Public Works presents FY27 operating plan; sewer anomaly clouds headline change

A DPW presentation to the Board of Selectmen laid out the department’s FY27 request, showing a near-flat operating budget once wastewater is excluded and a substantial capital plan that the department said can be pared back.

The presenter summarized the operating picture: “Looking at it overall, including the sewer, we're at a minus 1.11, but if I take the sewer budget out, we're at 0.88 overall,” the presenter said, noting that a sewer accounting anomaly and contingency lines drive the headline change.

Operating details: administration lines were trimmed (professional services reduced by ~$10,000), engineering moved some costs between lines to better match spending, and town building cleaning/service contracts increased after a competitive re-bid. The highway budget rose ~3.84% reflecting contract step increases and overtime; DPW said the town manages storm costs through overtime and contingency rather than a dedicated storm account.

Capital priorities: the presentation listed an $18M capital program before reductions, with major items including a pavement-management program (payment/road management) the presenter placed around $3.5M, sidewalk replacement needs identified at roughly $5.35M over multiple years (requesting $750,000 in FY27), an ADA walkway between the turf field and Lapham ($350,000), culvert/bridge maintenance ($250,000), and Waveny House HVAC/exterior works that together account for multiple millions. The presenter noted a $1.5M intersection improvement project contingent on a WestCOG/state grant; if grant funds are not committed, DPW will not proceed with bonded work.

Procurement and timing: fleet purchases follow a replacement cycle with lead times of 6–12 months; some equipment (striping, fuel pumps, salt brine tanks) were moved into capital to allow multi-year contract carryover. DPW reported capital projects across the current fiscal year are running under budget overall and contingency remains available for reallocation.

Next steps: DPW will reconcile unspent capital/contingency with the finance office, provide requested line-item reconciliations and return to the board with a trimmed capital list for bonding approval.