NORTHAMPTON — The City Council this week approved a new five-year Capital Improvement Plan for funding infrastructure projects across the city, with much of the debate at Tuesday’s meeting focused on specific, immediate projects such as repairs to City Hall’s roof and various school district initiatives.
The Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, includes plans for projects spanning from 2027-2031 — a total of about $132.3 million in projected spending across all departments over that time period.
Much of the focus at a public hearing on March 19 and at Tuesday’s meeting was on the first year of the plan, in fiscal 2027.
That plan calls for the city to spend a total of $29.9 million, with about $8.7 million out of general funds, including stabilization, cash reserves and trust funds; nearly $3.9 million from enterprise funds, which are used for sewer, water, stormwater and flood control projects; and nearly $7 million in reprogrammed funds using money left over from previously approved projects. The balance of $10.3 million will be funded through borrowing.
On Tuesday, councilors signed off on about $10.97 million in funding for projects packaged into two, seven-piece financial orders — one consent agenda comprising more than $2 million in projects and another bundle of requests totaling about $8.9 million.
Much of the discussion revolved around a $1.8 million request to replace the roof and make exterior repairs and upgrades to City Hall, as well as a list of capital requests for Northampton Public Schools totaling about $355,000.
City Hall roof repair
Ward 6 City Councilor Christopher Stratton argued that the city should consider trying to access Community Preservation Act (CPA) money to pay for City Hall’s roof repair. CPA is a pool of state-matched money raised through the real estate tax levy that can be used for open space protection, historic preservation and affordable housing.
Explaining that he considered the $1.8 million capital request a prime example of how to best use CPA funds, Stratton motioned to amend the request, funding only $150,000 for the planning and design phases of the project.
“We need to be as creative as a third-grade teacher who has limited access to resources for books and tissues and markers,” Stratton said. “Our city does not have enough money to do everything that we want to do, everything that we need to do, and I would like to see us being more creative about how we fund things.”
He continued, “I understand that the most recent time that Central Services went to the CPA Committee with an ask, they were told no, but I would really like to see that ask made again, because I think using the funding streams we have in ways that are legal, that may allow us to accomplish needed projects with restricted money, that then frees up unrestricted money to use for other priorities in the city.”
Stratton later rescinded his amendment after Central Services Director Katie Deppen spoke to the project’s urgent need for funding, explaining that the roof is leaking and likely cannot wait to apply for CPA funds in the fall.
Deppen, who logged into the meeting remotely on Zoom, explained that the project’s design phase was already underway and nearing 60% completion. She added that it will take significantly more than the $642,000 appropriated in 2024 to bring the roof into compliance with state codes.
“It’s not something we can wait another year or two years on; it needs to get done. If you see the drone footage of the top of that building, it’s actively leaking. That’s why we’re requesting that funding,” Deppen said. “With CPA, there’s certain timelines in which you can apply for the projects. Specifically for this roof project, we are actually trying to get this project out to bid within basically a month. That way we can, if possible, we can get a contractor on site this summer … the timing of being able to apply CPA really is not applicable at the moment.”
Other councilors, such as At-Large City Councilor Garrick Perry, commended Stratton for his creativity and use of “out-of-the-box thinking” as a way to move over the funding hurdle.
In the end, the council voted to approve the project, which will allow the city to move ahead with borrowing the money.
School capital projects
Councilors also debated whether the $355,300 in the school district’s capital requests should be voted on separately from other capital requests or all at once.
Ward 3 City Councilor Laurie Loisel, noting that the requests were brought forth from School Committee Vice Chair Alena Bartoli, called out Stratton’s motion to separate the school funding requests as “obstructionist.”
She noted that the schools’ capital improvement projects, which include a $145,395 request for a freezer and refrigerator wall unit, $54,473 to implement a cellphone policy and a $60,000 strategic plan for English Language Arts, are routine, essential programs for funding.
“We all got an email from the vice chair of the School Committee saying, ‘please, please pass this,'” Loisel said. “I feel like there’s obstructionism happening here. These are what I call meat-and-potatoes things, and I don’t see why we are micromanaging this … a couple of these things were on the School Committee’s midyear appropriation request that were taken off and put on the capital budget. The mayor did that in good faith, knowing that that’s what the School Committee wanted. This constant questioning is, I think, kind of destructive and not helpful.”
However, some councilors, such as At-Large Councilor Meg Robbins, explained that the funding requests were brought before the council without being previously discussed or voted upon by the School Committee. That prompted further debate on whether the vice chair’s request represented her own view, or the view of the School Committee.
” [Bartoli] clarified for me that it was just her personal opinion, so I checked in with other members of the School Committee who had different opinions; they have not met as a body, they have not discussed it, they have not come to any conclusion about that,” Robbins said. “That new [School] Committee really didn’t know how to do what they were doing, and so they grabbed stuff off of last year, they grabbed stuff off this year, they put it all on a list.”
Stratton agreed with Robbins, explaining that the council, in his opinion, should not fund school district projects that have not yet been approved by the School Committee.
After roughly half an hour of debate, the council voted 7-2 to approve the approximately $8.9 million bulk of the capital requests, which included the school district funding. Robbins and Stratton both voted “no” on the motion.
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra explained that she encouraged the school district to use capital requests as a means to fund its projects in an effort to take weight off of the school district’s general budget. She noted that the capital funds were for projects outside of the School Committee’s range of funding responsibility, per state law, as they did not concern school buildings or grounds.
“These capital expenditures are outside of the operating budget for the school,” the mayor remarked. “I find this all a little bit ironic, because one of the reasons we try and put so many school projects in the CIP is that I’ve tried to relieve pressure on the operating budget of the school by encouraging the school department to request more items as capital that they would have had to make work within their operating budget.”
Other projects
In addition to these financial orders, councils also approved the following projects:
- $2.5 million for sidewalk and road reconstruction at various locations throughout the city.
- $2.1 million from free cash for various capital projects for the schools, fire department, information technology upgrades and more.
- $1.35 million from capital stabilization for various capital projects citywide.
- $700,000 for Department of Public Works vehicles.
- $450,000 for a new boiler at the Academy of Music.
- $914,000 for a cold storage facility for the DPW.
- $300,000 for heat pumps at Jackson Street School.
- $515,700 for paratransit vans for the Northampton Public Schools.
- $760,000 for parking garage repairs and for the parking department vehicles.
- $120,000 for a buildings assessment report.
