Capital Improvements and You
In what seems like a million years ago, I was just beginning to volunteer for town government. As the new kid on the block I was asked to serve on a new little-known new committee then called the Capital Planning Committee. I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into, but it’s turned out to be a great way to be involved.
Back then, the Committee was doing nothing but preparing a bylaw which aimed to solve a big problem. Capital items, meaning building construction, equipment purchase, and major maintenance was getting far behind. A perfect example close to my heart was school construction. As a result of very poor planning the town had to buy modular classrooms - temporary solutions that were a horrible waste of money. But we had no choice - the growing school population had to go somewhere. By the time the new High School went online we’d spent well over one MILLION dollars on these modular classrooms, many of which had to be placed on an athletic field. I never wanted to see us do that again.
With good planning, we could think ahead. We could gather information from all town departments about their needs over the next five years, or even more. We could plan for the financial implications, inform the town, and rationally prioritize projects when (as always) there wasn’t enough money to go around. We could bring multiple projects together - maybe get a lower cost by replacing two or three roofs the same year, instead of waiting until they each fell apart.
I now find myself in my fourth year as Chairman of the Capital Improvement Committee. I’m honored to serve with some great people - two current Selectmen, a former Selectman, members of the Police and Fire departments, and a great member of the community. It’s a mix of all backgrounds and parties and it works so well together. We’ve recently been joined by a member of the school administration as an ex-officio (non-voting) member, and our Town Administrator attends many meetings.
Any day now we’re expecting delivery of a new ladder truck for the Fire Department, bought through the Capital Plan we presented this past May. And we got some wonderful news about the purchase - a FEMA grant will reimburse us for nearly the full cost. We also recently added air conditioning to the 102-year-old Library - I’m pleased to say under budget. None of this good news could have happened without solid, multi-year planning.
We’re now working on developing the town’s first full Community Resource Profile. This will be a book containing past statistics and future projections on population, growth rate, use of land, and of course - capital project projections. It’s startling how fast we’re growing as a town. All the more reason to have effective long-range plans. I hope to have the Community Resource Profile complete by the end of the year. It will be made available on the town web site, www.douglasma.org.
With or without population growth we’ll always have needs for capital improvements. With good planning we can anticipate our needs, budget responsibly, and keep up with the needs of the town.
If you have any questions about the Capital Improvement Committee, please send me email at mcohen@msystems.com, or call anytime at 508/476-0125.
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Mitch Cohen is Chairman of the Douglas Capital Improvement Committee. He also serves as Chairman of the Cultural Commission and Vice Chair of the Cable Advisory Board. He is also Vice Chair for Community Relations for the Douglas Democratic Town Committee. He has previously served as member and Chairman of the School Committee, member of the School Building Committee, and member of the Executive Administrator Search Committee.
