Selectboard adds placeholder CIP requests for equipment, plans police cruiser replacements

The selectboard voted to add several planning placeholders and new requests to the town's capital improvement plan, including heavy equipment and engineering money to study downtown drainage.

Deb (speaker 7), who presented the CIP, said pages 1–2 reflect previously approved projects and noted new requests on pages 3–4. Board members questioned cost projections: state bid pricing for dump trucks was quoted around $238,000 with up‑fits. On police cruisers, Deb said the department "pretty much purchased 2 a year" and discussed whether leasing or buying would be preferable; buying could mean a one‑year budget hit of roughly $80,000 but simplify future operating budgets.

The board left some line items blank as placeholders pending specific quotes and directed staff to coordinate with Kevin to provide engineering cost estimates for drainage work. Committee member (speaker 5) moved to adopt the new CIP request dated 08/31/26 and the motion passed by roll call.