Published March 27, 2019
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Voters at Annual Town Meeting will be asked to fund $2,140,048 in tax levy-funded capital outlay items for Fiscal Year 2020. An additional $344,000 has been budgeted for the Sewer Division capital outlay and $75,500 for the Water Division.
Chairman Frank Leone presented the Capital Planning Committee’s recommendations before the Town Council this week. Leone said that the committee had met with representatives of all town departments in the process of putting together the capital budget.
Leone said that the amount for IT and fleet-related prior leases had dropped significantly from $693,544 to $233,273. He said that this had freed up funds that could be used in other areas.
The total amount requested for vehicles was $539,500, including $172,000 for three police cruisers and $60,000 for a new DPW truck. A 14-passenger van for the Council on Aging was also included at a cost of $66,000.
For facilities, the total requested amount was $641,000, Leone said. A fire sprinkler system for the Doyle Early Childhood Center is requested at $95,000, along with an upgrade to the fire alarm panel for $26,000. Another $125,000 is requested for rooftop HVAC units at Wakefield Memorial High School. A second boiler at the Dolbeare School is on the list at $100,000. Improvements at the Americal Civic Center are requested at a cost of $25,000.
A sum of $40,000 is requested for repaving cemetery roadways as well as $50,000 for town-owned parking lots.
A total of $367,950 is requested for fields and parks, including a long-awaited upgrade of the McKenna Tennis Courts at Veterans Field for $175,000. Leone said that the courts will also be striped for pickle ball. Another $192,950 is earmarked for upgrading the surface and equipment at the Greenwood School playground.
A total of $165,225 is requested for “miscellaneous” items, including a walk-in freezer at the high school ($75,000), safety equipment for the DPW ($25,000), a replacement of the freestanding sign at the Americal Civic Center ($15,000) and breathing apparatus for the Fire Department ($7,500).
For townwide IT equipment and software, $83,100 is requested.
The Water and Sewer capital budgets are not funded by tax levy but by the water and sewer rates.
The $344,000 requested for the Sewer capital budget would fund a new dump truck (with plow) for $175,000 as well as various improvements to the sewer system.
The Water Division capital outlay request of $75,500 includes $25,000 for fire hydrant replacements.
The FY 2020 Capital Outlay budget will appear as an article on the April 29, 2019 Annual Town Meeting warrant.
