AMHERST – Even though the Select Board has not yet determined how four major building projects over the next decade will be funded, a report going to annual Town Meeting this spring will show an option for using a Proposition 2 ½ debt-exclusion override to pay for a portion of a rebuilt Wildwood School.
For some members of Select Board, this report from the Joint Capital Planning Committee, which will be sent to Town Meeting members this week, is raising concern because it includes a spending plan to pay for design and architecture work related to the Wildwood expansion and reconstruction project, that has not yet been discussed by other town officials.
Select Board Chairwoman Alisa Brewer said at Monday’s meeting that no decisions have been made yet how to pay for the Wildwood work, or other major building projects such as the expansion and renovation of the Jones Library, a new Department of Public Works headquarters and a new fire station for South Amherst.
“I’m a little nervous about it being in the report as a line” item, said Brewer, observing that the capital planning committee is recommending a total of $1.83 million in building repairs and improvements.
The capital planning committee’s report includes a five-year plan for projects with a useful life of five or more years and with a cost of $5,000 or more, as well as a detailed breakdown of each item it is recommending that Town Meeting fund in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Brewer said her concern is that the report seems to indicate that Wildwood comes first, Jones Library follows and then a new DPW headquarters is built. The fire station, Brewer said, is not anywhere on the five-year schedule.
Board member Constance Kruger said the committee’s report preempts the discussion town officials still need to have about paying for four major capital projects.
“I think it’s potentially problematic and I don’t know if we can take some action to change that now,” Kruger said.
But board member Douglas Slaughter, who is a member of the capital planning committee, said the debt exclusion for Wildwood was included in the report as an example of how the beginning stages of the school project could be paid.
The preliminary five-year schedule shows an additional $6 million appropriation for the school project in fiscal year year 2018 and $23.5 million for the project in fiscal year 2019.
Slaughter said the capital planning committee report also is an opportunity to educate the public about the other projects, with the Jones Library needing $15 million in fiscal years 2019 and 2020, and the DPW $21 million in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
“It’s a struggle to get it just right,” Slaughter said, adding that the report may seem presumptive.
“It’s an example of how we may pay for it. It’s not a directive,” Slaughter said.
The narrative of the report states “the funding for the Wildwood School reconstruction will need to be decided this fall and a preliminary funding plan is shown in the facilities portion of the five-year plan.”
Peter Hechenbleikner, the town’s interim town manager, said the capital planning committee report gives guidance to spending on projects over the next five years, though it is not a commitment.
The fire station, Hechenbleikner said, can be added to the schedule.
“We’ll work toward full inclusion of all four projects and how they fit best, but we don’t have that yet,” Hechenbleikner said.
Slaughter said he will craft a memo, to be included in the first mailing to Town Meeting members, that elaborates on Monday’s discussion.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
