NORTHAMPTON — The city unveiled its new five-year Capital Improvement Plan for funding infrastructure projects across the city on Thursday, in a City Council meeting that spanned more than six hours and led to contention among councilors and criticism from several members of the public who want the city to prioritize school funding over capital work.

The Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, includes plans for projects spanning from 2026-2030 — a total of about $103.6 million in projected spending across all departments over that time period.

Most of the focus on Thursday was on the first year of the plan, in fiscal 2026. That plan calls for the city to spend a total of about $16.5 million out of general funds and $7 million out of enterprise funds, which are for sewer, water and stormwater and flood control projects.

Of that money, roughly $11.5 million is to be appropriated from various stabilization funds and cash reserves, while the remaining $5 million is to come from borrowing. Of the proposed appropriated funds, $7.4 million is to come from the cash reserves, also known as free cash, with half of that funding to go toward upgrading water and sewer infrastructure along Main Street and another $1.6 million toward safety improvements around Northampton High School.

As part of a public hearing on the CIP, Department of Public Works Director Donna LaScaleia went into detail regarding the projects at the high school and water and the utility work downtown.

She said the safety improvements around the high school included a new parking lot entrance, reconstructing all of the sidewalks throughout the entire corridor and new intersections between Route 9, Woodlawn Avenue and Elm Street, near Northampton High School,complete with new traffic signals. LaScaleia added that it would likely be a monthslong process that would mean work being done during parts of the school year.

“I’m often asked, ‘do you think this can be done while the kids are out of school?’ And it’s simply not possible,” LaScaleia said. “We’re going to have to coexist while school is in session.”

Regarding water and sewer utilities on Main Street, La-Scaleia said that there were water mains along Main Street more than 100 years old, some having been installed as early as 1871. She said the plan was to replace 2,400 feet of pipeline as part of the project, to be done concurrently with the planned Picture Main Street redesign.

“We’ve had a couple of pretty good water main breaks up at Main Street and on Route 66 at the large intersection up beyond the Academy of Music,” LaScaleia said. “We have known problems with this water main, and this is an exceptionally good opportunity for us to resolve those problems.”

Of the city’s proposed borrowing, $3 million is for various paving projects and sidewalk repair, with other borrowing costs for an update to the children’s department and HVAC system at Forbes Library.

Save Our Schools weighs in

During the public comment period of the CIP public hearing, several members of the group Save Our Schools, a group formed in opposition of staff cuts in the Northampton Public School district during last budget season, spoke critically of the proposed infrastructure plan.

Members said that Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra was prioritizing such projects over operational funding, including school staffing. To emphasize their point, several members brought in boxes and stacked them in front of the podium during their public comment, each box representing a different funding item in the CIP and the impact the staff cuts had on the school district.

Shelly Berkowitz, a Northampton resident and member of the group, spoke critically of the plan for the utility upgrades on Main Street.

“This work is only urgent if you choose to rip up Main Street for, in the view of many, an unnecessary and dangerous project,” said Berkowitz, referring to the Picture Main Street project. “A lot of this money would be better spent on essential services to better fund our schools and firefighters and affordable housing.”

Sciarra, who was also present at the public hearing, reiterated her stance that using cash reserves to fund staffing positions would lead to a deficit due to the recurring costs incurred by paying a salaried employee with contractually obligated pay increases over time.

“You always have to make the distinction between these one-time funds, which Capital [Improvement Plan] is funded by, and recurring expenses, which grow every year and compound,” Sciarra said. “You need to be sure they will be available next year, otherwise you will have a deficit.”

Council President Alex Jarrett said that according to his calculations, adding an estimated $2 million to fully staff the school district would mean the city would have to cut $10 million from this year’s CIP budget to make up for future salary increases.

“I absolutely want to fund operating budgets more, especially the schools, but we have to look at the consequences of that,” Jarrett said. “If we want to have a further discussion about those priorities, we can we can do that in finance [committee].”

During the council discussion of the various financial orders pertaining to the CIP, there was also significant debate regarding whether to send the orders to the council’s Finance Committee before taking the final vote. Ward 3 Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg, who also opposed the staff cuts to the school district, questioned whether the council should take more time to review the orders, accusing other councilors of simply deferring to Finance Director Charlene Nardi.

“I think that there is no point in having a city council that simply defers to the finance director,” Rothenberg said. “The finance director has a plan, [but] there’s no point in having a finance committee if all you do is adopt that plan.”

In a counterpoint, Councilor-at-Large Garrick Perry noted that the heads of various city departments also had a role in determining the CIP.

“A lot of work done by these department heads, and I feel the same way that some of us have that these people have not only given themselves to the city, but they gave their time today and their time and effort went into all of these recommendations,” Perry said. “To say no experts touched this is a blatant lie.”

In the end, the financial orders for the CIP appropriations and borrowing were referred to the Finance Committee, where they will be reviewed before being sent back to the council for a final vote.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.