Mattapoisett’s Capital Planning Committee has been on a mission for over a year now, a mission to cast a wide net that will capture every possible expense over $10,000. To that end, the committee chaired by Chuck McCullough has developed new processes geared to aid department heads whose responsibilities include fiscal planning well into the future.
As the committee prepares for Spring Town Meeting, the first step in crafting an updated 10-year Capital Plan begins with interviewing department heads. On January 24, the committee met with Fire Chief Andrew Murray and Water and Sewer Superintendent Henri Renauld.
The meeting was held in the gleaming new Fire Station’s community meeting room with Murray the first to be interviewed.
Tops on the Fire Department list is a new fire engine with an estimated cost of $650,000. It had previously been disclosed that the 1996 engine was beyond repair and needed replacement as soon as possible, but the Capital Plan originally had the expense pegged into Fiscal Year 2023. Now, given the critical need to replace the apparatus and the long lead times in ordering the custom-built vehicle, the purchase was moved up to FY22. Murray said the design and specification had been provided to the manufacturer with an expected turnaround time of 12-18 months. Also planned for FY22 are 20 Scott Air-Paks, which is fully funded at $60,000 and the SAFE boat pontoons at $14,500.
Moving over to FY23, Murray said the department needs a support vehicle aka Fire Inspector SUV for $50,000. Making his case, Murray said that transporting fire department trainees to out-of-town training centers is necessary and currently not easily done with the 15-year-old truck now in use. He said the old truck received a rejection sticker at its last inspection and had 150,000 miles on the engine. The new SUV would also be used to tow trailers and boats, he said. “It will be used daily … it’s time to add a support vehicle,” said Murray.
Asked if he could quantify the number of hours per week a new vehicle would be used, Murray was unable to deliver an estimate but said that the vehicle would probably log in 10,000 miles per year. Murray emphasized the increasing number of calls the department handles. He also made it clear that in the 22 years he has been in the Fire Department, it has never requested a support vehicle. The $50,000 expense is the only capital need that the chief is requesting for FY23.
Longer range, Murray projected for FY24 $6,800 for a replacement pump that was later deemed an operating expense rather than a capital expense. For FY25, requests include radio upgrades at $150,000 and helmets at $9,000. For FY26, a new rescue truck at $300,000 and a new Fire Chief vehicle at $50,000 were requested. For FY27, the department seeks a thermal imaging camera at $15,000 and an engine-frame replacement at $150,000. For FY28, Murray requested the replacement of Engine 2 at $600,000. For FY29, extraction tools at $45,000 were requested and for FY30 replacement of the town’s forestry truck at $85,000.
Throughout the discussion, committee members asked questions intended to better understand items populating the Capital Plan spreadsheet, especially regarding the support vehicle.
High on Capital Planning’s to-do list is a fuller understanding of the types and number of town-owned vehicles in its fleet. McCullough, commenting on the number of municipal vehicles said, “We need to tackle vehicles as an asset over 10 years … we’ve seen an explosion over the last 10 years (in the number of vehicles the town owns.)
Next up was Water and Sewer Superintendent Henri Renauld who early in the discussion said there had been an unexpected emergency at the Oakland Street pump station. He said that failing pumps that meet at that location allowed effluent odors into the atmosphere. He said five new manholes are planned for the system at that station for FY23 with a cost of $680,000.
During a general conversation that covered a number of topics, Renauld explained that before new sewer lines could be planned 2/3 or 60 percent of the residents living along the proposed new line would have to agree on the betterment fees. He also said that expanded capacity would be purchased.
Regarding prior town meeting approvals and appropriations, Renauld said that presently his department(s) has between $300,000 to $400,000 money that could be reappropriated for like projects by Town Meeting approval.
Renauld talked about the need for constructing a Water and Sewer Department structure, possibly on town-owned property on the north side of the Bay Club. He said his department(s) pay about $4,000 a month in rent for several locations. Renauld said that the Water Department building on Church Street could be sold to defray new-building construction costs.
On the spreadsheet, Renauld listed for FY23 GIS $5,000, plant and piping updates; $21,000, Pease Point and Hollywood neighborhood sewer extension; $24,000, FY 24 sewer station rehabilitation; $35,000, plant and piping updates; $37,000, Eel Pond force main; $3,000,000, Pease Point and Hollywood sewer extension; $3,100,000, FY25 Route 6 west sewer; $2,250,000, 50 percent for a new truck at $35,000; FY 26 sewer-station rehabilitation; $40,000, Harbor Beach sewer extension; $2,800,000, FY27; $1,300,000 Route 6 west sewer; FY28 sewer-station upgrades $40,000;l FY29 North Street sewer $2,200,000; 50 percent for new truck at $40,000; and for FY30 $40,000 in sewer-station upgrades.
Earlier in the discussion, Renauld said work long planned for Pearl Street and the village area including replacement of circa 1910 and 1945 water pipes was still planned, part of a much larger Village Streets project.
The next meeting of the Capital Planning Committee was not announced upon adjournment.
Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee
By Marilou Newell