First Sanbornton CIP meeting

When department heads gather for their first meeting with the town’s first Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Committee in August, they’ll have a pretty good idea of the kind of information the group wants to see.

That’s because the new committee held its third meeting this past week, and during that time did a rehearsal of what a session with the CIP will be like. Selectboard Chairman Patsy Wells played the part of a director of the Department of Public Works coming to the group asking for support for a new grader.

The town does need a new grader, so Wells work and presentation was not completely fictitous. But the meeting was handled more as an example of what kinds of issues the CIPC will be looking at rather than an actual request.

As CIP Chairman Don Bormes, explained, the new group will give the town to look out as far as six years at what projects or purchases might be necessary and to plan accordingly how to procure them, i.e., a purchase, bond, lease-purchase, rent, etc. Objects or projects that were meant to last two or more years, valued at more than $10,000 and not in the department’s normal operating budget would be considered. The CIP program, which will be updated every year, is meant to be a “living document,” Bormes said, so it can be altered every year to deal with changes in the town’s economics or needs.

In the end, the CIP should provide the Budget Committee and the Selectmen will information that will help them make sound decisions about what should be included in the proposed annual budget to be presented at Town Meeting, Bormes said.

The CIP Committee is asking the department heads to present their requests based on eight criteria: It would remove an imminent threat to public health or safety; it would alleviate substandard conditions or deficiencies; it would respond to federal or state requirements or mandates; it would improve quality or efficiency of existing services; it would provide additional capacity to meet needs of growth; it would reduce long-term operating costs; it would provide incentive for economic development; or the project would be eligible for matching funds from a source outside town taxes.

“All of the criteria have equal value,” Bormes said. The department head should give each project or purchase request a value between 0 and 8, and the project should be evaluated and put on the town’s CIP program based on its final priority ranking, impact on the current tax year and the current importance of the project.

“Obviously this is a new program, there will be questions,” he said.

Bormes then had Selectboard Chairman Wells present her “test case” request for a new grader for the Department of Public Works (DPW). Wells used a requisition request form the CIP board had come up with to lay out the value and importance of the grader to the town and possible ways of making the purchase. She said she’d received bids from three companies — all of which would allow the town to “test drive” their grader for one week this summer — at a net cost of less than $230,000. She suggested the deal be made as a lease-purchase.

Immediately the department representatives at the meeting — including Operations Manager Wayne Elliott of the DPW, Police Chief Mark Barton, Deputy Fire Chief Scott Taylor, Transfer Station Manager Mary O’Neil and Recreation Coordinator Julie Lonergan — had questions about how the criteria and the form would work together. “What if an item rates higher on the criteria list but it’s not what you think of as most important?” Taylor asked.

Selectboard Chairman Wells pointed out that the application allows the department head to add additional information, such as history (how often a piece of equipment has been replaced in the past), the impact on the next year’s tax rate, if the impact will lower other costs (i.e., maintenance, gasoline, etc.), and personnel costs (i.e., if training or a new staff member is needed for the program or equipment. “Then there is the presentation element too.”

“You have to justify why this item is number one, even though it doesn’t meet all the criteria, “ said CIP member Don Bormes. “And as a board we’re going to have to take that into consideration. This is not cast in stone. We’re taking away the part of the people managing their own departments.”

Jenkins said as a new program, there were bound to be questions and issues that needed to be ironed out in the weeks ahead.

“In the end, the items that’s most beneficial to the taxpayers is going to get the most weight (with the Budget Committee and Selectmen),” he said.