Town of Uxbridge capital planning members were told the town council believes the committee does not have authority to impose a sunset clause on projects that have already been funded, but the committee can add sunset provisions to future approvals.

The discussion began when Speaker 4 said the town council’s opinion is that “capital planning committee does not have the authority to apply a sunset clause to already funded of projects”. Members then asked whether a sunset clause could be written into the policy or attached to individual project approvals. Speaker 4 recommended two options: amend the capital policy to include a sunset clause or, at the time of approving a project, include language that funding will be rescinded or presented to town meeting if work does not begin within a specified period (speaker 4 suggested 18 months).

Speaker 5 noted there is a clause in the existing policy but suggested the wording may be problematic. The committee agreed they cannot “backtrack” to rescind funding on projects already open, but can apply sunset language going forward and use regular check-ins to ensure projects progress.

What comes next: members discussed two practical paths: (1) amend the capital policy to include a clear sunset clause and reissue guidance to departments, or (2) add explicit conditional language in each project approval so the committee can recommend rescinding funding or referring the matter to town meeting if activity does not start within the agreed timeframe. No vote or formal motion on either path was recorded in the transcript. The committee asked staff to clarify current policy wording and return with proposed language.

The committee’s discussion distinguished between retroactive authority (not available, per council) and prospective controls (available and recommended).