$3.7 million proposed for 2012 projects

By CHELSEY POLLOCK
Union Leader Correspondent
DERRY -- After a shuffling of proposed projects, the town’s updated Capital Improvement Plan calls for $3.7 million in funding for 2012.
Derry Chief Financial Officer Frank Childs presented the town’s CIP proposal for fiscal years 2012 to 2017 to the Planning Board Wednesday night. The plan establishes a rough timeline for completing capital projects requested from department heads. 
“These are the needs that ultimately need to be met,” said Childs at Wednesday’s meeting. “The question of when they will actually be funded in the operating budget will depend on the available funds and the ability to bond.” 
In last year’s budgetproposal, the CIP for 2012 called for $17.5 million in project funding, said Childs. But after staff restructured the proposal this time around, that number has been brought down to $3.7 million. 
The largest changes to the 2012 plan come from projects that were pushed out to coincide with other work in the area. 
For example, the million-dollar reconstruction of a portion of Rockingham Road was moved to 2014 to synchronize with sewer extension to the area of Ryan’s Hill on Route 28, which is slated for the same timeframe. 
A $5.4 million plan to extend sewer to Sunset Acres has also been pushed back to 2014 to coincide with the water and sewer extension on Route 28, according to the CIP document. Construction of a $3 million Warner Hill water tank was also moved to 2014. 
Engineering work for the Route 28 wastewater systems is scheduled for 2012 at $1.2 million, according to the plan. 
The culvert on Drew Road had been slated for replacement in 2012, but its failure last March forced an earlier reconstruction this year. That $300,000 has been removed from the 2012 proposal. 
Money has also been put into the plan for replacing portable and mobile police radios. The $275,000 would replace radios that are either no longer supported by the manufacturer or set to expire in March 2012, according to the document. 
To balance that request, the $150,000 replacement of police base radio equipment has been pushed out to 2015. 
Town Administrator John Anderson reiterated Wednesday that the CIP is only a preliminary guideline as staff move into the budget process. 
“Until we go through the budgets for the town and individual departments, we don’t have a real good handle on what sort of money is available,” he said.