DALTON, Mass. — The Capital Planning Committee held its first meeting last week; the first step in a yearlong process of developing a five-year capital plan. 

 

The meeting kicked off with Thomas Irwin, a Finance Committee member, elected chairman, and Dennis Croughwell, a Planning Board member, elected vice chair. 

 

The committee was established during the annual town meeting in May 2025. Irwin was instrumental in developing the Capital Planning Committee, which was modeled on the town of Lee's committee.

 

The goal is to produce a practical, prioritized five-year capital improvement plan that helps the Select Board and Finance Committee make informed budget and capital decisions. 

 

According to Town Manager Eric Anderson, the committee is responsible for collecting and reviewing all capital plans that impact the town.

 

This includes plans from departments and agencies outside its direct authority, such as the water department, fire department, schools, and relevant Pittsfield agencies — especially those concerning sewer and wastewater treatment.

 

The committee's goal is to gain a comprehensive understanding of capital needs and their budgetary impact across all sectors, and then prioritize these needs based on urgency.

 

The committee is developing a framework for the work ahead, specifically discussing potential funding sources, the methodology for gathering information, and a clear capital threshold. 

 

According to a previous meeting, the plan will include sections for several areas, including bridges, culverts, municipal separate storm sewer systems, roads, sidewalks, the complete streets plan, building and grounds, vehicles, equipment, and more. 

 

Committee members also emphasized the need to integrate the Master Plan into the five-year capital plan, because several of the items in the document are "aggressive" and can not be done within the span of five-years. 

 

The Master Plan is an extensive document, more than 100 pages long, so committee members also recommended the development of a condensed, digestible version to inform their work.

 

Early on in the meeting, the committee tried to determine potential funding sources, aside from borrow, to consider including free cash, the capital stabilization fund, state or federal grants, such as the Enterprise Fund, technical grants from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and competitive grants.

 

It was demonstrated that a lot of grants require projects to be shovel-ready with cost estimates. 

 

Committee members raised questions about the threshold for defining a capital project and plan to coordinate with the Finance Committee to clarify this.

 

Threshold mentions included $10,000 and a useful life of five years, or $25,000 and five years. 

 

It was proposed that the committee's work be done in phases, from June through September would be preparatory, where background material is gathered, including five-year plans, relevant intermunicipal agreements, and encouraging departments to start assembling capital plan requests. 

 

From Oct. 15 through Jan. 15, capital plan requests should be submitted and intensive work in the plans development would commence. 

 

Committee members advocated to meet roughly twice monthly through Jan. 15 of each year to compile, prioritize, and finalize the five-year capital plan for the Select Board and Finance Committee by mid-January, prior to the start of budget season. 

 

The committee agreed to avoid being active from February to April as many members are tied up with Finance Committee duties.

 

The committee will meet the last Thursday in February to approve a timeline, format, and what information it will require from department heads.