CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROGRAM COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2007 – 6:00 P.M.
PRESIDING: Don Olden Sr., Chair
RECORDING SECRETARY: Maureen F. Scanlon
PRESENT: Allen Crabtree, David Hague, Richard Merritt, Robert Nicholson,
Don Olden Sr., Greg Smith, Paul White, Maureen Scanlon (Recording
Secretary)
GUESTS PRESENT: Ann Farley, Abe Parker (left @ 7:00 p.m.)
ABSENT: None
CALL TO ORDER: 6:08 p.m.
BUSINESS:
Robert Nicholson asked to discuss Vehicles at tonight’s meeting instead of Projects as originally scheduled. Everyone present was in favor of discussing Vehicles as requested.
Discussion ensued regarding vehicles in general, pricing escalators for more accurate funding, and vehicle specification sheets that are being developed for future vehicle purchases. Basically a vehicle specification sheet will accompany each Capital Item Request form for every vehicle being purchased. This will give specific information on the vehicle being purchased which will also help in the process of tracking any potential increases in cost by the time the vehicle is to be purchased.
Allen Crabtree requested that dates be put on the bottom of each spreadsheet as they are developed and fine tuned. He also asked that hard copies of these sheets be available at the meetings for ease of reading. (This is in addition to the information being projected on the wall as is currently being done.)
For new committee members and as a refresher for former members, Allen Crabtree explained just how the CIP spreadsheet works and how to read the information it contains.
Quite a bit of conversation ensued regarding not only general but also specific information on each vehicle item on the CIP list. Basically, this was a brainstorming session to fine tune the process of properly prioritizing the scheduled replacement of town owned vehicles and determining future vehicle needs. There was also discussion on the actual bid process when looking for price quotes on items.
It was decided that the price escalator that will be built into the spreadsheet will be at a rate of 4.5% instead of 5%. This seems to be the average that most towns currently applying escalators are using.
Conversation ensued regarding the initial start up process of the Capital Investment Program. Allen Crabtree mentioned that when the program was first started, it was quite overwhelming to comprise a list of all the vehicles and come up with numbers for replacement funding. Therefore, the first year not everything was funded because it was just too overwhelming. They were advised that this was not a wise practice because you will never “catch-up”. David Hague mentioned that he attended a GPCOG meeting regarding CIP and approximately six towns that were using a Capital Investment Program where asked what was the lesson learned. They all agreed that you absolutely must fund every vehicle every year because your projects always change and when you try to rob from one and go to the
next, you never get “caught up” on the one that you originally robbed from in the first place. Allen stated that in the past, vehicles and projects were prioritized together. Now all the vehicles are on the top of the CIP funding list with levelized funding and the projects are prioritized separately.
An open forum discussion ensued regarding not only the process, but also the CIP line items. The Administrative Vehicle Reserve Capital Item Request was changed by the Town Manager to a Public Work Utility Truck Capital Item Request and formally added to the vehicle list section (Item #V02). Essentially, the second vehicle was dropped from the request.
After quite a bit of discussion on the town’s actual need, it was decided that the Road Grader Capital Item Request will be removed from consideration at this time. After research on the actual usage, it will be presented to the Town’s people at the annual Town Meeting where they will decide whether or not to move forward in the direction of purchasing a Road Grader.
Allen Crabtree made a motion to adjourn. It was seconded by Paul White. Motion carried with all in favor.
ADJOURNMENT: 7:50 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, January 2, 2008 – 6:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Maureen F. Scanlon
Recording Secretary
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