A.    CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Hall called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.

B.     ROLL CALL AND REVIEW OF STAFF ATTENDANCE

Members present:     Chair James A. Hall, IV, Vice Chair Richard W. Constantine, Secretary Christopher K. Lawlor, Alternate Secretary Justin M. Hopkins, and Members Jason A. Parker and Dylan Kosten

Members absent:       Member Catherine DeNoia and Auxiliary Member Joseph M. Montesano

Staff present:             Assistant Solicitor for Planning & Zoning Atty. Scott Levesque, Town Planner Nancy Letendre, and Minute Taker Stephanie J. LaSota

C.    APPROVAL AND REVISION OF MINUTES

None.

D.    OLD BUSINESS

None.

E.     NEW BUSINESS

1.      Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

Review, discussion and possible action and/or continuation to a future meeting by the Planning Board, on an advisory opinion to the Town Manager and the Board of Finance regarding proposed capital improvement projects seeking funding in Fiscal Year 2020-2021 (FY21) for the Department of Development Services, the Department of Public Works, the Police Department, the Information Technology Department, and the School Department.

Mr. Rooney said the Town Planner did well with putting the Planning Department's Comprehensive Plan information into the template along with the CIP items. Ms. Letendre explained the CIP was for the Board's consideration as it's directly related to the Comprehensive Plan and she wanted to express that in the document titled "Capital Improvement Program Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Planning Board discussion and preparation of recommendations to the Town Manager and the Board of Finance regarding capital requests for fiscal year 2020-2021". The document was marked as Exhibit 1 for the record. Ms. Letendre said Ms. Baker explained some of the CIP projects to her and it became clear that a few would fall under operations maintenance. She said they eliminated five items because of that and there are a few others that are maintenance and repairs, but she felt they rose to the level of consistency with the Comprehensive Plan and needed to be upgraded and included in the CIP.   Ms. Letendre continued to explain the contents of Exhibit 1, which was distributed to Town Staff and Board members at the meeting. There was discussion on some of the language referenced to justify CIP expenditures as well as discussion on pages 4 and 9 regarding references to Westerly participating in the Resilient Rhody Municipal Resilience Program.

Mr. Lawlor asked about the relationship between the sewage treatment plant and a possible new sewer line. Mr. Rooney said regulating agencies will enforce upgrades by standards of allowable nitrogen discharge, which are set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Health, so the Town will need to invest money in order to stay compliant. He said regulatory upgrades could cost $4 to $6 million for one standard or $8 to $10 million for another standard. Mr. Rooney said the issue with maximum capacity is not created by adding a sewer line, but because of an aging system and the system being overwhelmed by groundwater and stormwater discharge. There was discussion that there were some items once considered maintenance repair that are now CIP, such as the Town Hall HVAC system, windows, and finance security requirements, among others.

            Ms. Letendre continued reading through Exhibit 1. Ms. Baker said the Chromebook replacement line item will be taken out of the school's CIP. Ms. Letendre said she would remove that from her list. She then explained the CIP line items listed and that each was given a weighted score based on things like protection of life and maintenance of public health, among seven others. Mr. Rooney said he thinks the weighted score may cause more confusion than benefit. Atty. Levesque said there's no legal requirement for the Planning Board to score the CIP items. There was discussion on how the Town does prioritize CIP items. Mr. Rooney said Town Council leaves it up to himself and Town staff to decide on priority budget items. Mr. Constantine said perhaps at some point they can make the weighted scores useful to the Town Manager and staff during the budget process. There was further discussion on how items should be rated and also the need to differentiate between capital improvement funds and maintenance funds. There was a review of the recommended action by the Planning Board drafted by the Town Planner. Atty. Levesque advised the Planning Board they could make a motion to recommend the CIP project as set forth in the Town Planner's memo marked Exhibit 1 and as modified this evening. Ms. Letendre asked for leeway as to how to format it as she's not sure how Town Council will want to receive it.

            Mr. Constantine made a motion made to adopt the motion as presented by Atty. Levesque and Ms. Letendre. Mr. Lawlor seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.  

F.     ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER'S REPORT

G.    ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Hopkins made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:58 p.m. Mr. Kosten seconded the motion. The motion CARRIED by unanimous vote with no abstentions.

Approved by vote of the Board on February 18, 2020