[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town
of Easton 6-6-2005 by Art. 28.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is created in furtherance of the provisions of
§ C6-6 of the Easton Home Rule Charter to provide additional
information regarding the role of the Capital Planning Committee as
well as the capital planning process.
A.
The
Capital Planning Committee (hereinafter "the Committee") is charged
with the responsibility of planning and subsequently recommending
to the Town Administrator a Capital Improvement Program identifying
the Town's future capital projects, programs, improvements and
acquisitions having a useful life of at least five years and a cost
of at least $25,000, including requests for funds for a class of assets
that exceeds $25,000.
[Amended 5-20-2013 ATM
by Art. 34]
B.
The
development and implementation of a Capital Improvement Program is
essential to the sound and cost effective maintenance of the infrastructure
and capital assets of the community. Towards this end, the committee
is dedicated to accomplishing the following objectives:
(1)
To review, evaluate, plan and coordinate capital improvements so
as to promote a systematic, organized replacement and acquisition
schedule;
(2)
To promote timely planning and the efficient implementation of capital
improvements;
(3)
To promote wider community awareness regarding the planning of projects
and to reduce the pressure to fund a project which has not been weighed
against immediate and long-range community-wide needs;
(4)
To annually present a report to the Town Administrator, said report
to include a five-year (minimum) Capital Program, as well as a proposed
one-year Capital Budget listing recommended projects in order of priority.
A.
All
officers, departments, boards and committees shall give to the Capital
Planning Committee, by October 1 of each year and on a form prepared
by it, information concerning all capital projects, programs, improvements
and acquisitions anticipated as necessary during the next five years;
presentation of planned capital expenditures beyond this five-year
period is encouraged to the extent that such information is known.
The Committee shall consider all such requests and, in doing so, may
confer with any town officer, department or board or request additional
data it feels it needs in order to fulfill its responsibilities.
B.
The
Committee shall, based on the information received by it, prepare
and recommend to the Town Administrator a Capital Improvement Program
(hereinafter "the Program") detailing the Committee's recommendations
for the capital items to be funded, as well as the associated timing,
for the ensuing five-year period. The Program is updated annually,
with the first program year deleted and a new fifth program year added.
C.
In
evaluating and scheduling the requests of the operating departments,
the Committee will use the following criteria, listed in order of
priority:
[Amended 5-20-2013 ATM
by Art. 34]
(1)
Imminent threat to the health and safety of citizens or property.
(2)
Requirement of state or federal law or regulation.
(3)
Existing capital assets that for reasons of age, operability, or
functionality have become obsolete or in need of replacement.
(4)
Improvement in technology or the physical infrastructure that will
create greater efficiency, lower operational cost of the an asset
or program, or achieve an important public safety, educational, economic,
or quality of life goal of the Town of Easton.
(5)
Improvement of a capital asset to facilitate maintenance of operations,
not to include ordinary maintenance: these are intended to be expenditures
that will avoid costly replacement in the future.
(6)
Alleviation of an overburdened situation.
D.
The
relationship of the project to other town projects and needs will
also be considered in the review and prioritization.
E.
Requests
that can be funded from sources that will not impact the operating
budget, and also do not necessitate an exclusion or override of Proposition
2 1/2 (such as those funded from an enterprise account, conservation
fund, grant or similar source) will be considered separately. Further,
projects, acquisitions and other expenditures from the Community Preservation
Act fund and acquisitions pursuant to MGL c. 61, c. 61A and c. 61B
shall not be subject to the Capital Planning Process. However, the
CPA Committee and/or other proponent of such expenditures are encouraged
to present their projects to the Capital Planning Committee to facilitate
coordination of efforts, as may be applicable.
[Amended 6-12-2006 STM
by Art. 2]
F.
The
Capital Program and the Capital Budget (see below) will be finalized
by the Town Administrator.
[Amended 6-12-2006 STM
by Art. 2; 5-20-2019 ATM by Art. 21]
A.
Annually,
the first year of the Capital Improvement Program shall be submitted
to the Town Administrator as the recommended Capital Budget; the Town
Administrator shall finalize the Capital Budget and submit it to the
Select Board and Finance Committee in accordance with § C6-6
of the Charter.
B.
No
Capital projects, programs, improvements or acquisitions, as defined
in this Chapter, shall be funded unless the item is included in the
Capital Budget for the then-current year or is determined by the Select
Board (which determination shall be conclusive) that such project,
program, improvement or acquisition was unforeseen at the time the
Capital Budget for the then-current year was prepared and that delaying
the funding of such project, program, improvement or acquisition until
the preparation of the next Capital Budget would not be in the best
interests of the Town. This shall not preclude the funding of citizens'
petitions for bonded items, subject to Town Meeting approval.
