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CAPITAL PLANNING COMMITTEE
July 10, 2024
Ritter Building, Upper Conference Room
960 Massachusetts Ave.
Lunenburg, MA 01462
Vice Chair  Tom Alonzo, C hair  Peter Beardmore , Clerk  Matt Brenner, Finance Committee
Representative Chris Menard
• Call to Order
The meeting opened at  8:00 PM.
• Public Comment
a. CPC Members
Tom Alonzo states there are  vacancies  on the Board.  Anyone who is 
interested should fill out an  application online  and submit  it  to the Town 
Moderator to then address with the Select Board.
b.    Public
 Dave Passios , 56 Whiting Road , has previous ly  suggested to the 
Committee and the Select Board  that any remaining  funds that have not been 
allocated  or need to  be allocated  should be put towards smaller 
infrastructure projects that remain  on the capital planning list . Tom Alonzo  
and  Chris  Menard  agree .
• Reorganization
 T om Alonzo nominated Peter Beardmore for Chair. All in favor. 
 Matt Brenner nominated To m Alonzo for V ice C hair . All in favor.
 Tom Alonzo  nominated  Matt Brenner for Clerk . All in favor.
• Discussion of 5-Year Capital Plan
 This year will be different because there is now a budget task force  in charge of 
the capital plan and there will be a new  T own M anager.
Tom Alonzo states H eather Lemieux  sent an email of a drafted budget calendar 
to all Committee and Board c hairs.
 The facilities director is going to be out on paternity  leave and that department 
does have a lot of capital requests.
Tom Alonzo suggests having a review and  discussion of years  2, 3, and 4 that 
were made last year  t o determine where they are on the priority level.
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Chris Menard  questions if all department  heads  are trained in putting together a 
5-year  plan . A n  estimate needs to be put together as part of the ir  forecast 
including how  much should b e spent on capital planning over the next 5 years 
along with balancing what can be afforded. 
Tom A lon z o wants to formalize and create a standard revolving around the 
Collins sco ring. Matt Brenner suggests providing the department heads with 
examples because there are very wide areas for interpretation. 
Chris Menard suggests we have brand guidelines.
Chris M enard  states  if someone is saying their  efficiency  increases by procuring 
capital equipment,  that he wants to see the  productivity increase associated with 
the labor . If hundreds of thousands  of dollars are  being  sent to save efficiently  
then  it needs to be presented.
Tom  Alonzo says we are lacking tools that would be helpful. Specifically  
budgeting  software needs to be implemented as opposed to Excel.
Chris Mena rd discussed projects that may be eligible for a grant with the 
additional help from  grant writing services.  Peter  Beardmore suggests organizing  
potential  projects into  groups . The se projects should be grant fundable, possibl y  
sourced through C hapter 90 or free cash.
• Discussion of Capital Planning Process going into FY26
 Peter Beardmore intends to create a proposed guideline  over the next few weeks  
for the capital planning process.
  Tom Alonzo suggests asking for information from department  heads in the 
summer as opposed to the traditional October.
 Capital planning p resentations include –  P ublic S afety , DPW, Schools, IT , 
Facilities .
• Action Items for Next Meeting
 The  Committee wants to create and b ring forward a plan  of what input is needed 
from the department heads  for the upcoming capital planning process . P eter 
Beardmore will reach out to department  heads  and town manager  for input . The ideal  
is to come  out from  that meeting with  a standard .
 Additionally, a calendar needs to be created .
• Confirm Subsequent CPC Meetings (Date, Time and Location)
 July 29 th  at  7PM  –  location  is TBA
• Public Comment
a. Public
Ana Lockwood , 9 1  M ain S treet , questioned if all  the  population is being 
reached  with our priorities. Suggests delaying some of the large capital 
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projects to help some of the less pop u lar requests. 
Dave Pasios , 56 W hiting Street, every  committee involved with finances  in
town going into the ne xt budget seas on  needs to identify the needs 
outside of the available revenue. Once the needs are identified for the 
next 5 years there needs to be serious discussion about where revenue is 
going to come from to accomplish those needs. 
b. CPC Members
 There were no Committee comments.
• Adjournment
 There was a motion to adjourn by Tom Alonzo seconded by Chris Menard. All in  
 favor.
The meeting closed at  9:11 PM.