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Call Asks Funds for Road Projects, Security, Energy

WESTBROOK - At a town meeting on Monday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m., voters will consider using saved town funds to pay for planned capital projects to install school security and energy conservation upgrades and to perform engineering studies to plan for needed bridge replacements.

The town traditionally puts money away over several years in capital reserve funds in order to pay cash for future purchases of a product or a service. When it is time to buy the needed capital item or service, the town meeting acts to approve moving the funds from the capital reserve account to another against which the bill for the purchase can be charged.

The first spending request is to appropriate $175,000 to pay for bridge replacement engineering services and to make planned road infrastructure improvements. The specific project descriptions were approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2014-'18 Capital Improvement Plan.

The planned appropriation would fund various public works projects, including engineering studies to replace Flat Rock Place culverts, the replacement of Winthrop Road Bridge, the repair of the Wesley Avenue bridge, and various road paving projects.

After the appropriation, the town's capital non-recurring account for public works equipment would have a balance remaining of $226,643.

The second capital request is for $129,614 from the town's Long-Term Capital Improvement Program (LOCIP) account to install security measures at school buildings. The specific security projects were identified as part of a Westbrook Public Schools audit of safety and security equipment and facilities infrastructure at town school buildings.

The Town Meeting will also be asked to approve a supplemental appropriation of $61,447 for the already approved Daisy Ingraham boiler project. The supplemental appropriation will be later offset in total by a Connecticut Light & Power incentive payment intended to reward the town for reducing the building's energy usage.

Each of the appropriations on the Town Meeting Call is for projects listed in the town's approved Fiscal Year 2014-'18 Capital Improvement Plan. These capital projects are independent of the bonded capital projects the town approved last month at referendum.