ARTICLE 1 - Town of Natick

ARTICLE 7
Capital Improvement
(Town Administrator)
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate, or otherwise provide, a sum or
sums of money to implement a Capital Improvement Program, to protect the physical
infrastructure of the Town of Natick, determine whether this appropriation shall be raised
by borrowing or otherwise, or otherwise act thereon.
RECOMMENDATION: By a vote of 9-0-0 on September 24, 2009, The Finance
Committee recommends FAVORABLE ACTION with regard to the subject of
Article 7 and that the sum of $165,000 be raised from a borrowing authorization.
The purpose of this article is to fund the replacement of the HVAC rooftop units at
Memorial School.
During the review of this article it was noted:
The request is being made at the Fall 2009 Town Meeting such that the installation of
these units will coincide with replacement of the building roof (approved at a
previous Town Meeting); the project is scheduled to begin in late Spring 2010.
Replacement of these HVAC units will allow for greater efficiency, air quality and
ventilation and, importantly, preserve the integrity of the new roof as both projects
will concur simultaneously.
Delay of this funding authorization until the Spring Town Meeting would effectively
delay the project until Spring of 2011 as the money could not be borrowed in time to
meet the narrow window of opportunity of the summer season while schools are not
in session. Should this Article not be approved by Town Meeting, staff has indicated
delay of the roof repair until such time that both could be performed simultaneously
The placement of these units on the roof would require opening up the roof to install
the curbs which hold the units and provide access to the related duct work, wiring
and piping. As a result, the objective would be to install these units prior to
replacement of the roof.
Once this work was completed, the only item remaining relating to the Memorial
School heating system would be a boiler replacement, which was targeted for two
years out.
The $165,000 budget figure includes standard units equipped for both heating and air
conditioning, although the plan is only to provide air conditioning in administration,
the nurse’s office and the library. A/C could be extended to additional areas if
needed.
If four of the rooftop units were purchased with only heating capability, that would
reduce the cost by approximately $10,000.
The Board of Selectmen voted 5-0-0 to recommend favorable action for $165,000 with
respect to the subject matter of Article 7.
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