Capital Projects Special Meeting
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Meeting date:
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
1. Call Meeting to Order
Chairperson Janice Snyder called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present
Dr. Saud Anwar, Town Council
Michael Gantick, Director of Public Works
Elizabeth Pendleton, Town Council (Vice-chairperson)
Scott Roberts, Director of Information Technology (Town Manager’s Designee)
Janice Snyder, Town Council (Chairperson)
Craig Zimmerman, Board of Education
Members Absent
Dr. Kate Carter, Superintendent of Schools, Board of Education
Chris Chemerka, Director of Finance and Operations, Board of Education
Michael Gonzalez, Board of Education
Patrick Hankard, Director of Facility Services, Board of Education
Guests Present
Jeffrey Doolittle, Town Engineer
Raymond Favreau, Director of Parks and Recreation
Stephen Wagner, Town Council
3. Approval of Minutes Previous Meetings
Mr. Michael Gantick made a motion to approve the February 18, 2015 Minutes; Councilor Elizabeth Pendleton seconded that motion; and it was approved unanimously with one abstention from Mayor Saud Anwar.
4. Discussion Items
Final FY 2015/2016 List
Chairperson Snyder said that the Town Hall VAV System project would be switched with the Police Department Heating and Cooling project (Exhibit A). Mr. Michael Gantick said between the January 2015 meeting and this meeting, there have been significant problems discovered with the cooling tower at the Police Department. Therefore, the project was moved onto the project list because of these problems. Councilor Pendleton asked about the cooling towers. Mr. Gantick explained how the cooling towers work at the Police Department. Mr. Scott Roberts said Town Hall information is backed up at the Police Department, so losing these cooling pumps for the Police Department servers would be extremely detrimental to more than just the Police Department. Councilor Pendleton asked if the project is a band-aid or full repair. Mr. Gantick said it would be a full repair with the removal of old inefficient components and installation of new, efficient equipment. Mayor Anwar asked if this project was not dealt with in the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year, would the Town be in trouble. Mr. Gantick said it was very possible as the equipment is failing.
Chairperson Snyder asked Mr. Jeffrey Doolittle to discuss the three engineering projects. Mr. Doolittle said that the projects will stay the same, but money will be moved around. The Main Street Bridge project cost has gone down, but the Town is currently held up at the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection because of the possibility of mussel relocation. The project may be postponed, but he would like to move forward with the project as soon as they have clearance from the State. Avery Street Reconstruction has had lower design costs, so Mr. Doolittle would only need $200,000 instead of $350,000. It will be a simpler, less costly process. Mr. Doolittle would like to add Buckland Road sidewalks to the project list for 2015-2016. He would take out the two previous projects and use their funding for the sidewalks. The project was funded in the current fiscal year, but with the recent discovery of culvert issues, more funding is needed. Mr. Doolittle would like to fix the culverts without State aid in order to complete the project in a timely manner.
Councilor Pendleton asked why Buckland Road sidewalks are such a priority. Mr. Doolittle said that the Buckland Road sidewalks has had a grant for a few years, and he needs different money to fix the Plum Gulley culvert in order to complete the sidewalks. Chairperson Snyder asked if the project should be called Buckland Road Sidewalks and Culvert for clarity. Mr. Doolittle said that would work.
The Abbe Road Improvements Project will not change.
Mayor Anwar said he was concerned about determining priority for this project, as he is worried about the recent Police Department cooling towers issue. Councilor Pendleton said there is a savings of $90,000 in swapping the Town Hall VAV System project with the Police Department Cooling Towers. Mr. Craig Zimmerman suggested lowering the total number since $2 million will most likely not be approved. Mayor Anwar said now that the Town and Board of Education draft budgets have been submitted, it may be time to reassess the list (Exhibit B).
Mr. Doolittle said the project could be partially funded in 2015-2016. Councilor Pendleton said she would like to partially fund the project in order to get the Town Hall VAV System project back on the list for energy efficiency purposes. Councilor Stephen Wagner said there is a possibility that the Town Hall VAV System project could be staged in such a way that earlier energy savings could fund future projects. Chairperson Snyder said that is a good idea to discuss in future meetings.
Chairperson Snyder suggested keeping the Plum Gulley Culvert project off the 2015-2016 project list.
Mayor Anwar asked about the Fiber Optic project. Mr. Roberts said that there are five phases with three main legs and two spurs. Chairperson Snyder said she would hate to cut the Fiber Optic project as it has been on the list for a long time already. Mr. Roberts said that the permitting process has been dragging, and the budget could be cut slightly, but the cost would be shifted downstream. Chairperson Snyder asked the Committee if they were interested in cutting the cost of the Fiber Optic Project. She said she was not interested in cutting any money from the project. Mr. Zimmerman expressed interest in cutting costs to lower the cumulative total, as did Councilor Pendleton. Chairperson Snyder said the project has been around for a long time, and she did not want it to fall in a vicious cycle of catching up on funds.
Chairperson Snyder asked what Mayor Anwar was looking for regarding a cumulative total. Mayor Anwar said that there need to be priorities on safety and security. The challenge will be balancing a reasonable tax increase with budget requests. Chairperson Snyder said that the Committee as a whole makes a decision on the priorities, not just the Town Council. Mayor Anwar said that he personally would move the Police Department Cooling Tower Project higher up on the priority list as it concerns the safety and function of Town Departments, as well as the Police Department Phone System. He would aim to have the Committee fund approximately $1.4 million.
Chairperson Snyder asked what Councilor Pendleton thought about the projects. Councilor Pendleton said she would like to move the Police Department Cooling Tower Project higher on the list.
Chairperson Snyder said that the Committee has discussed everything for three months and is changing the list again. She asked Mr. Roberts to revise the list.
Councilor Pendleton asked for clarification on the ADA Upgrades at Town Hall Project. Mr. Gantick explained the project briefly.
Mr. Roberts clarified the order of the projects. Councilor Pendleton confirmed those changes.
Councilor Pendleton asked how much Mr. Roberts would request for the Fiber Optic Project for 2016-2017. Mr. Roberts said he did not know off of the top of his head, but it will be a significant year as utility restructuring needs to be done at West Road. Once that is completed, the major fiber network ring will be finished with only two spurs left. Councilor Pendleton said after hearing this information, she does not want to reduce the amount for 2015-2016.
Chairperson Snyder asked Mr. Zimmerman for his input. Mr. Zimmerman asked if the original $2,073,120 is lower by $350,000. Councilor Pendleton said it is $383,000 lower, around $1.7 million. Mr. Zimmerman said he would leave the amount at $1.7 million as there is no reason to make any more cuts now. At this point, the Town Council should be making cuts before the Committee. He would also like to move the Police Department Cooling Tower Project up higher on the priority list.
Chairperson Snyder asked Mr. Roberts for input. Mr. Roberts said it all has to be done at some point. Eventually, more projects will be considered emergencies because of failures, and it will come back to the Town.
Chairperson Snyder said that she had no problem with just swapping the Town Hall VAV System project with the Police Department Cooling Towers Project. Mr. Gantick said that the Public Works Department is embarrassed from having to switch these projects, but the Police Department project has been on the list for over ten years. Chairperson Snyder said that there are other projects that are just as critical. Mr. Gantick said there are other projects that have been on the list for just as long that will eventually become extremely critical.
Chairperson Snyder reviewed the updated list with the Committee. She asked Mr. Roberts to update the list.
Chairperson Snyder reiterated the point that every project on the list is important.
Mr. Gantick asked if it matters to the Town Council to see how long projects have been on the list. Chairperson Snyder said it will not make any different to the Town Council, so the years can be left off.
Mayor Saud Anwar made a motion to submit $1.7 million as the proposed Capital Projects Budget to the Town Council; Councilor Elizabeth Pendleton seconded that motion; and it was approved unanimously.
Discussion of the Proposed Ordinance
Chairperson Snyder said this ordinance (Exhibit C) is set for a public hearing on April 20th. Mayor Anwar said the idea for an ordinance came about when Capital Projects funding kept getting cut every year. He would like to have a public hearing when the Town Council would like to remove funding from the Capital Projects fund.
Mayor Anwar said the dollar amount for a capital project needs to be discussed. Currently, the amount needs to be $100,000 or greater for an item to be considered a capital project. This has prevented many items from receiving capital funding because they do not meet the cost threshold.
Mayor Anwar said that in the third paragraph of the ordinance, the fund should not be referred to as a reserve fund, and the wording should be changed. He would like to see an amount equivalent to 5% of the current adopted annual budget. Also, the wording gives the Town Council some leeway.
Mayor Anwar said the last paragraph discusses the public hearing portion of the ordinance. If the Town Council wants to change the funding for Capital Projects, they would have to hold a public hearing.
Mr. Zimmerman asked if the goal was to get funding up to $5 million per year. Mayor Anwar said that is a general guideline. Mr. Zimmerman asked if it would be similar to education funding where the Board cannot spend less the next budget year than they spent last year. Mayor Anwar said that is the intent.
Councilor Pendleton was hoping to achieve 1% minimum funding each year with the maximum of 5% with the flexibility to drop back down to 1% if needed. The 1% would be the absolute minimum funding level with the ultimate goal to get to 5% to grow the account. She would also like to see a minimum limit of $50,000 or even $25,000 for a project to qualify as a Capital Project.
Chairperson Snyder said that the proposal currently says $5,000, but she would like to change the Capital Projects amount to $25,000. The policy would also need to be changed to reflect the new project amount of $25,000.
Mr. Zimmerman asked about the minimum of $1,000,000 with regard to tight budget years. There has to be some vehicle such as a supermajority to fund less than $1,000,000 in order to save money. Mayor Anwar said that given the history of Town Council reducing the Capital Projects budget, he would like to have that extra protection of a public hearing with a supermajority vote to protect the funding for Capital Projects. This would happen when the Town Council wants to fund less than 1% of the current adopted annual budget.
Mr. Gantick said that this ordinance has been modeled after Glastonbury, which currently is at 2% funding of their overall budget. There are also other ways to fund this such as appropriating a portion of new taxes or part of the grand list. Mr. Gantick said that only funding $1 million per year is not going to be enough. Glastonbury is funding $9 million for their capital projects. South Windsor needs to be at a similar level. Chairperson Snyder said she was looking for a funding stream to be incorporated into this ordinance such as a percentage of new revenue. For example, when Aldi’s tax abatement comes off, 5% of its new revenue should be funded into Capital Projects. Mr. Gantick thought that the percentage should be higher.
Councilor Wagner suggested being careful with the wording of new taxes. He also pointed out some other changes that might need to be made. He also discussed being careful with debt service.
Mayor Saud Anwar made a motion to approve the changes to the Draft Ordinance listed below; Councilor Elizabeth Pendleton seconded that motion; and it was approved unanimously.
• $5,000 changed to $25,000
• Capture new taxes and, if possible, retired debt service at 5%
• If funding less than 1%, Town Council supermajority and public hearing needed
• Change Reserve fund wording
Town Council Presentation
Chairperson Snyder asked Councilor Pendleton to assist in presenting the PowerPoint on April 8th. Mr. Roberts will update the presentation with the information received in this meeting.
5. New Business
Mr. Gantick left at 5:50 p.m., leaving the Committee without a quorum. No motions were made after this point.
Mr. Zimmerman discussed the turf field. Mayor Anwar was concerned with planning and zoning, as well as the perceived lack of plan. Mr. Zimmerman said he was not sure the field would involve planning and zoning unless it needed a referral. It has everything to do with the final vote from the Town Council. The Board of Education also needs to be notified because the track will be combined with the turf field.
Mayor Anwar said one of the most enticing reasons for the turf field project was the ability to save costs by combining the turf field with the track project. Separating those projects will make them more expensive. He said the most challenging aspect of the project is the cost.
Councilor Pendleton questioned the cost of the project. She said only the initial cost was discussed at previous meetings, and there will be maintenance on this field. Mr. Zimmerman said that the maintenance will be cheaper than maintaining a grass field. Chairperson Snyder said this information was not presented to the Town Council. Councilor Pendleton said it costs money to destroy the old turf when new turf is installed. Mr. Raymond Favreau said replacement costs are between one-third and 50% of the original cost to replace the carpet, including disposal. Mayor Anwar asked about the life of the turf. Mr. Favreau said the average lifespan is between eight to fifteen years depending on wear and tear.
Councilor Pendleton asked how the turf would be replaced without ruining the track. Mr. Doolittle said only the top layer of carpet is removed and the drainage system stays. Mr. Zimmerman said that almost all nearby schools that have a turf field have it installed in the middle of their track. It is not an unusual plan.
Councilor Pendleton asked about any harmful chemicals in the product. Councilor Wagner said that after reading as many reports as he could regarding the chemicals, he said the science is sound, and the chemicals should be fine. Chairperson Snyder said she was not alarmed about the chemicals after doing her homework and reading reports. Mr. Zimmerman said not one board of education in Connecticut has shut down a turf field over the chemicals. Chairperson Snyder said that she is very critical with sales representatives, so she researched turf fields on the internet in order to feel more comfortable with the turf field. Councilor Wagner said that any scientific survey has come to the same conclusion that these turf fields are safe.
Chairperson Snyder said she would like a solid plan for the turf field instead of a sales representative. The Committee discussed whether the people who presented at the turf field meeting were actually sales representatives.
Chairperson Snyder said that Councilor Carolyn Mirek asked the turf field to be discussed at the next Town Council meeting. She asked if someone would be able to present the proposal to the Town Council in a clear and concise manner. Councilor Wagner suggested dealing with the turf field issue as it was perceived by some of the Council members. Chairperson Snyder said it may have not been properly presented the first time. There were questions about the resolution wording. Mr. Favreau asked what the Town Council needed. Councilor Wagner suggested having Pat Hankard present the physical layout. There should not be a debate about safety as it is not needed. He discussed a draft resolution.
6. Old Business
None
7. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
___________________________
Ashley Summers
Recording Secretary
Exhibit A Project Sheet for Police Department Heat Pumps, Cooling Tower and Controls
Exhibit B Capital Projects Recommended Budget Revised 3-21-15
Exhibit C Draft Ordinance