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Reminder Assistant Editor AGAWAM Pending the Town Council's approval of the fiscal year 2009 (FY09) budget, Mayor Susan Dawson has appropriated approximately $1.3 million for capital improvements throughout town as part of the latest five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The plan details the most pressing capital improvements over the next five years at a cost of approximately $4.8 million. "I wanted to make sure that we had a five-year plan in place," Dawson said in an interview with Reminder Publications. "I'm looking for transparency [in town government]. I want the public to see what we are doing." Dawson has proposed approximately $1.2 million in general fund appropriations, $47,174 in wastewater fund appropriations, $31,530 in water fund appropriations, $31,100 in Agawam Municipal Golf Course appropriations and $14,537 in ambulance fund appropriations for FY09. Dawson explained that she asked each town department head to provide her with a detailed list of their capital improvement needs over the next five years in order to better determine the most pressing infrastructure needs. Appropriations for FY09 include street and sidewalk improvements, a new high school autism room, four middle school classrooms, parking lot repairs for James Clark Elementary School, real estate revaluation, Hampden County land acquisition and Parks and Recreation, Department of Public Works (DPW), wastewater, Water Department, Fire Department and Municipal Golf Course equipment. Marc Costanzi, principal of Agawam Middle School, said it has been "very discouraging" that the town has left four potential classroom spaces only partially completed. He explained that two summers ago, building maintenance personnel removed the glass roofing from the former gymnasium located in the basement to create three levels of classroom space. Currently, drop cloths, cans of paint, insulation and numerous other tools can be seen in the spaces and no one has come back to finish the job. Costanzi said the basement gymnasium would act as a secondary gym for volleyball and other indoor sports; the main level classroom space will be the band room the band room is currently squeezed into the back half of the school's auditorium and the top level will be used for two large classrooms. Town officials have attributed insufficient funding as the reason for the site's incompletion. Superintendent Mary Czajkowski said, however, that she is "very pleased" with the Capital Improvement Plan funding earmarked for the School Department. She noted the importance of finishing the additional middle school classrooms and also the addition of the high school autism room. Czajkowski explained that rising numbers of students with autism 10 entering preschool this year alone and an incoming high school student with autism has prompted the need for the space at the high school. "The [proposed] autism room at the high school [would] allow us to keep children [in the district] that would otherwise have to be sent elsewhere," Dawson said, adding that "appropriate education standards must be met." Other proposed capital improvement projects throughout the five-year plan include a renovated, expanded or new Town Hall and Public Safety Complex. Dawson explained that Town Hall is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations because there is no elevator for the handicapped. "The general public should have access to their elected officials," she said. The CIP also includes much-needed renovations to the Police Department. Detective Lt. Richard Light, acting police chief, explained that their current facility is not conducive to daily activities the heating and cooling systems need replacement for temperature control, the floors need to be replaced due to chipping and cracking, the weight room has obsolete equipment and the locker room is too small for each police officer's gear, causing them to store their equipment at home and transport it to work daily. Other capital improvements include an energy efficient boiler and windows at the DPW, the Feeding Hills Southwest sewer extension, Main Street sewer replacement, Main, Suffield, Springfield and North Westfield streets water main improvements, a voice-over Internet protocol telephone system, an all-weather track and bleacher repair at the high school, roof replacement at the junior high school and other general repairs to the school buildings. "The program presented represents a realistic financially feasible long term program," Dawson wrote in the CIP's cover memorandum to the Town Council. "With the fiscal uncertainty presented by the Education Reform Act, as well as diminishing state grant and project reimbursement money, the proposed plan may be delayed in its implementation. As revenue estimates become available, revisions shall be made and incorporated in the capital budget portion of the annual budget." | ||||||
