SCITUATE — The select board voted to approve several capital planning projects and contracts for the fiscal year 2027 budget, including some emergency services and climate-related public safety measures, in its meeting Feb. 24.
The capital planning committee opposed both of the projects that the select board voted to include in the capital plan.
$85,000 to replace a “rotted” fire department pickup truck
The fire department requested to purchase a new pickup truck to replace one in its possession from 1986, which Select Board Clerk James Gilmore said is “in such rotted condition, you really can't drive it.”
While the capital planning committee recommended against funding the purchase of a new truck, the select board voted to include $85,000 for the purchase in the fiscal year 2027 capital plan.
Michael Gibson, chair of the capital planning committee, said that the fire department does not currently use the pickup truck, and the department’s proposed use for the new truck—transporting tires with the department’s mechanic—could be performed by other vehicles.
“It is probably not a prudent time to spend free cash if we don't need to,” he said.
He also said that the vehicle is on loan to the fire department from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, so the town would not be able to auction it off.
But Gilmore said that other vehicles were less suited to carry heavy loads like tires and frozen hoses, and that some fire department employees currently use their personal vehicles for that purpose, which he called a liability risk.
“On an average day, this truck is not doing a ton,” Select Board Member Nico Afanasenko said, “but on the days when it's needed, it is really needed.”
$150,000 for sewer system mapping
Towns that operate Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems must map the direction of drainage and make necessary repairs to prevent dumping of waste into the ocean according to federal law, Town Administrator James Boudreau said. The town is appropriating $150,000 for related expenses to the Department of Public Works in fiscal year 2027.
The capital planning committee believes that funding for MS-4, as the regulation around Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems is called, should come from the operating budget, and the select board believes the funding should come from the capital plan.
Gibson said that MS-4 incurs yearly expenses, while the capital plan is supposed to fund one-time purchases.
“I don't think anyone's ever made the argument that this is a capital expense,” Gibson said. “This came out of nowhere seven years ago, and we needed to find a way to fund it, and we used our capital budget to stretch our operating budget, and we have never tightened the belt to be able to account for this.”
The select board still voted to include $150,000 for the Department of Public Works’ MS-4 related engineering expenses in the capital plan, with Select Board Chair Andrew Goodrich saying the decision is “legally allowable.”
“We need to fund it, and I can’t do any other way,” Goodrich said.
$53,000 to repower a police department boat
The select board voted to award Scituate Boat Works, a boat repair and maintenance company, a contract for $53,181 to replace the engine of a boat owned by the police department. $24,999 of that will come from a port security grant, Finance Director Nancy Holt said.
The contract also includes replacing or repairing other parts of the boat and Select Board Member Susan Harrison said that $53,000 was a “good price.”
She also said that the town would sell the boat’s current engine, which is from 2012.
“We have boats that need to go out in an emergency, and you shouldn’t have an older engine when you need a boat to work every single time you turn the switch,” Harrison said.
$165,000 for a second generator at Scituate Middle School
To designate Scituate Middle School as an emergency shelter, it needs two generators to keep electricity running in severe weather events. The select board previously appropriated $164,800 to purchase one from FM Generator, based in Canton, and voted to award the contract to FM Generator Feb. 24.
Additional money for the purchase comes from a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for hazard mitigation, plus $6,000 from the facilities budget.
$18,000 for shorebird management
Scituate is transferring its yearly contract to monitor and manage piping plovers, a threatened species of migratory shorebird, from the Massachusetts Audubon Society to Liam Norton, a birder and Scituate native who held a similar role in Duxbury. His bid of $17,800 won out against Audubon's bid of $22,207, Holt said.
Goodrich said that the monitoring program is required by state law.
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