record and I couldn't. >> Okay, it should be good now. >> Uh good afternoon everyone. Today is uh the February 18th meeting of the Joint Capital Planning Committee and seeing that we have a quorum, I will call the
meeting to order. And my first task is to make sure everyone can hear and we can hear them. So, I'll just call out the names as I see them on my screen and just indicate that all is well. Jill >> here,
>> Andy >> here, >> Bridget >> here, >> Debb >> here, >> and Lee >> here. >> And so we're missing one member. When he joins, I'll recognize him. I'm going to
turn it over to Shan. And Sean, I don't remember on the agenda whether you put we we need one person to volunteer to be the minute taker for tonight. and I will send you a simple format for it. We'll also get the recording. Um Sean, you can
actually there's some way that Angela gets it to me right away after the school. >> Yeah, I'll I'll touch base with Angela tomorrow and get you the >> just so that whoever's getting it, you'll get the the Zoom right away so that you can uh these are these are pretty simple minutes. Um and they re
reference what is in. So, um, would anyone like to volunteer? And now that Sean has given you all the what we'll be discussing, everyone, we're going to need someone for each of the meetings. And I won't do that tonight. So, if you can just send
me your preferred choices when you look at the the list. Um, then I'll have a I won't have to do this each time asking for volunteer. So, we do need a volunteer. Andy volunteered. Okay. Andy is our official minute taker for tonight.
I'm turning it over to Shawn. And I think everyone knows he sent uh the large file today um that represents what will become the final uh what the town manager will be presenting as a capital
improvement plan. But what we're doing is going through all the projects. So we have a different report we're doing. So, we had the basic framework with I think all the projects at this point, Sean, that we'll be discussing. So, I'm turning it over to Shan to explain what
we were sent. And that came in this afternoon. The actual projects for today are all in the packet and that's what will happen at each meeting that in the packet you'll get the proposed projects with a bit of a write up on each of them.
>> Yes. Thank you, Kathy. So um plan is I'll go through the FY27 preliminary plan. So this is preliminary. It's very much a a work in progress. Um the you know the JCPC's role is to review the projects, make
recommendations. You may say you really like a project and um you know could propose funding at a higher level. You might not like a project. You want to you recommend that it shouldn't be in there. Um so this is preliminary. the recommendation that you all make. Uh the town manager takes very seriously and
he's made changes to his plan um over the years based on the feedback from the joint capital plan committee. One thing you'll notice is that the plan isn't in balance. Um I thought it'd be easy. It's not uh it's not not balanced. Uh you know this year is not too bad especially
the outy years. Um feedback is welcome on the outy years as well. While the the recommendation the appropriation is really on FY27, feedback on outy years and recommendations for outy years is also um important because it is is a 5-year plan. One thing you'll notice as we go through
this is sometimes the project writeups that you'll see in your packets either are for different amounts than what you'll see in the plan or maybe the project is not in the plan. So what we're giving you are all the projects that were requested. Um when you know we
do our preliminary process to come up with a plan that um we can afford. We make you know again preliminary decisions around certain amounts what you know based on different priorities and discussions with with department heads. Can a project wait? Can it um is it is it ready to go? Does it need more
planning and analysis? Um so you'll see all the projects some of those and I'll try to highlight them where applicable. either they might be in the plan for a different amount or they it might not be in the plan at all. Um and again your recommendations as you hear from department heads might be, you know, that project should be in the plan. Um
you know, we can explain a little bit of our thinking why maybe something isn't in there or it's in there for a different amount. Um but you're obviously you're welcome to make recommendations on those and you should. So that's just a little um precursor. I will start to go through the plan. Um so
the good news is we're doing a lot with capital. There's a lot of really good projects going on or that have been recently completed. We got the school elementary school which is, you know, hopefully going to be open in September, start of school. Uh the library is, you know, getting, I'd say, towards the midpoint. Still kind of at the early
phase, but it's it's well underway. Recently completed the track and field at the high school, which will be a great asset going forward this spring and into the summer. So, lots of other projects as well, but we have a lot of big ones that are that are well underway. So, I won't spend time on everything
because we kind of the um organizational components of this because we spent time at the last meeting looking at the plan. Um and tonight will be the last night you hear a lot from me because the rest of these meetings will be mostly hearing from department heads and hearing about the projects that they're requesting. Um
but I'm I'll be at all the meetings in case you have questions or follow-up informations needed. So one of the questions I think uh last time was just a breakdown of the split of capital funds. So this is the breakdown currently of how funds are allocated. Uh it's pretty typical that
public works is the biggest slice because of the the cost to replace roads and and kind of the backlog of roads that need to be replaced. Um this does not include debt. So um that can kind of skew it pretty significantly if you include debt. And it also doesn't
include um the regional assessment which again can kind of skew it because the regional assessment reflects debt of the region. So if there's follow-up information or additional information related to this that might be helpful certainly uh let me know. I can provide that. Um but this is really like the
cash capital projects the projects we would fund with cash for FY27 and what department they're part of. >> Sean, do you want questions as you go along? >> Yeah, absolutely. I think questions as we go is the best. If there's any questions, >> people want to raise their hand. I have one on this pie chart. Um,
>> go ahead. >> So, my question is you you just explained what's not in it. But one of the things that is in it is um about a million and a half in grant money. Well, whatever we call chapter 90 for for roads, which is why it looks so large. Y
>> and the debt that we're carrying for the new school, the debt we're carrying for the regional school, which is all one big package, and for the libraries, not in here, as well as the other. So, a lot of what we're going to be looking at,
>> um, we're only going to be looking at the available money excluding those that they've already been approved. So I'm just wondering Sean whether there's a way of doing two pie charts. One that would be showing the flow of you know make it clear it's because this is a
funny mix you know regional school is its own kind of entity but it's 800,000 is missing of that 2 million. So just just so I just had a a way of maybe there's a way of thinking about doing it this way and explaining what this is and
something else because it distorts a little bit when you then look at the table and you see there's several million dollars missing from that pie. Um that's the only comment I made. Yeah. >> Yeah. We can create um so yeah I'd view this as like a cash capital pie chart
but we could create and I can do this you know maybe for the next meeting like a total resources spent pie chart which would include the debt. Um it gets a little bit there's a couple areas where it could get a little gray with like CPA projects. Uh maybe I might
>> um I mean I wouldn't want to exclude CPA because like the track and field you know there's debt in there for the track and field which is pretty significant. Um, but there's some CPA projects that are um like affordable housing projects. Maybe I'll give that to Dave and planning. Put that under him. Um, so let
me take a crack at it and see how it looks. It'll it'll certainly look pretty different. Um, when you include the debt payments by department, >> you can just think about it because I know I don't know how many people look through it, but some of the projects like there's one for Crocker that's being proposed
as debt for this year. So the so by excluding debt, we're also excluding some of the things we're going to be discussing. So I don't know how you how I don't even have a session on how to do it. I'm just saying that this doesn't quite get at the flow that's coming
through the capital side of the plan. >> Yeah, let me work on that. I think I can give you something um for a future meeting. You can see if it um it'll be interesting to compare and contrast sort of the when you add debt in how different it is. Okay. All right, this is just a recap of our
meeting. So, this is um tentatively when all the departments will come. I've connected with them about their availability. So, this should work for everyone. Um kind of in the agenda, I'll always put kind of a catch-all for other departments. So, for whatever reason we don't get through all the departments or if there's follow-ups from prior
department uh budget hearing or capital hearings, you know, we should have the flexibility to discuss them at the next meeting. Um, but this is tentatively when each department will go. And I we don't have to stick to these time allocations, but I try to put rough time allocations with them so I kind of know
how how many we can plan for each meeting, assuming about an hour and 45 minutes worth of um presentations and Q&A back and forth. And it's more or less based on how many project requests they have or the amount the dollar amount of project requests
that they have. All right. So, this is uh the updated summary sheet. So, this is for FY27 through FY31. At the last meeting, you looked at uh FY26 or FY30. So, you looked at last year's. So, this has the updated um cash capital. Uh Deb, you
asked a um question last time what the cash capital goal was based on. So, for FY27, it's actually based on the starting levy for FY26. before we add in the the 2 and 12%. So it actually lags like 2 years.
Um and it's just based on having the exact data available when we when we build this out. Um so there's about a 2-year lag. If we were to use something more current, it would just increase the amount and it would reduce how much we have available for other like the operating budgets. Um so just wanted to
circle back on that question. So we are proposing 10 and a half% at this point um of the levy of the prior year levy. Uh of that amount 2.1 is a debt exclusion. That's how much we anticipate in debt payments for the elementary
school project. Uh 463,000 related to CPA projects. 75,000 uh from Comcast to support the Inet project which has been done for a few years. Um and this would be the last payment we get from Comcast for Inet uh because that agreement ends at the end
of this calendar year. So we should get one more fiscal year payment. And then other is primarily chapter 90 um or ambulance funds uh are in that bucket. Then down below the overall uh debt so
these are projects that have been approved are um is estimated to be about 2.8 million. Projected debt is mostly the uh regional school assessment is in there and then any like short-term interest debt is what we put in there.
And then new projects uh 3 point about 4 million. Um and so all in all, if you take the total resources up above less the total resources total uses down below, we've got about a $22,000 gap at this point. um the outy years it gets
much trickier um when you look out and the um borrowing we're proposing for FY27 would be for like the first phase of a um playground improvement project at for the elementary schools at Cracker Farm um with a bigger piece coming the
following year. So um all of this is revenue of some way shape or form. Correct. There's no grant money in it or um like gifts from the uh the from the colleges. >> Uh there is so the sources here the
other is uh chapter 90 which honestly this was that should be probably down in the state aid category. Um it's kind of a grant u but it's just easier to put in in that state aid category so it's separate. Um it's it's a quasi grant state aid that's like an entitlement that we get. Um and then there's
ambulance funds which are is revenue generated by the the fire department. Uh Comcast is an agreement for them, you know, part of our 10-year agreement that we have with Comcast to operate in town. They provide some capital funding each year. Uh and then the rest is either tax
tax revenue or CPA searchcharge. Yep. >> Uh there are no grants. I'm trying to think. I don't believe there are any grants. Uh, no, there's no grants in here right now as a funding source. We have at times used um some grants. You know, the other thing that's in here that I that's new this year that I need
to uh raise is um we get about $20,000 a year from the state for Uber andyft. It's part of this program. It's the for um the state agreed when they allowed Uber and Lift to operate in Massachusetts that they
there's like a small portion of the fee that people pay that goes to the state and then they give it back to communities to help invest in the infrastructure. And so we get about $20,000 a year. We haven't ever used any of it. It's been buil building up over three or four years. So we have a balance. So we're proposing to use that
balance in FY27 and then basically to appropriate that $20,000 moving forward. Um, and it's really supposed to be for like the sidewalks or tra uh traffic improvements around the areas where most of the sort of Uber lift pickups might
happen um to promote safety. >> So that's a new source. Good question. >> Yeah. So Stone, it might be better to put the chapter 9D on a state aid line. Um, >> yeah. Yeah, I think I'll move that down for, you know, before we finalize this.
This is also a very good edit process for me before we present finalize this and present it to the the councils. Okay. All right. So, the next section are the specific projects. So, I won't go through every single one, but I'll just touch on a few. Um, again, many of
them you'll see when we put the project requests form in the packet that the amount is different. So, for example, I'll just call one out right now. uh facilities originally requested a million dollars um for sort of the repair maintenance and they have projects in mind. There's different
energy efficiency projects, boiler replacements, things like that that um are on their radar with a lower amount. They'll just have to scale back how much they can do. Um so we've reduced that to 750,000 for uh this preliminary plan. But that's an example of something
you'll see when you get the original request form from our our facility director. you'll see it was a higher amount. Um, some Yeah. So, I won't spend a lot of time on any of these because you're going to get presentations on each of these, but if there are any sort of initial questions on any of them, you
you can uh let me know. >> Um, >> I have one just on that first line. Um, can you request when that would be Jeremiah who would come in and talk about that the two years ago the line
had 500,000 last year had a million. So can you request that he tells us how the 1.5 million has been used? >> Yeah. um on sustainability which it will come later is a 200,000 but uh she's
Stephanie's done a really nice job each year of saying how was the money so she talks about how they're planning on using it but then also how it was used to just get some sense of of was it spent the so I'll stop there but just
ask him to be prepared for that because last >> give a breakdown y >> yeah to give some breakdown and I See Andy's hand is up. Andy? >> Yeah. Um, just look at that at that first facilities line. That's 750,000
this year and then it goes to 400,000 each of the each of the following years. Is that is that realistic that we would spend that much less on facilities uh in out years? >> Yeah. Yeah. I would say this has varied yeartoear how much has um been in this
section, right? So um so is it going to be a challenge? Yes. But I think it's a challenge that we knew was coming and that we h and we don't really have a choice about honestly. Um we knew when we took on the three or four projects um that we that capital was going to get
tighter um and that we were going to have to be really disciplined and and strategic with how we allocate funds. So yes, it will be a challenge and um and we don't really have a choice to be honest. We have to live within what we can we can allocate. Now that doesn't
mean there may be a year where some big project comes up and we bump it up a little bit and somewhere else goes down but um as you you know you saw in the prior slide even at this level there's still you know shortfalls in future years >> and that it was I don't remember it was
three years ago you would have seen something different Andy it was lots of little pieces like I'm going to do the gutters I'm going to do some roof repair and so this was a move to bundle it up without exactly what the 400,000 is
going to be used for um or the 750. So it there was a change um along the way because the facilities includes the fire station. Um so we you won't see something fire station police. You won't see those coming directly from those
departments anymore. It was all coming. But that was Lee's nodding her head. there was a change to make it easier to not be I I need 50,000 for this and 20,000 for that. So it was put into a bundle >> and just for clarification are we going
to hear from facilities is that going to be a particular report? >> Yeah. Yeah. So you'll I think it's either the next meeting or the meeting after that you'll have facilities will be here to speak to their request and what projects are sort of planned for that money and to Kathy's request talk about how they spent prior funds. I know
a big portion of the funds Kathy that were requested previously are kind of earmarked for the roof the town coun uh town hall roof. um uh depending on how bids come in at the CPA request will need to be kind of bundled with town uh
capital funds in order to fund that roof. So yeah, you'll you'll hear um from Jeremiah and he usually generally brings photos. We'll see how he does. See if he'll make it entertaining. Um so I'll keep going. You're going to hear from uh
Chief Stumrren tonight on the um fire department. So, one one thing I'll point out there that you'll hear tonight. So, uh the tethered camera has been a project that's been pushed back a couple times. Um Chief Strong's going to talk about the need for it this year. Uh the preliminary decision was to push it out
one more year. Um but you'll hear, you know, you hear more from the chief on that. And again, recommendation from the committee could um if you want to either confirm it, keep it out a year, or if you felt like it was a higher priority than something else to push it forward.
Um, so just again recapping how this sheet works, the funding source is pretty critical. So if it says borrowing, that means we have a we kind of roll it together. We project out the debt for it and you'll see it come through in a future year as a debt line um as a debt payment as opposed to
seeing it as like a cash capital or new project amount. Um so for Crocker Farm where there's a number of those projects, we've kind of bundled those together and projected out what that debt would look like over you know 15 20 years uh for some of these projects.
And as I said last time also keep in mind we're trying to really um be uh very particular about taking on new debt. So I think these projects and Crocker Farm since that's going to be in operation for a long time um you know borrowing for some of these larger
projects makes sense but you'll see that generally we've reduced how much borrowing we're projecting to take on for new projects going forward. Uh DPW so you'll see the other that's the chapter 90 funding. Um you'll see two sidewalk lines. So the sidewalks
around town from cash capital would be the regular amount we set aside for for sidewalks. And then there's the additional amount that's coming from that um transportation network money, Uber and Lyft essentially paying for it um and choosing up our balance that we've built up and then going to sort of
an annual recurring amount going forward and we have to report on that to the state every year. We got a uh there's a form we have to submit. Uh one big piece here that you'll see is a second asphalt hotbox. So, the
council's asked for a road multi-year road improvement plan. So, this is kind of connected with that multi-year plan. Um, that second hot box hopefully will allow us to fill potholes faster, maybe have two crews out filling potholes,
have, you know, when one runs out, we'll have a second one ready to go. So, it's a small dollar amount, but um that's a strategic ad from DPW to help address that particular issue. Uh you'll hear from Stephanie tonight on sustainability and let's see
uh the so the next phase here there's a project write up for each of those uh that are proposed for FY27. These go in order that the table goes uh the the table is in above. Um the only difference is if there's a vehicle we put the vehicle with the department. So
for example police um they're requesting three cruisers. that's with the police section where up above it vehicles are kind of broken out separately. Um, but otherwise in that it should go flow in order. So you can read a sort of brief summary of each project here. Um, but you'll also have the full write up in
your in your in the project request form. And this also notes what the funding source is. So, um, this was removed, I think, last year, but this, uh, we put it back for this year. There's a lot of projects that departments submit that are great
projects and, you know, if funding was no issue or um, if there were grants available, we would certainly do them, but because we do have limited funds, we uh, you know, we just we don't have the ability to do them at this time. So, we try to list them here. And this list may
grow throughout the process, but I just want to touch on some of these. So, um there's several projects related to improvements of Puffer Pond, whether it be dredging, uh beach repair, trail repair, putting a restroom in. Um there's the War Memorial bath house and
playground. So, what that represents is we have funding for War Memorial through CPA. Um but there uh at least this the initial uh estimate from DPW is that there's a little bit more needed to fully complete the pro the sort of
initial design um that they've come up with. So we got to go back and forth with them to see if truly this initial funding is needed or if there's a way to do it with the money that potentially could be appropriated if the council approves the the most recent CPA request. Um but we've left that on there
for now. And then body cameras for police. Um, that's one we're hoping. There's typically grants out there around that. Um, I still think there's some things that need to happen between the council and the police and town manager, but um, we would look uh, for grants essentially to fund the the
initial equipment investment. And then down below, there's been talk about uh, intersection improvements around Fort River that still needs a little bit more planning and analysis. Uh there's the fire station talking about, you know, are we going to use the capital improvement pro uh capital stabilization
fund to fund it outright? Um if not, then what's the timing and how can how quickly can we do it? There's uh a full replacement of the breathing apparatus um that the firefighters use. That one I just need to work with the chief to figure out if is that a we have to pay
for it all in one year or is there a way to st like phase that in and purchase so many new ones each year and and spread it out over more time. Um and then there's some requests from planning and from Cherry Hill around projects they would like to see um as well. And all these again when the departments come
they can speak to these and and give you more background on on each of them. This is uh some information that's been updated around our asset maintenance that was always actually I think it's a specific call out in the charter to provide information on each of our buildings and our vehicles and how much
we spend on building maintenance. So this gives you the actual spent for FY25 and the budget for FY26. Uh the top section here are the buildings and then the bottom section are vehicles. Kind of continues over here.
So a big question, not really a question for for this committee, but a big question for FY27 will be Wildwood. Um you can see roughly what's spent on Wildwood for maintaining that building and then depending on the timing of the school opening and if the school committee turns this building back um
how that cost is going to be managed next year. Kathy, >> yeah, you're missing one building. Um >> oh no, which one? >> The North Ammeris Library, which is a town building and we maintain it. Um, >> so you have the old school there, but
you had the North Emer school, but you don't have >> looked for it. So, um, >> let me let me look into that one. >> And later in the inventory, you do have it as being, but right now we're doing the maintenance. The town is doing the
um utilities and the maintenance on it. >> Yeah, I think that Let me look into that. I think that might have been a change when we built the addition when the addition was built on to that building. >> Yeah, there was there was an agreement there was an agreement with the library. >> The town would take it on, right? Okay.
Yeah, we can add that. >> Okay. I just notice it it because we have a kind of an empty one. >> The North Ammer school is not a school. It's got a lot of other things in it that that building. Um and actually it
doesn't have as much in it as it used to be in it, but >> Yeah. Yep. I will add that. Bridget. >> Bridget. >> Hey, thanks. Just a little question, but I just noticed there um that fuel is is
up a lot and especially at public works, but at PD as well. And I'm wondering, we've been like trying to move to more hybrid, etc., and just fuel costs overall have been going down. So, I'm I'm just really curious why that line we're seeing it go up.
>> Vehicle fuel, Bridget. >> Yep. >> Yeah. Um, police, you know, we'd have to look at the trends. Honestly, I think the budget and the actual It's hard to see what the the history is, but I can get you information on historical spending on fuel for vehicle
maintenance. Um, I know PD, for example, like everything they buy now is hybrid. So, I would anticipate that to have dropped over time. um fire, you know, some of their new vehicles, they're getting anti- idling technology, which reduces their consumption. So, let me
get get you um an actual like a 5year trend report and see if um if it looks like it's going down, which I suspect it will. >> Super. Thank you. >> Right. And then we get to so we give you um projects that are 3 years or older
that still have funds unspent. So going to do double duty and I think when departments come and present to you, we should ask them for their status update on these projects and then I can fill this out really quickly. They'll get them, you know, I'll be able to get them while they're here. Um, so this is
basically the project number, the department, what the project description was, and how much is still in that project that's not spent. So this is where if departments are done with something, for example, they turn it back, it gets closed out of this project and it goes into um sort of an unspent
capital account and then it can be reappropriated and it can be used as a funding source for the capital improvement program in future years. Um, so one, for example, that I've already had an initial conversation with Jeremiah is the $12,000 for the Southeast Campus roof. Um, depending on
what's going to happen with Southeast Campus and, you know, how what's going to happen with that site, it may not make sense to invest $12,000 into the roof there. That money, uh, once he tells me it's it's done, he's not going to use it. That would get closed out and come back and potentially be available
for other appropriations. So, um, we'll get a status update for each of these. >> Well, and Sean, on some of these, like the the tennis courts at Mil River, they're done. So, if there's still 25,000 um and then there was something
later, the gas station de demolition uh at Monu Road, that's done. You know, it's it's gone. Um, >> yeah. So, we really just need the departments to to say we're done and there's no other invoices or expenses and then that can be closed out and this
list will get um much shorter. >> Okay? >> And then the schools we put on the bus. So, the schools uh their capital is organized a little bit differently. It's organized by fund and by fiscal year. So, for example, 395064 is from FY19.
3958 is from FY20. Um, for the town projects, the the first two numbers tell you the year that it was appropriated. So, 20 uh 235N would be FY23, just so you kind of can tell what year it's from.
>> So, um I have a question on um thinking about this interactively with uh community preservation act. So, uh, conservation is getting additional money for signs and it looks like they have
75,000 still left. So, just trying to when we get to that, um, since the council's going to have to vote on the CPA projects. Um, have Dave be ready to explain that if he's got money left over, why does he need more?
>> Yeah. And I and again I think the need and the overall demand for signs exceeds like they've asked for sign money uh regularly because I think there's a such a demand to put either replace signs or to put new signs up at different trail areas in town. U but I think you're right that's when we get to
to Dave's section he can speak to how the what the plan is for using this money and and how it coincides with the CPA money. done >> to figure out what those projects are for the schools. Would I go back to
those appropriations for those years, the appropriation orders? >> Yeah. So, um so you can look at the capital plan for those years. Um Shannon may be able to provide you just a a report. These are funds mostly managed
by the schools. So, she may be able to provide you a better report with the details of what projects have money left over. I know they're actively working on them um and and have, you know, plan to spend most of not all of it. Um but yeah, Shannon would be able to give you a better update on that.
If you go to like the FY22 capital plan, for example, you'll see what's in the school, like the total amount that was requested by the schools, and this would be related to those projects. Council Breivik, >> I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly about the
excess funds. This so this process that we're doing now, this the JCPC process is the process by which project leads would report back on unspent funds through us asking during their
presentations or is there another way that they're reporting that to you? So they can they can report that to me anytime. So uh department heads can report at any time whether a project is done. Um we specifically put this uh table in here because JCPC
in the past has wanted to know if they're getting a request for something how much money you know does that department still have money left over for other projects. Um but the what we typically put in the JCPC report is a status update on all of these prior funds. um so that the committee knows
what's out there. >> Okay. So, you're following up with them. >> Yeah. Yeah. This year we're a little This year we're a little So, typically I would get the status update before presenting this plan and I have for some of these um this year because of the
transition we're a little bit >> behind. Um couple months behind just with the way things transition. So, uh, some of these status updates I I wasn't able to get for tonight, but by the end of this process, we'll have status updates on all these. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> All right. And then the next section is um our facility inventory. So, this just lists all of our buildings and it gives an update on their condition and some notes on what's going on. Um, some of these comments and notes need to be updated, but the the list of buildings
should still be pretty good. This will change significantly next year when the new school comes online. Most if not everything you see in this report was based on some request at some point or another. Um, like the zoning, you know, that was always a request to
know uh what the zoning is for particular type of building. So if there's ever going to be redevelopment plans to know what the what the zoning is. Um so most of this has just been iterative over time uh to get to where it is now.
The vehicle inventory also needs uh it's partially updated. So some departments have gone back to me with updated mileage and their new vehicles. Um vehicles highlighted in green have some type of hybrid technology or are electric. Um, and then some departments
are still I'm still waiting to hear back from on their mileage. So, if it's highlighted in yellow, I haven't uh received an update yet on the mileage. So, um, but the other ones I have. So, public works is the biggest one I'm still working with them to get updated. And then the last piece of the plan is
the actual projected debt schedule. So um this is important to understand. So this gray section at the top, these are projects that are currently approved and what either their existing debt schedule is or an anticipated debt schedule. Um so you have a sense of the
cost of each of these projects. Uh this is principal and interest uh by fiscal year. And then to know how much is remaining after 10 years. This is principal only outstanding in the outy years. Um but you get a sense of what projects we have that really have long-term debt. Um primarily the library
and the schools um for our uh current currently approved projects. The yellow section is um the projected uh debt. Uh so this is we have on there debt for Crocker Farm for the roof, the
windows, the playground kind of bundled into um a lump of which totals to about 5.2 million if all those projects were approved. And this would be the estimated debt um for that bundle of projects. In reality, it'll probably shake out a
little bit differently. Some might get borrowed a little bit sooner, but typically from the time it gets approved, it usually takes a couple years before we're actually making uh principal payments on it. And then there's a small amount in there, well not a small amount, but there's an amount in there for Puffer Pond uh to repair the dam and the dyke for 850,000
that has borrowing um associated with as well. And then we always budget a little bit of uh sort of a uh bond anticipation, no interest. So this is short-term borrowings that we do and we never know exactly what the interest rates going to be. So this is kind of a buffer for if our interest rates if
interest rates were coming in higher, if there's some project that starts a little earlier and we need um to be able to pay the interest. Uh that's what this is for. The blue is CPA debt. So you'll see uh we have a couple projects that'll be
winding down by FY32. That was Belchuretown Road land purchase um and Valley CDC, the studio apartments. Then there's three projects that are really just getting started, which are is the Jones Library um special collections piece, the uh Fort River fields, and then the track and field improvements at
the high school. and they are considering debt for one more project um which would have to be approved by the council but they're uh considering debt for the war memorial bath house which would be 1.5 million.
The orange line is the regional debt assessment and there was a question on this last time. Is this uh tie to the uh region capital plan? So it ties to the region capital plan up until FY30. Um the regional capital plan starts to go
up really uh dramatically higher in that year. I think goes up to over $2 million would be the Amoris assessment. Um those are for projects that have not been approved yet. Um so we've I've kept it at a million knowing that we're going to have to have a conversation and kind of balance uh different needs. Um but that
number could go up beyond that in the future if it ultimately gets approved by the town. Uh we put in the debt associated with our water enterprise fund and our sewer enterprise fund. that's kind of lumped together for all the projects there. And then, uh, we have the public works, uh, building in
there as an estimate as well. So, this is sort of the scope of what we have for debt. Um, it's evolving. You know, it's always changing when we go out for bonds and we get exact debt schedules, if new projects are approved, projects get completed. Um, but this is
what we have right now. And that is the FY27 capital improvement program. So any final questions before move to the fire department? >> I I have one not on so much what you've presented but on decision making. Um and
I'll use uh the playground as an example. Um so the Kroger Farm playground is listed here and then later you see Mill River and a memorial. Those could go to CPA. Why wouldn't why wouldn't we have gone
to CPA for Crocker Farms uh accessible playground? So, it's it's it's not a question that I need you to answer right now, Sean, but it's it's a um seeing CPA has a pretty uh robust flow of funds
coming through it and the recreation th those all qualify. Playgrounds qualify. So making more room for the roof doesn't qualify at Crocker for you know some of the other things that Crocker is doing. So it's just that decision is being made
somewhere and I'm not sure what the rationale is. >> Yeah. No, it's a good question. We've used CPA funds uh a little bit for playgrounds in the past like so the preschool playground for example at Crocker Farm um was was funded through
CPA. So, um it's a possibility and yeah, we can have that. I can follow up with um with the schools and and Dave Zack as in particular on, you know, is what else is coming down the road for CPA as well.
>> That was just my question because I was I'm not sure that the schools always know that CPA is sitting there um and then the town knows, but we may have other projects that we're going for. So, and and the Crocker the building itself
wasn't the same assessment wasn't done when we we Sean the year you were gone they did assessment for some reason we did Wildwood but we didn't do Crocker and I'd asked why we wouldn't have and it was sort of like the building integrity and it gave us a lot of insights for bangs and some others. So,
it's just a question I'll ask Jeremiah again um and Rob. >> Okay, >> that makes sense. All right. Any other questions on the plan, initial plan, >> Andy?
>> I guess just along those lines of, you know, how how do we inter how do we interact with the CPA um funding? I mean, that's a separate committee that makes that decision. Sometimes there's complaints that too much town stuff goes in it or not enough town stuff is being
paid by it and and we don't have control over that. I I don't well I guess ultimately the council votes on it but um how does how how does that interaction generally work? >> We've intentionally moved CPA to be first before joint capital planning. So
at one time they were kind of at the same time and it made it even more confusing because you might have um projects in both places. So they do go first which is good. Um I think you know again a recommendation for this group could be to explore CPA for the you know
for the the Crocker Farm playground. Um and it's probably a good a good recommendation but I think generally projects go there. Um they often CPA committee will often ask have you you know have you considered town capital funds and then here you know have you considered CPA funds? So there's definitely like a back and forth where
both sides are kind of, you know, uh trying to find, you know, the best way to fund a different pro particular project. So um it's definitely a balancing act. So like the war memorial bath house um you know there potentially could be a request here if we need
additional money uh because CPA's already funded two pieces um of that bath house replacement. So, um I don't think there's not like a hard and fast rule, but typically CPA will go first and that'll give us a sense of whether CPA has approved something um or not and
then this group could consider it. >> I just want to say I didn't mean to single out Crocker. I was actually looking at out years to say if Mil River wasn't on there but it was on CPA then your outyear budget would be balanced, you know, because it's it's penciled in.
There are a couple other playgrounds pencled in and outear, Sean. So, I was looking at the the fact that we're going to be pretty quickly out of balance. Um, >> yeah. >> In the 5-year plan. So, >> and we don't do a we don't do a five-year plan for a CPA either. So,
there's not like um >> there's not like a plan for CPA where there's like potential projects um kind of hanging out there. So, they usually will live here um and then potentially go to CPA um before they're acted on here.
So, I see both Bridget and Deb have their hands up. >> I'll go first if you don't mind. >> Yeah. No, you were first and then Deb. Yeah, >> I'm unmuted. So, um, so first question. I just am thinking big picture about
cross pro process like I noticed schools this year in your big chai part chart are 10% road road spending is down but it's up from the state itself and I'm just wondering like before we see this what's
the process that decides the allocation and what areas will do more or less if it's all from the different departments just making their requests Then I notice like some are way over what what you
suggest or or like and I'm just could you share a little more about the process? >> Yeah, so every year we send out um a request form to departments. Um and that includes the libraries and the schools. Um and we send it out to um at the
schools we send out to the finance director, the facility director and the u director of technology. and then they have a deadline to get those requests back. Um, we look at all those requests. We look how much funding we have. We look at how those requests compare to
what we were anticipating. Um, so when you have a 5-year plan, you know, again, I think I said this last time, my hope is that a lot of the requests that come in are not surprises um that they were on the plan, but inevitably there's always going to be some surprises. And then uh and then we kind of go through you know at least to develop the sort of
initial plan um you know what seems like it's a true need versus is this expanding a service you know is this adding something additional for us to do or is this what we need to basically maintain what we have um we look at you know are there additional funds that are
still out there that list that I shared so we consider if there's still funding available for certain things um so I think to come up with a preliminary plan, you know, it's sort of a mix of looking at all these different areas and what funding is available to see what can be funded within the allocation that
we have. And then this process is really helpful because then you hear directly from the departments. Um, and simultaneously with this process, so you're you're going to hear from the departments who advocate for their projects. We're also having budget hearings um this month with each department where we're talking about their operating budgets, but we also
talk about their capital at the same time. Um, so it all sort of comes together in March, I'd say, when this process wraps up and we've completed those budget hearings. Um, but the goal is by the end of this process to have a really well vetted capital improvement program um or at least a recommendation
to the town manager for the projects that are the highest priority and highest need. So again, while I while some of it's done internally to create this initial plan, this proc this committee and this process is really meant to be the vetting process to hear from each department. Um you again you
don't have you don't have to do thumbs up on the whole plan and the committee hasn't in the past. I think the committee has talked about specific projects where I'd like to see more funding or less funding um or consider alternative ways to fund um items. >> Deb.
>> Yeah, I have two questions. Sean, I you know I went back to the 2019 um joint capital planning committee report and it's not clear. I see the requests, but it's not clear to me exactly which was funded. Am I
misinterpreting it? >> Um, is there a separate document that does that? >> So, I don't know if 2019 would be a good year to use. So, joint capital planning has it has changed over the years. So when we had town meeting, the joint
capital planning committee sort of built the capital improvement program um and made a recommendation to the council or to the town meeting, sorry, council exists, made a recommendation to town meeting. And so I think when you look at those out years, I think the reports are either directly to the select board or
to to town meeting directly. Um with the change in government, the kind of the mechanics of how joint capital planning committee works, it was changed to be advisory and to make a recommendation to the town manager. Um with specific, you know, what what should be in the capital
improvement program and different parameters in the that are listed in the charter, but I think 2019 would still be the old the old version of the committee or the previous version of the committee. >> Okay. the actual amounts funded would be in there because obviously what we're
seeing today is requests. >> Yeah. So if you go to maybe we can connect offline. I mean if we go to the town meeting pages from those years and look at the orders and which ones were approved I think that would give us the um would tell us which capital projects
were approved by town meeting. >> Okay. So there's no like final report. Um or we can give you a b like the the we can give you a budget report probably on our side of all the the project set up. >> And the other thing I noticed back in 2019 is it does break it out. I know you
just said there was a different process, but it does break it out sort of the way Kathy was talking about with um in in the back. It has all the funds, the grants, the borrowing, the debt exclusion, the chapter 90, the ambulance fund, the CPA, and other available
funds. So, I wonder, you know, if they're two entirely separate committees, yet they're funding um projects in town and Kathy was interested in looking at kind of a bigger picture. If there was a way of
doing that with these other um funds as well, including CPA and um anything else that would have been in the uh grants line. Yeah, I mean I think all the same funding sources are included here, but to Cathy's point about putting
it all together in a pie chart so you can see by like the totals, we can definitely do that. But the funding sources should be largely the same. Um like this plan includes the CPA debt, um includes the the state aid, includes um debt exclusions and so on.
>> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. and and Deb, I was there at the transition and the one of the biggest changes was what to do with CPA and it's the decisions are being made earlier now. There was a whole presentation to JCPC
in addition to this the thing that became redundant because that committee is supposed to come up with its recommendations and then they would come up. So it um it diminished pretty quickly. So now we're just showing the debt side. We're not there'll be a
separate CPA report that will show all the projects they're funding with cash. And so I think what Deb is saying we're now missing there's no big picture. If someone wanted to say what what out of our since CPA money is mainly tax dollars, you know, what out of our tax
dollars, what do what are we getting for it each year? Um so Sean, I don't know how you want to tackle with it, but I know >> Yeah. No, we can certainly I mean we can pull together a report that puts it all together. Um, and it might not be a JCPC report. It might be a report for the budget document itself. Um, that pulls
together all the capital projects that kind of came through the JCPC process plus everything approved by um, through CPA. I think that is probably a good addition that we can add to the budget document to put it all in one place >> and maybe throw in the uh, uh, surplus
money too. Mhm. >> Well, and and the the report that the town manager ultimately is bringing has all these pieces we've seen on it. And and to Jill's question, we're not making decisions about those. You know, we're we're we're going to hear the closeout
funds. Is there more money to be available than we thought? So, one year Sean balanced the budget by finding $50,000 and closing out, you know, I mean, it and that that became money that one le one more project made it in. Um,
so I just um so it it is it's a interesting midpoint process that we're doing. >> Yeah. >> All right, Kathy, do you want me to um >> Yep. bring in um the fire department to do >> Yep. I see they're in they've been
waiting in the wings. >> Yeah. So, let me bring them in. Chief Strogrren, can you hear us? >> Yes, I can. Hello, everybody. >> All right, I'ming I think we'll just turn it over to you and um you can start going through the different projects
that you um submitted and providing some background and then um we'll have time, you know, for questions. >> Okay, great. Hello again, everybody. Um, I've invited my two assistant chiefs, Steve Gan and Steve Chandler, here because based on their area of responsibility in the department,
they're going to speak to a couple projects. I'm going to speak to one. I just want to do a couple quick overview things. Um, one is that when you look our list here, it's relatively small. Um, two things related to that. One, the main one is I think Sean mentioned it
earlier. Uh, we don't have any requests in there for things that need to be done to the stations. a number of years ago that responsibility was shifted to Jeremiah and facilities. So we work closely with him to identify ongoing needs improvements at both stations. Uh
this is the anniversary year 50 years old for the north station. So it needs some projects and which he's been working on some of them in previous years. Uh the central station is coming up on 100 years old and uh Sean and the town manager I and I have discussed the
fact that regardless even the most um positive timeline for a new fire station uh leaves that in us in the central station for quite a while at least 5 years or more and therefore that station is going to need some significant improvements just to keep the building
intact habitable and functional. So those are all going through Jeremiah. So, you don't see anything on our budget for the stations. That doesn't mean they don't need something, but Jeremiah will address those. Uh, the second thing is, uh, just to answer a question that was brought up about fuel usage. Um, a quick
observation, uh, we'll dig deeper into the data is all of our departments, police, fire, um, we do have hybrids, but they're still relatively new to the mix. So, I don't think we're we it's too soon to tell. Well, it's not too soon. It's that we haven't seen a big change
yet. None of them are all electric vehicles except one in the police department. So obviously you're not going to see an immediate drastic reduction in fuel use. It's going to be a, you know, a small amount each year. Uh the biggest issue is cost. You know, fuel fuel contracts have gone up significantly. So we're paying a lot
more money for fuel. Um having said that, all town vehicles with the exception of DPW are fueled at our north station. So we maintain that record system. So, at Sean's request, we can pull any records of use by department for every department except for the uh
DPW and give that to Shawn. Um, this year we have uh five requests we're going to present tonight and at the end we have a um we'll put them up on the screen for you. It always helps to have photos. We do have a handout as we do
every year for those of you that are new that explains each project along with uh some nice photos. uh we'll send that package to Sean at the end of this meeting. He can distribute it to you just so you kind of have what we're talking about tonight in front of you as you deliberate uh down the road. So this
is what I would call relatively light year for fire. Uh we don't have any ambulances, fire trucks, big ticket items. We do have some of those coming up in out years. Um but we do have five projects this year and uh we'll go through them in the order that uh we have them arranged on the slide. So, if
we can share Steve's gone screen. There we go. I would also add just as a overview, we were looking at the list of unspent funds from previous capital years. Uh, as you uh dig deeper into that, there's a few small items here and there for
vehicles that will get allocated to some vehicle costs, but you will notice um it'll stand out. There's a fairly significant amount of money uh close to $2 million sitting there still for a police fire uh radio upgrade infrastructure and radio project spread
out over two fiscal years. Most only a very small amount of of that has been spent yet. That's largely due to some procurement obstacles we ran into. Uh we've been talking to Sean about that where we police fire and Sean's office
were about to clear the log jam on that. So I would expect by the end of this fiscal year to have that money allocated to contracts and actually spent by the end of the calendar year as before we start the next uh fiscal project a year from now process a year from now. So
Steve if you can just start that as a slideshow. Just click on the from beginning to the far left just so you see the full >> you can't. Yeah. Let me see. Nope. >> All the way to the left, he should be able to click on from beginning. >> Yep.
>> There you go. >> Can you see it? >> Yep. >> Excellent. >> So, if you can just go to the first product. There we go. So, ambulance laptops. I'll let Assistant Chief Chandler address that one. Two of our items are recurring. Uh, this is one of them every couple years, and he'll
address it. >> Good evening. Uh I'm my name is Steve Chandler for those of you that haven't met me before. Uh so this is a a recurring item like the fire chief said. Uh these laptops are used by all of our crews when we go out on the on the
ambulance or for any medical call. So we have the five ambulances and then the two engines that function as an EFR um which means that they can go out and be dispatched to medical calls uh to start care or initiate care. Uh and each one
of those needs a way to document that patient interaction um in the in the medical form. Uh we use these to then transmit that that patient care report off to the hospital. We send it off to our third party billing
company. Uh and we use and we use the data that we collect also for our own uh data evaluation and uh and management as we look at how we deploy our resources. Uh these are not laptops that sit in bags and uh and get to get used in
offices. Unfortunately, they come out on ambulance calls. They come out with the engine. They're out at car accidents. They find themselves on the hood of a vehicle that you know is has just been into an accident or in the rain on the side of the road uh because they come directly to the patient the patient's
side in many cases. Um so they they tend to get they tend to get beat up. uh we buy a sort of more sturdy product for that reason. Like I said, you can look at it and tell that it is not your typical laptop that you'd find in somebody's backpack for work. Um and
this plan is worked out between us and uh it on a regular replacement schedule. So uh we plan to replace about three of these a year. Um we have seven in service. There's usually one or two that are in some form of repair or updating
and then uh five three of them hit their end of life and end up having to be swapped out. So this number comes from our our coordination with it and their recommendation for how best to replace these and keep them serviceable. >> If there's no questions, we'll move on
to the next one. >> All right. Thank you. I'm Steve Gone. I'm the assistant fire chief in charge of operations, daily operations and fire prevention. Um, so first I'm going to I'm going to talk briefly about tethered cameras. Understanding that that we learned I learned this afternoon it's been pushed off another year, but but
this was projected last year. A lot of people think about tethered cameras and they think it's drones. They think we're out people want to look at people. Um, it's really it's really not. It's a tool. Um, I'm going to just briefly talk about this. This is not a we're not talking about a drone you fly. We're
talking about a tethered camera. The tethered camera comes in a almost like a suitcase. Um, it goes upwards of 200 ft. It does not require a pilot. It basically you can place it, you can run it up. It it's on a there's a thin wire that basically power goes up, data comes
down, you can control it, you can look at different views of things. Um, it's very simple, easy to deploy and and it's and it's easy to operate. Um, it's almost like a set it and forget it. Um, our department has a drone. Um, what we lack, well, we have an older drone, so
we we're having trouble sourcing parts for it. We also lack pilots. We have a drone that requires a pilot. Um, we have a really almost like a first generation drone. Um, it doesn't do the types of things. So, I want to look at this picture. If I could take you to this picture here, we'll start in the left hand side. That that left hand side,
that's a that's a a structure in Ammerst that's on Olympia Oaks. Um, that's a residence that had a lithium battery fire. It ran up the front of the structure and got to the back of the structure. The red points you see are fire. That's heat and fire. There's still roof intact there. Um you can see the aerial ladder if you kind of look at
the bottom there. So So what that this allowed us to do was this allowed us to to seek these spots out, be efficient, extinguish this fire, do really less damage to these people's home that's already had a significant fire. Um this is just a really small example. We had
one of our community mutual aid partners brought his their drone um and was able to do this for us on this day. um Olympia Olympia Drive, obviously a much bigger magnitude fire. We had a tethered drone running that a chief from uh the central mass came with a task force. He
ran tether drone for 10 hours constantly um and gave us a huge picture of the the the the scene, right? Um and that that's fires, right? Um if we were to have a similar complex, you're looking for someone in the woods, a missing child. Again, you could put this up seek heat.
Now I take you to the top like the 12:00 picture. The roof that's actually everyday business for us. That's not an Ammeris house, but that's a solar project. Regulations uh uh require that we inspect pre-insspect. We do plan reviews, post inspect. We do inspections
of solar project of solar solar arrays on homes in Ammerst. I will tell you that I'm only 5'8 and I have trouble seeing a solar array on the top of a nice two-story home. And as we build beautiful homes in Ammerst, we put solar on top. How do we see the top? If I
brought the ladder truck and put it up in their yard, people would not be happy to have the ladder on their lawn. Um, we we do solar inspections with one person. Our prevention division is 1.5 people. I'm the half, the fire inspector is the one. Um, and and so it's a tool. We did
a almost 200 uh solar inspections in the last 18 last 18 months. So 200 solar inspections in 18 months. I would beg that seven six 70 of them um were probably two-story homes. And so we go out with our iPad and I try to balance on a dirt hill or then or near the
neighbors and I try to balance and take a picture. Um it's hard. So a tethered drone is a tool to prevent the inspector and I would be able to go out, we'd be able to throw it up, we could take the picture, we bring it down and we move on. It gives us great records. Then we bring it to the other pictures in this
town. We have some really we have some really great events we've established in this town. Right. the fireworks, which we'll probably see a banner year this year because Northampton reluctantly canceled theirs and it will be our benefit. Um the Merry Maple, the block party, all of those are really big
community events where we see at times thousands of people. Having a tethered drone just running to deal with a a missing person, any other incident that arose is a huge huge safety benefit for us. Um, and so in real simple, I I asked the the the committee here to to
consider restoring our our $40,000 project for this year. Um, this was on last year. It cost less. I can tell you it's probably going to cost more. And we think about smart dollars and the amount of times that we would use this and deploy this on on regular business, prevention business, department
business, pre-planning of structures. It would it could go a long ways. So, and I would I would just add on just to um especially since there's a lot of new people on the committee. Um if anybody everybody's probably aware, the town does have a surveillance policy. If anybody's concerned about that, as
assistant chief gone said, we do already have a drone in the fire department. We've had it for about four years. So, we have a drone. We have years of using it. We obviously have a policy that was vetted and approved. Uh and it was brought before the town council by Chief Nelson, I'm going to say about 3 four
years ago. and and obviously approved. So this is nothing new to the town in terms of having drone technology. We're already using it. I believe there's another department that has it. The difference here is this is a as Chief G said tethered. So there's only four of
us. I'm one of them that has a drone pilot license in the department. It's fairly cumbersome to get. We can get some more people trained, but the reality is when there's a fire, I don't have time to fly a drone and most of other people don't either. uh tether drone. Any one of our members of the
department could open the box, hit go, put it up in the air, and then we have either the footage right there on the device or for something like uh Blney or the other events, it can be fed to an EOC, a command post uh at Town Hall, our emergency operations center, and um it
can be viewed there. So, really a multi-purpose tool um that would not replace our drone, but about 3/4 of what we would use a drone for these days could be done with the tethered camera. >> Yeah. >> And if there's no questions there, we'll
move on to protective gear. >> Protective. >> This is another protective gear. This is another recurring item again for the new members of the committee and then I'll let Assistant Chief Gan talk about it. Um, we established this a number of years ago, a set 50,000 a year to
replace gear as he'll describe. We knocked it back to 20,000 last year because we had received a grant that it's done a wholesale replacement for the department, but you'll see in a second the cost as we hire new members and again do replacements for damaged
equipment. Um, you know, we're requesting again the full 50,000 this year. Um, but Steve, before you go, Sean, it looks like somebody has a question. Yeah, it looks like >> Kathy. Yep. >> It's okay. >> Sorry. So sorry. Um I just had a very
quick question on the last piece. Um and just because you at the end mentioned Blurnie, I'm just wondering what that use is if you're talking about crowd control or could you elaborate more on what >> absolutely I don't know >> event based use you would use those for?
So I think that the you know uh so um in any of these events whether it be fireworks, the Merry Maple, um the block party, Blney, a lot of times it's just to see. So if somebody says I'm over here, you know, so we try to dress our staff in in yellow in colors they can
pick out of the crowd. But if they say I'm over here, we can look at it. We can see where they are. We can get more staff to them, you know. So medical emergencies, we had a critical medical emergency at the the block party this past year. Um, we've had lost children a number of years. Um, the the Blney, it
straightforward. We get a drone. We borrow a drone. We have the Department of Fire Service bring a drone. What's it allow us? Let's see the whole picture. So, if I have an incident and I have staff on the north side, I need to get resources to them. I can look at a path to get resources to them. Um, if I have staff on the north side, I can see to
the extent of the problem they have. Um, in terms of an EMS staff, I'm talking the extent of the problem and and how to get them out or how to get them help. And it's basically gives us like almost like an eye in the sky to help us look at our people to direct our staff. Similar with a couch on fire. We we hate
to say we sometimes see a couch on fire. Um the Super Bowl we saw uh some small fires down at the university, not on the town property, but we saw some and let's just pick them out, right? We can identify things real fast and and and mitigate them and and render things safe. And I would add at the the last
year's Blney, we had a um again we had a regular drone from Department of Fire Services flying and feeding the image to the emergency operations center. Uh we had a very disturbing incident that fortunately uh was rectified. We had a crowd surge. Uh we had people being
crushed in a corner. Um that was clearly visible on the drone that was there and both we directed resources in there. We actually ended up using the jaws of life to cut fencing down uh because of that problem to release the pressure and let
people out. Um so a scary situation and again having that eye in the sky gives us the ability to pick that up and react more quickly than just taking reports on the ground. >> Thank you.
>> All right, move to protective clothing here. Um, so this is protective clothing. As the chief said, this is a recurring thing. It comes up. Um, you know, 10 years ago, we would buy protective clothing, coat and pants for $1,800.
Um, and and it just it's it's it's one of it's just skyrocketed. Um, coat and pants. So, if you look at those gentlemen on the right, uh, coat and pants, the coat and pants are $4,000 now. The helmet is about $650. Boots are $750 to $850. Gloves are $136.
just looked about an hour ago. Hoods are 120. Um, years ago, the hoods we used to buy were good and thin. Uh, when I started, then Chief started Steve, the hoods were really thin. It wasn't a big deal. Now they're it's a big deal, right? We're particulate hoods. Um, cancer pres prevention is is huge
nowadays. What you see the column on the right, that's the amount of years we generally can get out of them. We can get about 10 years out of coats and pants and helmets. Um, five to eight out of boots because they wear the boots. They put their these this the full-time staff here put their gear on upwards a thousand times a year on or off a
thousand times a year. Um each person um and that's that's just the average. Um there's some that are way over that number. Uh you know gloves we go just go through them. So when we look at this one person this is what one person one person is about 55 about $5,500 maybe
565 56 $5,600. Um, so you think about if we have we have a couple of uh we have we have we have two people that are on longterm, we have some people that have maybe retirement. Um, if we replace even five people, that that that's a huge huge bite into that. You know, if we
replaced more, you know, it would take a huge bump. That $50,000 doesn't go a long way. Um, but it it does help us. Um, we have some we have some updated narratives to give to to give to Sean for the for the report there. Um, I I think the last narrative I figured out
was that 50,000 years ago, it used to get us about 10 sets a year, maybe 12. Now it gets us about six or seven sets a year total. Um, and so it's it's it's a it's one of those things just keeps coming up. It's it's a cost that is is mind-blowing that that it has, but it
it's it's a lot about safety. There's a hand. >> Deb, >> hi. Um, can you do that again with the the sets per year? Um, because I didn't. >> So, we have a 100 fire 90 to 100 firefighters varying on the number of
student force members we have in call force. We have between 90 and 100 firefighters. Um, if you take the I did the numbers earlier and it's in the narrative, I I think it's like somewhere around seven sets a year in within that $50,000 I could get a year. Um, so but
every everyone we hire the the the it's a regulation says we have to have them sized. Everyone gets gear that's sized to them. So every full-time firefighter we hire here we meas they get measured just like a tailor. Um and they get gear that has to get sized to them within their first year of employment. Um and
so every new person every time we replace someone um every new person it's it's 55 to $6,000. Um, >> so then my I guess what I I'm understanding is that some of that 50,000 is for new people into the
department and some replace reality um almost all of it is into new gear. >> Okay. I'm I'm not seeing the 50,000 then. I'm seeing 35,000. But I >> if if we only had if if we only had if
we only had a couple, we could see nine. I I I could see I don't know how many in reality there's the chances that we get up. There's also replacement, right? We have to replace some gear. So for a hundred people, 90, right? Every year if it goes 10 years, we have to start replacing some stuff because we can't.
We were lucky enough to get a $300,000 grant a couple years ago and we bought 76 sets of gear. Um so there is some replacement of others of of existing gear, too. I'm just trying to divide the total in by the the individual sets and I'm not coming up with the same.
>> Yeah, it comes out to like eight, Steve. I don't think it's a little over eight. I don't think it's dramatic. Um, but I think to to to Steve's point, like when you look at the old the old articles, there's not I'm trying to see. I don't think there's anything on there for protective gear because they spend this
money um pretty routinely. Yeah, >> I think again the narrative that we're going to share through Sean to you um has what Steve just described uh in in the narrative. So he'll he'll you'll get that to look over. >> Thank you.
>> I would also add that another industry best practice is that all full-time firefighters are supposed to have two sets of gear. If I come in for the beginning of my shift and I start working and we do a fire and then I bring it back and I wash my gear, I can't bring that gear to another fire,
right? I'm it takes time for it to wash and clean and dry and all of those things. So, I'm supposed to have an inate set and an inate backup set. Um, we are closer than we used to be to that, but we're not we are definitely not there. and, you know, replacing
these these sets of of gear as they start to wear down and trying to get someone into another set as they hit their fiveyear mark so that they have one that is appropriate as their backup. All of these things factor into trying to rotate, you know, all of the career force and all of the the call force
through uh gear and make sure that they're wearing stuff that is going to protect them, that is within date, that is going to be safe. Um, and that we're that we're doing our our due diligence for our cancer prevention, that we're keeping them in clean gear and we're not exposing people unnecessarily to things
they don't they shouldn't be. So, the station alerting system, this is another item that was deferred from uh last year. Um, quick background on it. Essentially, if you were to build a new station today, when we do build our new station, uh it
will it would have a uh station alerting system in it, that's a number of components. It's essentially uh when a an alarm comes in for either an ambulance call, fire call and the dispatcher initiates the call, it can be made and then a news station would do
everything from sending off an alert tone to alert the firefighters, play the audio call uh over loudspeakers in the building. Those of you that remember emergency on TV, you know, attention squad 51, attention squad 51 throughout the station, that's a station alerting
system. Uh, and modern systems would also display the information on a screen, uh, potentially do things like turn lights on uh, in the apparatus bay, which are kept off to save energy in a modern building, and it can even be made to do things like shut stoves off for
safety and things like that. Neither one of our stations has an actual station alerting system. They never did. Um, what they do have is the far right picture is the 50-year-old PA system at the North Station, which amazingly is
still functional, but is 50 years old and has a loud hum in it and is not appropriate for attaching a new station alerting system to. And the picture in the middle is a PA system at the central station, which does not function anymore. So, the only way we're alerting
our firefighters to calls at the moment is what's on the left. That is a pager, a radio pager. Uh really designed uh to be worn on your hip um when you're not in the station. That's what we all wear at home and put by our bedside to get woken up in the middle of the night to come back in if we're not working. So
the onduty firefighters, that's the sole thing they're relying on to be alerted to a call. It is radio operated. And unfortunately, even though technology has improved uh due to a number of technical things I won't go into unless you ask me, um they actually perform
less well than they used to. By FCC regs, there can't be as much power. There's something called narrow banding. So depending on where you are in the station, you may or may not actually hear the audio. So what the station alerting system would do for our two existing stations is uh replace the PA
system mostly with wireless to avoid um construction costs. Uh they're largely a wireless system other than the initial tie-in point. Um and then over that PA system a rudimentary station alerting system would be put in to at least alert the firefighters
uh feed the audio to the appropriate rooms in the building. And then another component of that you'll see in our narrative again looking at national standards and IND industry standards. They talk about heart healthy um systems for firefighters. Uh those pages if a
firefighter is resting and is woken up by that um is not seen as being great for cardiac reasons. Um so now they recommend hearthe healthy alerting systems which are basically uh wristworn vibrators or um lights to come on in a
room. So that would be part of a modern system. The money we're requesting would replace the PA systems, do the basic station alerting of uh audio and uh possibly some of the heart healthy depending on how much money we had. And
>> again, this is this is to do both stations. Yes. The system we're looking at also has the ability because the way it's designed that if we were to move or remodel or renovate, it could be it could travel. I
think that's the bottom line is it's not it's not installed and stuck there. Um so we it's not like we're putting money into something that that wouldn't be able to be used again. And I think that's a really good point, Steve, because one of a number of scenarios, you know, being discussed for potential
new fire station also goes back to potentially renovating, expanding one of the existing stations, which means we would probably have to move out for a while, potentially go to a temporary housing. And so, like uh Greenfield did. And so, yes, this would be this could
actually be moved into a temporary location while construction took place for a fire station down the road. All right. And and our last item, >> Steve, I think there was a question first. >> My apologies. >> Sorry, Deb. I didn't see your hand. >> No, I just put it up. Is there a
capacity? Is there like if you you said it's you could relocate it. Is there a limit to the size? So, if you went to a much bigger station, would it still be able to transfer? >> No. In fact, so we've done a lot of research on this because it is
important. This is a big step for a department and and the town. Um, this is actually very much an expandable system. What we are actually putting in is is really the the core, right? That's actually what it's called is the core. Um, we're putting in the core and then we we're able it runs off Ethernet. Um,
and so it's it's it's we it's expandable. Um, so we go to somewhere else. You could literally take all the parts and you could you could make it bigger. You could add speakers to rooms. You could add alerting to rooms. You could add monitors. It it has a lot of ability, which is one of the reasons
that we we looked at this type of system. So, we got solid these are solid quotes. Um it's not just a pie in the sky. It's a solid quote. Um but it absolutely is expandable. >> And we had actually uh attempted to get a grant, potentially get a grant for this a year ago. So, we actually had
this specked out down to each device. Unfortunately, we weren't successful in the grant, but we have worked with a vendor to get uh a plan specifically for our stations and then the appropriate cost. As Steve just said, >> forgive my ignorance, but are the
stations wired for Ethernet? >> They are fortunately um pretty much all our town buildings definitely are fire stations um do have are on the town network and uh do have Ethernet mostly throughout the building. The IT department might have to run some here and there, but uh that would actually be
done internally, probably not part of this uh 82,000. >> And they're fantastic people. The IT department is fantastic people. They are very good to us. They're good to this town. >> All right. Now to our last um item, a fire prevention vehicle. So I think the the important thing, one of the first
questions you want to know is why why do we need a new fire prevention vehicle? Cuz we already have one. Um this is a 2009 Escape. In fact, this was on Shawn's list and it was green on the Shawn's list. Um, but I will tell you absolutely on the on the fiscal side, this would be red on Shaun's list. Um,
because the 2009 Escape um was a real first generation hybrid vehicle. Um, most recently, uh, it it would not stop at the fuel pumps at the North Station and kept going. But because of the design and the type of vehicle and the way it was built, things like that have
to go to the Ford dealership and it probably cost us close to $2,000. Um, some would beg you the value of the vehicle is not $2,000. We've replaced the rear window three times. Um, it's a great vehicle. It was good to the town. It was good to the department, but it's
it's really served its purpose and and I feel like it when we put more money into it, we're putting ma bad money, you know, good money into into bad. Um and and so we brought this project last year because we've seen it deteriorate. You can see in the photo on the left there's some rot and stuff around the wheel
wells. Um and our our goal is is is a a hybrid pickup truck. Um E vehicles a completely E vehicle was was our initial goal. Um, but when working with uh Jeremiah and the facilities, they they came to we came to a quick understanding that the infrastructure, the electrical
infrastructure at the North Fire Station would need probably 3/4 of a million dollars worth of work to allow us to put an EV station hookup in. Um, well, that's that's definitely not happening, right? So, um, it's a hybrid. We're looking at a hybrid. It's it's a it's
actually a an F-150 hybrid is what we would look at. Um the reason is because the the fire prevention he you know there are tools that the fire inspector would use um those things like a small step ladder, some poles, things like that. Um there's a lot of construction
that goes on in this town, so it has to be able to get in and out of the construction sites. Um and and and we also have a huge amount of community outreach that goes on. I would say 10 years ago, our community outreach was probably at 10%. Today we're probably at 110% of what it was. Um, so we are out
there with we bring a sixoot table, we bring chairs, we we're at community events, we do trunk or treats, we do all these other outreach things and and and so we need a vehicle to be able to do that. Um, the fire inspector is a Monday to Friday job, Monday to Friday, every
week. Um, that this vehicle with the fire inspector will be used Monday to Friday every week, short holidays. Um, but then it'll probably be used on the other on the off days by staff um by staff that are that are on duty uh in the evenings for for public for public
outreach. Um, fire and ice this weekend, it would be this that kind of vehicle we would be able to bring. We want a pickup truck with a cap on it so you can access things and keep things um keep things out of the elements. Um, that's what we're looking at. Um, it's this is 17 years old so I think we've seen a pretty
good life for a fire prevention vehicle. Our fire prevention does a thousand over a thousand inspections a year um between the the 1.5 of us and a couple of captains on the line. So, it's a busy division. There's construction jobs all over this town. Um there's building
jobs, there's solar. Um it's it's an active vehicle. Um this one isn't used a lot because it's it's not wholeheartedly reliable. Uh which is why we bring it to you, right? We bring it to you because in overall fiscally this car is in the red. um even though it is green on
Sean's list. Um and and it's just we appreciate the consideration of this vehicle, understanding there's a lot of vehicles, a lot of things in front of this committee, but this this it it we could use the the inspector could use the the proper vehicle to do his job. Um and and the department could use the
proper vehicle and this could go to a better life, I think, somewhere. Any questions on the vehicle? I'm not seeing any. Um, >> excellent. >> And and and people, if if there are
questions you have later, we can send them to Sean and he'll get answers for them. So, after we get these presentations, >> we've got a PDF that's a couple pages that has the narratives updated, which the chief will get to you and Sean and and answer my question. >> And these and these charts will go in
our packet, too, now that we have them. Deb, >> I'm sorry to be a pess, but I always have questions in life. So, we just got a hybrid and I was looking into pickups. Um, we didn't buy one because it didn't
seem like they had the best um service record. Is there a balance between hybrids and like it just seems like it's an emerging technology and it's not clear how the derived to be green is balanced by how upto-date the technology
is for the sustainability of the vehicle. >> So I I'll just chime in quickly on that. It on the one hand that is you know I mentioned earlier new to the department. Um, this this vehicle obviously we got in 2009. We didn't get another hybrid uh
vehicle till uh 2022 or three, I think. Um, having said that, I personally have a Ford F-150 pickup hybrid. Uh, it's a year and a half old now and, uh, I have not had not had any issues with it. I
obviously as many miles on it as our department vehicle would get. Um both, you know, we have been running Explorers and the police department's been running Explorers. Um off the top of my head, we have not seen uh maintenance issues. I
mean, they are newer vehicles, so you're inherently going to see less. We certainly haven't seen anything specific to the hybrid portion of it. Um so, we're fairly confident it's it's going to be a maintenance savings for us, not
an increase. you know, this this Escape uh first generation uh SUV hybrid technology, we've actually done very almost nothing to the hybrid piece of it uh in 15 plus years. So, I think that's a pretty good track record. Obviously,
the technology has improved. >> Thank you. I would also just a quick sidebar uh again for those of you that are new to JCPC um it doesn't really apply to this vehicle because it's a whole vehic um it
it stands what it is but when we buy like our firet trucks and ambulances the idle mitigation system of that actually comes out of the sustainability account that Stephanie oversees um but you don't see that on a vehicle like this is just a straightup cost for the vehicle.
I want to thank all of you um for the pictures are very helpful as as will be the narrative. Um and we have a list we have the as you saw when if you were in the background we have a list of all your vehicles and so this is one of the
older ones that you've got. So um thank you very much and thank you for waiting in the wings while we were getting through the first part. Thank you everybody. >> Sean, I think we can go to the next
and and you can stay if you want, but you can all leave. Thank you. >> All right, so Stephanie is up next to talk about sustainability. Hello everyone. I'm sorry I'm a bit in the dark. We have terrible lighting in our living room. Um uh thank you so much
for um for having me uh come speak to you and um I don't unfortunately I don't have a pretty presentation for you. You have me um and I will uh just sort of give you an overview that um sustainability budget is kind of
different than other departments budgets because um I interact with a lot of the other departments as referenced uh by um Chief Strong. I'm supporting a lot of the work that other departments do as well as just what we try to do with the
municipal buildings. So, um in 2021, we released a climate action adaptation and resilience plan uh that addressed carbon emissions in the town. And the two sectors uh that contributed the most carbon emissions were stationary
um projects stationary uh sources and transportation sources. So that is mainly for us buildings and vehicles. So those are kinds of the two of the areas that I focus on, but I am a department
of one. And so I um do more than just the energy work. It's more than just the um more than just the buildings and the transportation and and vehicles. I'm also interacting with things like our community gardens. Um and I'm also
responsible for uh bringing forward the valley bike network. So that's sort of transportation related. I would say they're vehicles but they're different sort of vehicle um but you know they're microobility but they do um
contribute. So there's also funding that is in my department budget that actually goes towards those types of initiatives as well which aren't always um covered. They're not as always as obvious. So I just wanted to sort of mention that as we look through some of the proposed um
spending items. So um the thing about sustainability and um my relationship with facilities is that um what I've sort of noticed and said over the years is that facilities the
costs have gotten so astronomical. So the the intent is that sustainability funds for facilities can cover things like weatherization or um you know bridging the gap for an engineering study if for instance
there's not enough um sustainability funds could help with an engineering study. And those are the kinds of things that that we're looking to do as we move forward. Um, when you're working with buildings, you can't just simply, and I think as has been done in the past, there's been a sort of a knee-jerk
reaction to sort of just deal with the issue that's in front of you. Like for instance, you have a crumbling foundation and you need to sort of address that right away. Now, we're looking at it in a sort of more holistic picture when we're looking at
reducing carbon emissions because if we want to transition our buildings off of fossil fuels, you can't simply just go in and change over the systems. You really have to address the building envelope. That's a really critical and important piece. And um it requires
studies and um and in this case like for town hall it's going to require engineering just to install weatherization um in the roof line because it's such a complicated roof line. Um it you know
it's complicated in the layout. There's lots of um I keep referring to it as scaffolding although that's not exactly the the technical term but it looks much like scaffolding. It's a lot of rods and things that sort of make it difficult to just simply go in and just install the
insulation. So, um, so things like that require engineering studies. So, my work with coordinating with facilities is to sort of identify like, okay, here's some additional funds that can help sort of bridge that gap. um some of the funds
have not been spent um because the timing doesn't always work where we're ready to do the um ready to do the engineering study. Um I try to coordinate that as much as I can with Jeremiah. So for this year coming up,
we've looked at very specific projects um because we're sort of at a point where we can move to a greater level of um implementation or we can get to engineering studies. So, we're looking at weatherization for the North Fire
Station. As Chief Strongen um and his team pointed out, that facility needs an entire electrical overhaul. So, we can't do things like install charging stations which enable them to have electric vehicles. And all
of these things have sort of a chain effect on how it um impacts our overall carbon emissions because we can't reach our goals if we don't implement these measures. So I think in sort of proposing the things for you know the
the items for sustainability like engineering studies, weatherization, um building assessments, um infrastructure. So for instance, for EV charging stations, we supported um installing two single port charging
stations at uh Amoris Police Department last year. Um so we're looking at trying to do more of that, but again, you know, we can't just simply go in and do these projects. We really need to address the
challenges with each structure. So, um, I think that's kind of my my overall I know you probably have very specific questions. So, I just wanted to sort of frame it for you and understanding that it's not just a sort of project by project budget. It's very much a um, you
know, an engagement and interaction with other departments as well. Um, you know, I often will midyear get pinged for something like, you know, we, you know, we need to bridge the gap for the purchase of a hybrid vehicle. um can you help us with that? Or we're looking at a
study that we need to do. Can you help us with that? So, those are the kinds of things that I'll be supporting um with the sustainability budget over the next fiscal year and beyond. And I will say that we really are moving to a phase of moving towards implementation for
project uh for facilities projects um especially with weatherization. And very quickly, I want to say that I just did um uh a notice of intent to request um funds for the roof project for town hall
through the climate leader communities program. Um which they rejected because they don't fund just replacing roofs. um they would have funded the weatherization, but that was over $200,000, but we didn't pursue it
because that grant is for a million dollars, and it just doesn't seem right at this time to be peacemealing, you know, that um that particular project at that time. Um so, you know, just an example of weatherization for the roof
was, you know, and for our town hall is easily going to be a few hundred,000. So just putting that in perspective. >> So were there their there questions to Stephanie and I know last year Stephanie you gave us a sense and I'm not asking
you to do it now um but of the hers is again one of these there's a bucket called sustainability rather than items but you gave us a sense of what you spent it on the last year's money. So if you could give that to us later it would
be great. you know, even if there's some leftover, just some sense of where it went because I think you've also had some seed money that has then brought in later grants. Um, which has been one of the interesting things about this uh line item in the capital budget.
So, are there questions? Deb, >> sorry. um help me understand um because I'm I'm new at this and I'm also trying to figure out how um I'm on the schools school I'm on the
school committee and I'm also trying to figure out how um JCPC money might be better used for the schools which have these kind of recurring costs. So, it's it's I I have a hard time distinguishing
what is a recurring cost that qualifies for JCPC and what isn't because it doesn't seem like you have specific buildings in mind for these weatherization studies. You just understand that
there will be a need. Is that correct? Um well we do are specifically targeting um so for instance the north fire station we are working with Eversource right now to get an initial assessment um of the building so that we can do the weatherization. So then the
implementation um I will certainly request some funding to support that work but it doesn't mean it will cover all of the work. So um it's not that we haven't identified them. We do know it's just
that honestly everything pretty much all you know the buildings all need this kind of work even if it's you know even if it's just um reinssulating sections you know um buildings over time insulation settles even if it's been done a while ago it
probably needs to be um re-examined and looked at again. So, it's kind of an ongoing thing that you need to, you know, continue to, as you say, recurring projects. Weatherization isn't something you just install once and forget about over time. You need to go back and look
and address um, you know, what's needed. There may be gaps. There may be um, settling with insulation. So, you want to you want to address those things in order to um, increase the efficiency of the building's operations. Can I add to
that real quick, Kathy? Um, yeah. So, um, two things. One, I don't think, um, that the schools are are procluded from benefiting from the money that goes to Stephanie either. So, if there's a project, um, let's say at Crocker Farm, potentially Stephanie, you know, she has limited resources, she'll have to see
how it fits into her bigger plan. But there's nothing about the way the funds are requested that are like we can't use them at Crocker Farm, for example. Um, and then the second thing I'll say is that there are similar funds like this, not exactly like this bucket, but we do put recurring sort of capital need funds
for the schools that they don't necessarily know exactly what um they're going to use them for at this minute, but they know every year that there's repair needs that come up. So, if you look at the school section, you'll see recurring amounts for uh energy management upgrades, for um furniture,
for uh building improvements, right? It's a little bit different scale because there's fewer buildings and and we have a new building coming online. So hopefully that'll reduce the the demand for some of that. But um it's not like this is just a town thing and there's never been sort of recurring funds for schools. I think both, you know, we've
had a similar model for both. >> So then back to Stephanie. So you have um a weatherization project that you do the analysis for and then you come back the following year and ask for the weatherization.
in addition to more weatherization studies for future projects where it's like it's a staged project a staged series of so again because these are buckets we don't necessarily specify which building each time the idea is
that when we have a weatherization when we have a need for weatherization the idea is that we're we have the funds available to then install the weatherization or to have the study done for doing that work um or to have a
building assessment done. We we do as much as possible. You know, I always work very closely with um the utilities, specifically Eversource. Um I've had a pretty strong relationship with them in the past. I'm rebuilding that relationship again
because people leave and um sometimes um people are deceased. I had a very close relationship with someone who passed away and when that relationship changed, you know, it was hard to sort of get back and connected with um with the conservation division, but I am now and
building a great relationship with uh with an Eversaurus community representative. And so we're looking at right now um getting assessments done of buildings. I will say and the thing about those is that they're covered by the utility. So initial assessments are
done, but that doesn't mean it's an it's not an engineering study. It's just sort of the initial look to help identify what the things are that you may need to do. And then you may need to then have a follow-up engineering study, which they don't specifically cover the full cost
for. Um, also when we're at the mercy of some of these consultants who work for the utilities, they don't always get us the they don't always follow up with the reporting or get it to us in a timely fashion that allows us to apply for
funding. So, um, you know, we we try to use that as much, you know, to defay costs to the town as much as possible, but even doing that, there's still going to be some additional funding that we need to provide for the projects. And
I'm also finding that um some of the programming that used to 100% cover uh costs are less apt to do so now. There's, you know, sort of a an expectation that communities will will
contribute financially more than they have in the past. >> Can I say one more thing, Kathy, too? Yeah. Um, this is a uh this request was reduced. So, that the original request was for 250,000. It was reduced to 200,000. Um, and this, you know, this
was put in this these funds were put in place specifically in response to the council's climate action goals. So, prior to those goals, there really was no funding source or um sustainability improvements. It was sort of project by project. We didn't have money for plans.
Um there wasn't a way to to sort of um take advantage of things when they were being done if you didn't have funding already available for it. So, these funds in some ways, it's like opportunity. Uh you know, if another department is doing something, they might not have the funding to do it in the most sustainable fashion. And that's
where Stephanie steps in and can add funding to that project. So the ladder truck, um, for example, Stephanie added funding to the ladder truck. She added funding to the pumper truck. Um, she works very closely with Jeremiah and facilities when they're looking at um, enter uh, heating system replacements
and how they're going to handle that. Um, so, you know, there's certain kind of planning there's a planning component to this. there's um there's sort of like this community engagement piece and then there's just this like having funds ready for when these projects come up so that we can do it in the most sustainable fashion. Um because a lot of
times these are projects you do once every 20 years and if we miss the window to do it then you're waiting you know 15 20 years before you get another opportunity to do it. Jill, >> thank you so much. And thank you. That was a really great explanation. And um I
just have a very small question on the the 25,000 for the garden supplies and community gardens. I'm just wondering, it says for the establishment of new ones, if you have a certain number in mind or what if you have a plan kind of in place for that piece? Um we we don't
have a specific um plan for new gardens at this time. We have a few locations that we've looked at and are considering, but there's no definitive plan to create them like in this next fiscal year, but um it's more
the you know some of the infrastructure needs for the gardens that we currently have. So, for instance, um our Fort River Farm community garden, which has been wildly successful, and I I try to promote it at every turn because I feel like if you want a great example of what
Ammerst is about, please go visit the Fort River Farm Community Garden. It's such a great example of a diverse group of people all working together. Um, we started with maybe 10 or so garden gardeners the first year and we now have
over 40 um, plots in that garden space. I think it's maxed out and I think there's a waiting list. Um, but it needs uh it needs a solid water source and we have um a sandpoint pump that we were able to install, but we're going to need
to put in some kind of a sistern. So, we need to have the funds to put in the base, the gravel base, and then the platform that will hold the sistern, and then we have to um help provide the funding for um getting water delivered
maybe a couple of times a year, especially if we're in a drought. Um and this is a garden that supports people um in housing complexes, nearby housing complexes. And I know that several are families, the garden plots, and they do rely on this as, you know, an additional food source. It's not just pleasure
gardening. Some for some it is. I won't say that everyone is, but you know there is a good substantial number of people who really do rely on what they grow as an additional food source. So, um, you know, that's something that I I feel like sometimes gets lost in why I always
try to sort of bring that up and I'm glad you asked that question, Jill. So if there are no additional questions, um I think what might be helpful Stephanie again or Sean if it's easy, I know some of what Stephanie has had in
the past has because she had the money other grants came into the town and they were pretty diverse and so just giving us some sense of that. Um the idling for uh when engines go off with the idling devices. So, it's been a a kind of a
creative thing of like who would have even known that technology existed and then we got the grant to cover the costs. So, I I want to thank you because I think as a oneperson department, you managed to spread yourself across a a
universe of town sites. So, thank you very much. Um, >> so we've got a um I have to open it up for public comments. Um, and I know there is another meeting starting at 7, so I'm kind of conscious of the time.
Um, so I want to see if there are any other committee comments before I open it for public comments. And we do have uh we have two attendees. Um, so if there are no committee
comments right now, I will say we are open for public comments. If anyone would like to make any raise your hand. I don't see any hands go up. We do have two people in the public.
So these documents, the other thing I think I mentioned already, but everything we just saw from the our fire team, our ambulance and fire team will get put into the packet so we can look at them again um with the narrative. And
Sean, I know when Jeremiah comes in, he usually comes in with a a chart show. So sometimes it's if if we could get those before, sometimes it's useful, too. but at least going back to reference them so we will have them. Um, and I think
that's it. So, thank you for pulling the whole package together, Sean, and telling us what's the the preview of what's coming each week. So, I think we're adjourned and I I'm supposed to go around the room
to make sure we've officially adjourned. So, I make a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. And now I will ask for a vote. Jill >> yes. >> Kathy say yes. Andy >> yes. >> Deb
>> yes. >> And Lee >> yes. >> And I people saw Bridget had already said she had to leave early. So we are adjourned at uh whatever time 6:55. >> 654. >> Thank you very much everyone. Good
night.