Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Committee
Newmarket Town Hall
Downstairs Auditorium
Thursday,October 2, 2014
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Members present: Russ Simon, Rose-Anne Kwaks, Phil Nazzaro, Judith Ryan and Jane Ford. Diane Hardy, Town Planner, was present. Nathan Lunney was excused. The meeting was called to order at 5:04 p.m.
1.Approval of Minutes: Approval of the minutes of the September 25, 2014 meetingwas postponed until after the presentations.
2.Meeting with Michael Martin, Interim School Superintendent regarding the status of the School’s CIP
Superintendent Martin presented a memo to the CIP Committee that included areal estate inventory of School District property. He explained that it is hard to say where the Administration stands on the various options for the High School. A consulting group has been hired to look at three (3) options: tuitioning students, constructing a new facility and renovations and addition to the existing building. For the elementary school, there is a need for a facility study to look at expansion and needed space. There are currently two portable buildings with a total of four classrooms on site, the office and cafeteria space is small, and there is little room for expansion on-site. Questions were asked about how impact fees have been used and if the 4 acre tract in back of the school that is adjacent to the Durell Woods common land can be used for school purposes or just recreation.
Russ Simon asked what they have for capital assets, such as boilers, educational equipment, electronics, power tools, heating, plumbing, and ventilation. Judy Ryan asked if just facility funds were being used for repairs to high school.
Phil Nazzaro asked which funds should we be looking at…they have several reserve funds… one for facilities, special education, technology, etc. He wanted to know how many capital reserve funds there are, including a list of all the funds, how they are to be utilized, the balance in each one, plans to contributeadditional funding and a viable long-term plan for using the funds. The Superintendent will provide the requested information.
The Superintendent talked about the on-going work of the Joint Advisory Committee and the projected date for completion for their report in mid-December. At this point, the decision on which approach to be pursued is unknown, so budget estimates would pre-mature. They are working on budget proposals for the March 2015 Town Meeting.
The Newmarket Elementary School and the gym were built in 1986/1987.
The Schools have no indebtedness and are making no bond payments.
The Carpenter property was recently purchased by the Schools. The site is in need of clean-up and the Town and the Schools are looking at possibly doing a fire fighting training (controlled burn) of the buildings with the Newmarket Fire Department to save on demolition costs. A Phase 1 Environmental Assessment has been completed. It is possible this property could be used forparking and/or athletic fields, as they are greatly needed.
The School Board will be meeting again on October 16. After that date, the Superintendent can come back to meet with the CIP committee with the requested information and give the Committee an update. Diane Hardy will let him know when the next meeting will be.
Diane Hardy will get aletter from John Ratigan regarding the timing of the School’s request and the deadline for the CIP to make recommendations, as the Schools operate their budget process differently than the Town does.
3.Meeting with Sean Greig, Superintendent of Water and Wastewaterregarding the Water and Sewer CIP
The committee had asked for a clarification on why there was such a large balance in the Water capital reserve fund and why these projects were being requested for funding again this year. He explained that other projects which were approved for funding last year came in over budget and, therefore these projects were pushed back on the time schedule, which is why he is once again requesting funding for them. We would havehad to raise water rates by $.20. The Town hasn’t had a raise in rates in three (3) years. There are 30 miles of water pipe in Town which would cost $40 million to replace if all done at once and placed on the capital improvements plan, which would be at a significant cost to the ratepayers.
Sean Grieg explained that the bids for the North Main Street Water project came in way over bid. The project was originally estimated at $600,000. Only one bid came in and it was 1.3 million dollars, more than double the estimate. The bid was not accepted because the Town decided to re-bid the project this fall in hopes of getting a lower bid, during a less busy time. The project is number of 5 on the list of water priorities that was approved by an October 2011 resolution of the Town Council.
With the financing of that project, only $400,000 remains in the Water Capital Reserve fund, $50,000 of which is being used for engineering for the Bennett and Sewall Pump Station Upgrades. This leaves $350,000 as a cushion in the event of an unanticipated project that comes up.
Judy Ryan left the committee meeting at 6:05 p.m. due to another commitment.
For the sewer capital reserve funds there is currently $825,000, of which the North Main Street Sewer project will be done, estimated at $550,000, as well as $168,000 for equipment replacement, which leaves a delta of $100,000. It was decided that having some kind of contingency to cover cost overruns and emergency situations made sense.
4.Recommendations: Capital Reserve Fund Overview Spreadsheet
A motion was made by Russ Simon, seconded by Phil Nazzaro, to recommend funding in the amount of $364,002 for the Water Capital Reserve Fund and $164,202 for the Sewer, as proposed by the Water and Sewer Superintendent. Both projects were viewed as “necessary” in order to maintain a basic level of community service. Diane Hardy will update the spreadsheet and forward to Steve Fournier.
5.Other Business
It was explained that the Veteran’s request was withdrawn because they will be seeking funding from the Town’s “Buildings and Grounds” Capital Reserve Fund in order to make the repairs to Veteran’s War Memorial/Bandstand as soon as possible, given the critical nature of the request.
Rose-Anne mentioned her interest in getting together with the Committee after the CIP is submitted to meet with the Department heads to review the CIP process and streamline the forms to improve the process for next year.She would also like to have the Departments provide tours of their facilities to the committee to better acquaint them with the projects.
As Judy Ryan was not present to approve the 9/25 minutes, it was decided to postpone taking action on them until the next meeting.
6.Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be Wednesday, October 22, 2014 from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m.
7.Adjourn:
A motion was made at 6:49 p.m. to adjourn by Phil Nazarro, seconded by Russ Simon. All in Favor.
Respectfully submitted
Diane Hardy and Rose-Anne Kwaks
October 16, 2014
TOWN HALL
186 MAIN STREET, NEWMARKET, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03857
TELEPHONE (603) 659-3617