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04/29/2015 09:48 AMLast week’s town approval of the five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) means that in 2015-’16, the town constables will get new radios that will allow them to the communicate with the new State Police system, a critical safety concern.
The cost for the radio replacement is $55,000.
Other funds for support of the public safety mission were also approved. On the approved and funded list for 2015-’16 was $35,000 to replace one police cruiser, $100,000 to replace the firehouse generator, $55,000 for needed repairs to the firehouse interior, and a $600,000 allocation for already-approved, bond-funded capital equipment purchases for the Fire Department.
Also in the CIP was funding for Phase Two of the interoperability communications program of Emergency Management at a cost of $140,000.
Approved for the Westbrook Senior Center was $15,300 to replace kitchen appliances, $100,000 to replace roof flashing and make other repairs to stop leaks in the Mulvey Center roof, $30,000 for seawall repairs, and $48,000 for needed repairs to athletic fields at Westbrook High School.
For the school buildings, the CIP includes $44,000 for Board of Education buildings and $86,250 for Board of Education system-wide capital improvements.
The $44,000 allocation is to pay for three items: the next phase of Daisy Ingraham School room heater replacements, for replacement of high school exhaust fans, and for a study to examine and make recommendations for improvements to the high school auditorium’s sound and lighting systems.
The $86,250 is to pay for the first phase of implementation of a new district-wide phone system.
Finally, the town also approved a $30,000 expenditure to the Zoning Commission to support a consultant’s services to re-write the town’s zoning regulations.
Not included in the approved CIP plan were two requests. These two did not win Board of Finance for inclusion in the CIP at this time. One was a request for $50,000 for a new fire chief’s vehicle and the other was for $700,000 to install a new emergency communications system. These items were deferred and not funded in the plan.
Two capital items that had been carried in the five-year CIP in past years were removed entirely from the CIP approved last week. Those two items were $1.5 million to pay for a new community center and $250,000 to complete a lower-level renovation at the Westbrook Library. Those items are no longer included in the town’s long-term capital improvement plans.
Other Town Action
At last week’s Town Meeting, electors also voted to approve nominations to several town commissions and to amend town ordinances to delete Health/Sanitarian department fees and adopt an amended schedule of fees for building department services.
In a separate action, the electors voted to amend town ordinance Chapter 18, Article 1, Section 18-43, to allow the Board of Selectmen to adopt a schedule of health department/sanitarian fees as proposed by the director of health.