The New London Capital Equipment and Projects Committee approved a list of equipment purchases and projects for 2015 totaling $289,795.
Also at its Dec. 16 meeting, the committee continued to look at its long range (10-year) capital project priorities totaling $5.4 million.
City Finance Director Judy Radke encouraged committee members and department heads to continue the discussion of long-term capital projects and equipment within their sub-committees.
Members reviewed two working spreadsheets that list projects and equipment under $25,000, and those over $25,000.
“It’s important we keep reviewing these schedules and keep away from going out to debt for anything more than what we have to,” said Radke.
She said approximately $250,000 per year is budgeted for equipment and projects.
“We cannot afford much more than that overtime through our normal budget process,” said Radke.
The committee continues to look at bonding options in 2015 for the longer term larger than $25,000 projects.
It also discussed the possibilities of keeping TIFF 2 open for an additional year. Radke is currently looking for reasonable expenditures and researching the benefits of holding it open for another year.
“We can still bond, but it would give us a few more months to look through our list of projects,” said Radke.
The city could potentially increase the one time payout from the closure of TIFF 2 from $150,000 to $300,000, by holding it open an additional year. She said, that payout could then be used to assist with capital projects.
Among the city’s long term, ‘greater than $25,000 projects’ are a number of street and road repairs that would be included in the bonding issue.
“I think road projects are very much a priority of this committee,” said Radke. “That’s why I think we need to keep looking at this and having these kinds of discussions.”
The committee will meet again on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m.
Approved for 2015
Of the $289,795 approved Tuesday, $175,500 was for equipment and $114,295 for projects.
Equipment purchases approved included $12,000 for public works, $35,800 for parks and recreation, $91,000 for police equipment, $35,000 for interdepartmental equipment such as software and computers, and $1,700 for museum equipment.
Projects approved included $46,915 for buildings/grounds which falls under parks and recreation, $29,500 for economic development, $23,340 for museum projects, and $14,540 for the library.
Equipment
The $12,000 equipment request from public works would be used to replace the 1993 Flail mower. The $35,800 for parks and recreation equipment would include $20,000 for replacing the 1994 building and grounds van, $10,800 for the senior center bus and $5,000 for a dual axel trailer.
The $91,000 for police equipment includes $7,000 for in-car video cameras, $65,000 for police cars, and $19,000 for police radios.
The $35,000 interdepartmental equipment total includes yearly computer, license renewals and purchases.
The $1,700 for the museum equipment includes $1,200 for a fire-proof cabinet and $500 for changes to enhance the ergonomics of work stations.
Projects
The $49,915 approved for parks and recreation building and grounds includes: budgeting $10,000 for tennis court resurfacing at Abraham Park (7-years), $3,015 for museum furnace replacement, $2,000 for bike racks on city properties, $20,000 for replacing ice-damaged pilings at Riverside boat launch, $6,200 for city hall HVAC replacement, $3,800 for fitness room cardio equipment replacement, and $1,900 for a police department roof assessment.
The $29,500 approved for economic development will be used for updating the city billboard faces and lighting of both sides $19,500, and $10,000 to replace the “Welcome to New London” signage fund.
The $23,040 of museum projects include: $8,000 for new carpeting, $12,930 for installing copact storage units in the archives, $2,110 for replacing and installing UV filters on the front windows and lighting fixtures, and $300 to put additional lighting in the local military history exhibit section.
The $14,540 for the library will be used for digitizing the newspaper reels.