The Capital Improvement Plan

    As City Councilors, we often are approached with questions regarding recently discussed and ongoing issues. With this new series of articles, we hope to present factual information concerning agenda items and discussion points from meetings and workshops. As the Council strives to complete a working budget for 2010, many current questions revolve around the Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). What is the CIP, and what is its purpose?
    The CIP originated in the 1970s with the purpose of providing a minimum of a five-year program outlining anticipated capital projects and improvements, replacement of major depreciable equipment, maintenance of major infrastructure such as street and buildings, and provision for any debt service that either the Council encumbered or that became encumbered through a referendum vote. This plan ensures that the city is not borrowing large sums of money for the purpose of capital improvement. The CIP is compiled by the city administration, reviewed by the Council-appointed Capital Improvements Committee using annual comparison of reserve lines and replacement programs, and forwarded to the Council for action according to Charter Sections 5.07 and 5.09. While the Capital Improvements Committee views the CIP requests based on their individual merits, the City Council historically balances the budgetary needs of the operating budget and the CIP in conjunction during final budget preparations. A public hearing is held prior to council adoption of the CIP, with or without amendment.
    The CIP Committee began their review of the program in September of 2009 and completed that work in November. The City Council then met and reviewed the CIP proposal through a series of combined CIP and budget workshops. Having the full impacts of the current economic climate now defined, the Council has acted upon the CIP to reduce the overall scope and costs associated with the program.
    The Council closely examined the proposed CIP and made changes with the resolve that that the long-term health of the city would not be compromised. First, a small number of accounts with fewer near-term scheduled expenditures were reduced by 10%. Other accounts were adjusted by amending the replacement schedules, changing the actual expenditures, pushing programs ahead for a period, re-assessment of reserve balances, and the elimination of programmed projects. The resulting action to the Capital Improvement Plan is a reduction of $192,745 as compared to the original departmental requests.
    CIP adjustments include:
• Fire Vehicles reduced by $10,000 by foregoing the replacement of Rescue Truck #6 until such time as a Fire Act Grant becomes available
• Ambulance Vehicles reduced by $20,000 by purchasing only a chassis in 2010 at a cost of $39,250 and the remount pushed ahead one year due to decreased utilization in 2009
• Public Works Equipment reduced by $100,000 by pushing the major replacements forward one year with the exception of radio replacements
• Streets and Roads reduced by $25,000 by adjusting the shimming process applied for Chip Sealing
• Parks Improvements were reduced by eliminating the cost of pending land surveys for $4,000
• Groomer Reserve by $2,000 and potentially more due to favorable remount/s – analysis of the 2003 Gilbert system is pending
• Elimination of Planning and Engineering for the single year due to anticipated reduced project scopes for 2010, reduction of $5,000
• Elimination of all New Projects yet persevering the one remaining two-year project within the Library for a net reduction of $21,465
    The Caribou City Council will hold a public hearing to receive written and verbal comment on the adoption of the 2010 Capital Improvements Program in the Council Chambers, 25 High Street at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 22. The public may inspect copies of the Capital Improvements Program at the City Clerk’s desk from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and at the Library from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Public is encouraged to attend and provide comment.
    This column was prepared and presented by Mary Kate Barbosa on behalf of the Caribou City Council.