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12/11/2017 11:00 PMBoards and departments have already begun the process of prepping the budget for the coming 2018-’19 fiscal year. Presentations and negotiations begin in January and the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Committee has been working to prioritize and assess funding for capital projects in the coming year. There is just one problem—two of the projects requested for next year don’t have cost estimates.
Projects in the CIP come through the department heads or committees and make their way to the first selectman and the Board of Selectmen (BOS). This year the board passed along two projects, a new playground for either Brown Middle School or Polson Middle School under the district’s new reconfiguration plan and a request for a better HVAC system for the new library building project.
First Selectman Tom Banisch said he put the projects in the program because he was asked to by the two respective parties. However, when the CIP committee saw the two projects listed with costs as TBDs at a recent meeting, a majority of the members were not pleased.
“[T]he whole purposes is we are the CIP Committee, we are about a five year plan, and we are getting these items that we are calling placeholders being submitted to us, going to the selectmen and then making it to the CIP,” said CIP Chair Mark Casparino. “I want to understand why that is happening...We have talked about this before as a group, that we are nothing if we are not a process that we adhere to. If we don’t adhere to a standardized process, then in some respects what is the point of having a CIP?”
With projects like this coming in late and with the CIP committee needing to get the completed program to the Board of Finance (BOF) by Feb. 1, 2018, Casparino said the committee doesn’t have much time to thoroughly review and vet these proposals. While all committee members agreed the timeline will be tight, there was less consensus on whether either of the two projects in question merit consideration at this time.
The Board of Education (BOE) Playground Request
The BOE put in a late request to the CIP following the failed school referendum in late September. The request is for a new playground at one of the two middle schools in town; school administrators have promised to have a firm number on the proposal by Jan. 1, 2018.
CIP members discussed whether the BOE should have already been prepping a back-up proposal for the CIP in the event the referendum failed, but CIP member Bennett Pudlin said it would have been wrong to ask the BOE to prep at Plan B while they were advocating for a Plan A. Members also had a spirited discussion on whether the CIP should listen to the proposals or if it should just put the requests aside until the next year.
“I think we have a couple of groups that have, through whatever circumstances, arrived at a place where they don’t have numbers to provide for us so they raised their hands and said, ‘Please stick a placeholder in,’ and we have recognized that at the BOS,” said CIP member Bruce Wilson. “I have every confidence that the BOE will work through their process with all possible haste to get us numbers. This group needs to deal with the practical reality of the calendar and provide feedback to the groups and say, ‘Listen, on this date if you don’t have a number in ,we can’t accommodate you anymore because the budget process marches on without you.’ We should be providing flexibility where we can afford to, but I think this is the decision we need and I think Jan. 1 is that date.”
The committee decided that the start of the year is the hard and fast stop; if the committee does not have a number by then, the projects will not be considered. While there may have been a bit more sympathy for the school proposal considering the timing of the failed referendum, the library request was not as well received.
The Library HVAC Request
The E.C. Scranton Memorial Library put forward a requested placeholder for additional funds for an energy-efficient HVAC system that would help reduce the library’s overall energy costs to be worked into the renovation project. The system was not included in the original library proposal that successfully went to referendum for a $9 million bond in February 2017.
“I think that one is like a strobe light,” said Casparino. “To me, the Town of Madison just gave them a gift of $9 million for an asset that we don’t own. We gave them $9 million and already they came back to us asking for more. To me, I would think that the library would take it back, do what is right for the town that has given them the $9 million, and do this installation and absorb it into their budget and make it work, rather than coming back to us and asking for more money. It doesn’t seem right to me—to ask for a placeholder here at the CIP doesn’t seem right to me.”
CIP member Scott Murphy, who serves as a liaison to the Library Building Committee, said he is not in a position to defend the proposal, but said the committee should listen to the library.
“There are reasons why. One there was a change of architect and I think we have to listen to them and I don’t think we can shake them off immediately,” he said. “I don’t think that is fair.”
Murphy said the system could lead to greater energy efficiency and cost savings for the town. Pudlin said if the town wants to talk about energy efficiency, he needs to see more thorough planning and coordination.
“Any one project may look intriguing and compelling, but at the end of the day may cost $2 million or $3 million or $10 million, which is way more money than we have,” Pudlin said. “I am all for prudent investments in energy technology. I think we have an obligation as a community to be mindful of the environmental impact of fossil fuels and if we can save the town money by going green, then we ought to look for every opportunity to do that, but I not prepared to do big projects like this one after another because someone had a late, good idea to shoehorn one in there.”
Pudlin said the library is pushing way uphill with this proposal and it’s very unlikely the request will be looked upon favorably by the BOF. Ultimately the committee decided that it must have numbers on each of these projects by the start of the year or they will not be considered.
The CIP plans to hold its first public hearing on the program on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. Check the town website www.madisonct.org for meeting details and location.