Kevin Gray named chair as Londonderry CIP committee presses staff for clearer scoring and funding plan

Kevin Gray was appointed chair of the Londonderry Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Committee on June 9, and Jeff was appointed co‑chair as the committee opened its first meeting to begin reviewing a roughly $176‑million, multi‑year list of capital projects.

The committee’s immediate direction to staff was procedural and practical: simplify the project scoring form and clearly identify funding sources on each project sheet so members and later decision‑makers can see which projects would impact property taxes and which are expected to be paid by grants, developers or other sources. "The capital improvement program shall classify projects according to the urgency and the need for realization and shall recommend a time sequence for their implementation," a staff member read during the meeting while urging members to focus the form on urgency and revenue sources rather than an opaque numeric score sheet.

Why it matters: committee members said the old scoring sheet produced inconsistent results and confused the public. Several members urged a shorter, evidence‑based form that highlights need (photos, short narratives, compliance drivers), likely funding sources and a short cost/benefit justification so the planning board and council can make policy and budget decisions from a clearer record.

Project highlights reviewed at the meeting included:

- Water projects: Staff reported about $38.45 million in water‑system projects tied to contamination remediation work (transcript reference used the term "PAS"). Two congressionally directed spending grant requests have been submitted to federal offices; staff said those requests, if appropriated, would follow an 80/20 cost‑share model (federal/state or grant/local), meaning the town would expect to cover roughly 20% of approved costs.

- DPW facility and large projects: The DPW garage and related multi‑part projects were discussed as large, multi‑year efforts that will require detailed vetting. A previously cited $45 million planning figure was described as draft and subject to committee and contractor review.

- Roads and bridges: Staff reviewed multiple road and bridge projects, including Bankrooft Road reconstruction (about $1.6 million) and Hall Road Bridge replacement (about $2 million). Staff said some bridges are on a "red list" for structural concerns and that the town will seek to reassign available funds between projects as appropriate.

- Facilities and repairs: The town hall security access control system is expected to be procured imminently (an estimated $57,000) and removed from the FY27 list once contracted. Library repairs and HVAC replacement were discussed (staff cited an $856,000 entry for roof/HVAC work); police roof replacement quotes are being sought (roughly $125,000 estimate). Committee members asked whether multiple municipal roof projects could be bid together to achieve cost savings.

- ERP/financial systems: Staff described the town’s current ERP as "very outdated," reporting vendor support is winding down and the system produces unreliable outputs that impede multi‑year budgeting and financial modeling. Members asked staff to investigate options, including whether the school district or other municipal entities could be co‑served to reduce costs.

Procedure and next steps: Staff said finance will prepare a color‑coded funding matrix showing which projects are expected to be funded by property tax, grants, donations or developer assessments and will provide updated project sheets before departmental presentations. Members agreed to review materials in advance and to ask departments to limit their presentations to concise slides with data (photographs, compliance drivers, need indicators) rather than lengthy narratives. Staff will schedule department presentations at upcoming meetings and circulate revised forms for committee edits.

Motions and votes: The committee conducted voice votes to appoint Kevin Gray as chair and Jeff as co‑chair; staff recorded affirmative responses. No other formal action or budget appropriation was taken at the meeting—the committee framed the CIP as a planning document, not an annual appropriation.

The meeting adjourned after members confirmed next steps on form revision, funding transparency and departmental presentations.