventh year if we don't replace these firewalls and what's the manufacturer's end of life it's probably uh longer than that I don't know what the the end of life is the reason we're coming to you is because it saves the cost is it doesn't make sense to keep paying the maintenance fees uh because they go up as the equip gets older and would you uh recycle these or would you keep them as spares um we probably would hold on to them um for some period of time and then recycle them we have had uh the need for other firewalls in town um but now that we've moved to a lot of cloud services uh the the need for more firewalls than just the two uh has greatly decreased so you know it's a good idea to keep them because you never know um we do do some work with the um Housing Authority uh and sometimes um there could be a need for older equipment that we can recycle for that kind of purpose right any other questions for Ted no all right thank you Ted have a good night and next on our agenda we have our Elder Services director Debbie sirani here John can I ask a question before you go on sure why isn't why aren't we asking for digitization and records for this capitle year that was something I consulted with the Town Clerk and because um of the funding from other sources this year like at the last town meeting uh there was funding for uh digitization of Records that was approved from free cash so they felt with the the funding that they have right now they were going to be pretty busy um trying to get that project going so that's why they that's why they did not submit a capital request but I did I did talk with her this year about that thanks hi Debbie good evening so Debbie's project project number two on your project detail sheets uh this is a part two of a deferred project from last year uh we had the replacement of the flooring for the uh main hallway and the hall and it was split into two and we got the main hallway funded for this year and uh this is the second part of the project for the main hall so the where the um um the dining area and uh so it is a original flooring it's about 36 37 years old now and we've done various things to try to replace um the worst parts and and do little patchwor and when we do it uh the remaining new older floor around it cracks even worse and so we can't patch it so we started putting rugs over all the holes um but then we can't get it properly cleaned either because uh when we we would usually strip it and walk and clean it and get it waxed twice a year but we can't do that anymore because the uh the substances they use and the water gets under all the other old floor and Bubbles it up and cracks it even worse so we're I mean we wash it of course but um we can't properly care for the floor and uh and it is a safety issue there are a lot of holes and Bubbles and cracks and rugs so we're we're hoping to get the rest of it fixed and funded this year did part one get completed yet no no not yet okay I just didn't know if they were into any problems unexpected problems doing that part no no the other part is actually covered in a rug which kept which we replaced with throw rugs and and like a runner that the friends had funded years ago and then that had all kinds of Bubbles and problems and tripping hazards and so we're we're we're ready to get rid of that too and just pull it up and make it a a very easily maintained and cleaned um surface the idea when that's going to get done or uh I think they said in the coming um gosh I'm not sure you know before June so and what's the source of the cost estimate for the 170,000 so this year is just a 10% increase from last year on the uh the advice of uh Christine Clancy and last year we got it uh bid you know we quoted out from a local company that we've used before for smaller projects and then once it's if it's funded this year we still do need to go out for three different quotes for the actual awarding of that project so it's usually the sourcing is from Christine yes yeah y yes Debbie worked with um director Clancy on this I I happen to be involved that um email and all that so thank you for doing that a pleasure as always any other questions for Debbie at all right thank you much thank you have a good night thank you too next on the agenda we have our library director Leslie Kimble and there are you'll note that there are three projects number three four and five um I believe Leslie's going to discuss uh project number four and then next week we'll be discussing Municipal and school facilities and at that time U director Clancy and Leslie will get a little more into the facilities projects good evening Leslie good evening thanks everybody for the time um glad to be here so um we are looking to um have some funding to um basically refresh like Ted said uh replace uh the technology that we use throughout the library both on-site and offsite this is um something that goes back many years we run our replacement of our technology hardware and software on about a fiveyear cycle so you know we look at the kind of recommended life for a lot of things uh computers is maybe 3 to 5 years we look at a 4 to six year lifespan and um we use this cycle as a way to uh we will some of the machines we're using now will become we'll get passed down it's like a family with a lot of cousins you get all these hand-me-downs um so what we try to do is we replace the you know most critical things the newest things very much um public use computers uh and staff Computing as well as the machines that run for example our circulation system and those Mission critical kinds of things and then as we get down to the search computers and things that are only doing one or two functions able to use those ones that have gotten a little older to replace those um so we would be phasing out things that are more like eight or nine years old um and replacing those with some things that are more like the six years old and moving everything uh down the line in that way um you know based on some of the questions uh that had come up before we do also use the state contract in order to uh get quotes and purchase equipment um so we're using uh the amounts that we've been able to get from them and then we would get more specific when we actually were entering into purchasing so this is we're asking for um the first year of funding for this and uh that would allow us to do about half of what what we need to get done again prioritizing we'd be prioritizing those public use uh computers as well as staff computers um as as well as some other um Network Hardware that we need to update and replace and then also uh software we are moving to Microsoft Azure cloud services um uh on the recommendation of the town and the requirements for the town's uh liability insurance so that has a certain amount of costs involved with it um as well so um you know I I can remember uh earlier on in my career needing to explain why we needed computers in libraries when we would ask for funding I think it probably we all know how essential they are to us um and certainly uh something that we need simply to be able to operate uh and this cycle has worked very well over the years any questions for Lesly at all thank you so I just have a question is there any use for the equipment that you may have elsewhere in town whether it be the senior center or anywhere else or is just totally defunct some of the equipment that you have well I mean it does depend we certainly have some things you know that just for whatever reason aren't going to be able to be used but in the past we have been able to sometimes um the schools have been able to use um some items especially if there are clubs or like girls who code clubs can use um those kinds of things our Fixit Clinic actually it's a great way for people to learn how to how to fix things and we have older things um we have a a relationship with um the jail and sometimes they can use devices and things that we're able to pass along so we certainly reach out to that Community um to see who might be able to use things that are in good enough condition that we're passing along useful thank you you're welcome and approximately the 60,000 would get you how many computers so the um 60 we have 110 things that we need to um to update and pass down and things like that so the um 60,000 we would be looking to do uh roughly uh it's about 50 actual com It's a combination of the station with its peripherals with its software upgrades um and then be able to do about that same amount the following year okay thank you welcome all right any other questions at all for Leslie all right great thank you thank you presentation and next on the agenda we have our senator for the Arts director Lauren Cochran with us this evening and their project is number six and your packets good evening Lauren I have those pictures when you want to show them they're just a separate file yeah um so basically the chumford Center for the Arts has been very busy in the last year and a half since I um became the executive director and the good news is we we got a grant which was great so we have brand new shutters that are historically accurate we have a washer and dryer now rentals have increased a lot as a matter of fact we just booked about three or four weddings to be held in the a Auditorium so the auditorium is in dire need of at least the floor so we've asked for up to $50,000 for renovation with fresh paint and sort of to make it a little little darker in color but mostly we could use about 20,000 to renovate the floor I don't know how old the floor is but John if you want to show those pictures it gets a lot of use and abuse now um and it just needs to be buffed this floor could be as old as 19 30 um my husband who's an architect thinks it's Oak but he thinks it'll do okay if we just get it lightly sanded and buffed instead of replacing it but I think we'd have to investigate that his approximation would be about 20,000 to 25,000 to redo the floor so you can see that the floor sort of been weathered and worn and and beat up a lot um so I would like to just start by saying that would be a great Plus on it and then the rest would be sort of cosmetic some of the chandeliers have to be pulled up because they're they need to be clean desperately but they also the chains some are up higher than others and we want them to have all on the same level so it's really cosmetic to make it look nice and the building's pretty solid still but it was more for that so any questions so the total request is 50,000 up to 50,000 I mean includes 20 for the 20 and then about 20 for paint and the chandelier fixing and where did you get your numbers from well my husband's an architect so I do talk to him about it and he said well flooring is going to be about 20,000 and he's always doing that kind of you know estimating in his head but I can get more specifics I did have a flooring person come in in June but he never got back to me with bids so that that wasn't any any good yet so but it' probably be less than that I I believe the numbers would come in a little less than that okay okay right any other questions for Lauren all right thank you thank you thanks then next on our agenda we have a police chief Colin Spence here to explain the police department Capital request and this is Project number seven good evening Chief good evening thank you very much for having me here it's great to see everybody as always uh this is for the repaving and resurfacing of our back parking lot uh as you can see from the picture that was provided um the parking lot is starting to get into disrepair and that is mainly because of the usage it's almost 20 years old actually a little over 20 years old and it is now also used by the fire department DPW everybody uses the gas pumps so that creates more of wear and teer on the um resurfacing um on the pavement now I got the car cost estimate I work with the DPW director and our staff um and that's based on this Falls pricing um and they add a 20% contingency um to account for any potential changes in the pricing uh we do need to have some work done on one of our garages as you pull into the garage our new command van uh cannot get fully into the garage properly with the the generator attached to the back so it has to be regraded so that is part of this project also uh in speaking with the DPW director she did say that this is one of the priorities with the Adams library parking lot and if we do both of them at the same time there' be approximately $50,000 savings and doing them at the same time so the request is for $430,000 and I am here to answer any questions you may have I noticed on the project sheet uh Chief it said that Granite curbing will be installed around the gas tanks that that that's good for durability and cor yeah we're actually working on the gas uh tanks also as far as uh safety reasons the curving there is just not sufficient you mentioned the generator the what was the point so on the back of the command van the new command van there's a basket that houses a generator gas generator and when you have the basket attached it bottoms out pulling out of the back garage so we're having a and it barely the command van barely clears it it's a grading issue uh as many of you probably know the garage that we utilize now used to be the community television garage so it was never really made for this purpose it's been repurposed for our usage so is the generator at risk in any way no what we're going to do now so we can utilize a command van is we just going to take that basket off until this project is done and then if we need an emergency we'll just carry it over and put it on the back so this may be a question for director Clancy next week when she talks about the other project but you mentioned doing this in conjunction with the paving at the library yes are the estimates that are in the capital plan reflective of the $50,000 in savings or the projects priced individually now and that savings would result from combining the two projects I believe they're priced individually uh and if both are approved then obviously there would be a cost savings doing them both at the same time we can we can definitely ask her for some you know to assist with that next at the next meeting for sure yeah I I spoke with her last week regarding it and these are the most current figures great right any other questions for the chief thank you okay thank you very much have a great night you too then next on the agenda we have fire chief Gary Ryan here to explain the fire department Capital needs and the fire department project is number see if we can number good evening Mr chairman board members I hope everybody's well I come before you uh requesting the replacement of our command vehicle which is designated as Fire 3 in the department Fire 3 is a 2016 Ford Expedition uh and this vehicle serves a critical role of the department because it's a Frontline response vehicle used by the officer in charge the OIC um but beyond and it's coming up to its 10year that vehicle gets uh replaced on the 10year cycle uh but beyond its primary um response as a response vehicle that vehicle also serves is our mobile command post so in an emergency that has a built-in radio console in the back of the vehicle that we can use to um communicate with our mutual Aid Partners um medflight uh it's got the accountability boards it carries equipment like a thermal imaging cameras the gas meters um and due to the high demands that is placed on that vehicle um it has experienced significant wear and tear uh the cost to replace that vehicle is is 11,885 that encompasses the vehicle itself the radio system the lighting package and the equipment such as the gas meter and thermal imaging cameras and I'll try to answer any questions you may have what's the lead time uh that is a very good question that's same vehicle as the police chief I think about a year at least yes at least a year besides wear inter is there anything wrong wrong with the vehicle has it had any mechanical problems engine problems it has it's had um we've done work on the engine uh it's got some body rot um there is a high demand on the electrical system so we've had that repaired CU that powers the radio the lights the radios um the transmission's been worked on exhaust systems been worked on and none of the existing equipment can be used in the new vehicle the thermal imaging camera has aged out they don't support that camera so what we try to do on the department head one for every truck but certainly for the command vehicle because the officer responds to all emergencies so it serves as a backup or in the case that he's the first he she's the first one there that will be the first one in use any other questions for chief the chief okay thank you very thank you happy holidays and to you to you so that's the that was the final hearing from a department tonight but uh just under the discussion um area I just wanted to mention so this year you remember remember last year we had a very extensive list and um there were several roof projects this year as everyone's had a chance to look so the total we have 22 projects totaling just over 6.55 million and we anticipate that the funding Target would be similar to last year which was uh you know between 5.8 to 5.9 Million last year was about just about 5.88 million so just to give members a you know sort of a feel for the you know the scope of the plan and and you know we'll still we'll definitely have to make some decis tough decisions but at least um you know we're not facing as daunting a a Target amount of projects as we were last year um and then we have did everyone I wanted to ask did everyone have a chance to review the minutes I know I sent those out Wednesday morning if not if if if folks haven't read through them we can also do them at the next meeting everyone pretty much okay all right so it's probably best to um take them individually I think just because we meet seasonally that's the reason that we're to explain to everyone that's the reason that we're we're um reviewing and approving minutes from 2023 so first one I'd entertain a motion to accept the minutes from November 16 2023 I'm sorry we have to do them separately or I think it may be best just if people have any issues with them but all right so I'd like to make a motion to accept the minutes from November 16th motion by Joe and then second by Dennis all those in favor please say I I I unanimous any opposed and then I'd entertain a motion to accept the minutes from November 30th 2023 I'd like to make a motion to accept the minutes for November 30th 2023 motion by Joe seconded by Dennis all those in favor accepting the minutes 30th all those opposed appears to be unanimous that also like to make a motion to accept the minutes for December 7th 2023 second motion by by Joe and seconded by Dennis all those in favor accepting the minutes from December 7th 2023 please say I I all those opposed unanimous that brings us to our public comment section do we have anyone from the public that wishes to make a Express comments to the committee or not seeing anyone so our next I just want to mention our next meeting is a week from today November 21st same location same time 6 p.m. I did want to mention to everyone the final meeting uh due to a scheduling conflict is going to be at the school scho in the school committee room school committee meeting room and that's December 5th that will start one hour later than these meetings so that will start at 7 so just you want folks to go to the wrong location or any have be mixed up does anyone in the committee have any questions you wanted to discuss I had one question about um the the Center for the Arts I just I feel like that was the group not for her but we able to accept the uh recommendation from her husband the quote cuz aren't we supposed to make sure that they're a viable quote or how how I mean we could what we can do we we could ask um director Clancy if she can I can reach out to her and ask her if um you know to review the you know just to see if um for her opinion on the flooring cost and if it was I mean if it did go forward and be procured you'd have to follow all the um you know all the all the uh Municipal bidding and purchasing procedures so but that is that's a good question I will I will ask I feel bad she said that she was trying to get a quote about the painting that was seemed to be a guesstimate as well so just want to make sure that two things one is that they're accurate quotes and that we're also able to make a judgment regardless question sure can we do borrowing for like maintenance like to me that's like a m like painting in redoing a floor I mean can we is will you have a problem with your borrowing on that I can look into it um I think in the past um I mean there have been I think there have been they've been much larger projects there may have been school projects that involve painting but I'd have to look into that John another point you had brought up this is just my own observation is you know that this year we're pretty close to what last year but if you look out the year afterwards it's scary there a huge am so are we I'm not sure we don't get influenced by it it's going to be easy to do it this year because we only have to you know get to a couple of changes to get all the money but then next year so shouldn't we look be looking at both years we do look at I mean the whole thing is we can you know when you go through the summary you can look at all five years I think what we did last year is a whole a whole a large number of roof projects hit the plan I think when director Clancy reviewed it with a lot of the roofing experts that she deals with as my recollection is a large number of and they were multi-million dollar projects hit the capital plan all of a sudden and what happened is I think what we've been doing is working with her to try to sort out what could possibly be an msba project um what could be deferred just trying to manage the projects so they you know we can't obviously we can't fund them all in one year but I think as we go through working with her and others um is to PRI try to prioritize them so we can we can fund them in in you know in bites and not you know cuz I can I can tell you um you know we we cannot borrow within non-excluded debt you know and do like $7 million or $9 million of projects that's just not feasible for the with within the town's uh budget limitations for Debt Service so um I think it's always it's always a a balancing and a prioritizing um you know yeah but my point is that um there might be one item that's but if I look at what's next year in a different item and I look at the two of them and I say which one's more important um I'm not I just find it I just want you to know I'm going to look at both yeah okay um because I I I think there's a risk here that we just approve everything that's in this proposal for this year and then we're faced with this enormous but next year has a lot of roof Replacements as well I noticed so if if those are handled similar to how they were handled this past year it might give us some relief next year right I mean what I can say is when we reach out and we we distribute the capital budging materials we ask department heads to give us their highest priority priority projects so if I'm running a department I'm going to give I'm going to submit to Capital my highest need for the coming fac school year I can always re I can always redistribute or I can either you know I always tell department heads you can always accelerate a project from the out of year for example if you have a a truck that's just falling apart and it's not going to last three four years like you thought you can always accelerate it sooner for repair or the the flip side of that if something's going to last a little longer than what you thought you may not have to replace it you can defer or or you know put it off a year or two uh that's the kind of the flip side of that but we're asking them to give us their because they are the department heads are the ones at the operational level that um you know know what they need like um you know as Finance director and you know I want to speak for Paul was Town manager but we don't you know kind of what guess what I'm saying is impose our Wills on departments and say oh put that off we're not going to fund that we rely on them for their expertise to bring the projects to us and say this is my number one need for the coming fiscal year do that and I can I can validate from the school committee side to school side you know we probably had 69 million dollar worth of projects we said okay what's most important you know and school safety and infrastructure and those are the ones we put forward we know those other projects still there but we we felt that these are the ones that we really need to get done um you know over the next year so I was going to bring up the same point because I think what we were struggling with the last two years is just that and I kept bringing up please prioritize on your end to make our job easier but so we know cuz they know their business like to John's point they know what's more important to be replaced sooner yeah and I did ask director Clancy so I'm going to get the priority numbers for her those projects as well and I'll get those out to the committee and I know I sent a memo from Dr Langan to everyone and I will you know I'll distribute that at the next meeting when we talk about school facilities and town facilities so that should help the committee this year we'll get priority number from everyone last year there was a small amount of carryover funds that helped us in the process are there any F Yes actually Darlene's researching that right now so hopefully we'll have that by she has to contact all the department heads faity project so Christine's looking at them and making sure that they're completed and that those funds can you know if there's any funds that can re recapture have I'll have a number for next for next okay thank you if anybody has any other discussion or comments if not I would entertain a motion to adjourn I'm making a motion to adjourn the meeting do we have a second I'll second that all those in favor all right I thank you everyone