SWAMPSCOTT— The Select Board Committee gathered Tuesday evening inside Swampscott High School to discuss updates regarding the Capital Improvement Plan.
Town Treasurer, Patrick Luddy, came before the board to elaborate on some recently completed projects. Some of the main highlights that were discussed were the new Swampscott elementary school, repair work on the seawall and upgrades to the middle-school STEM lab.
Some projects are still in the preliminary phases, like work on King’s Beach, Pedestrian safety improvements, Clarke school renovation and electric vehicle charging stations. New Library entryways The Town Hall basement renovation is also currently underway.
Debt Management and reserve analysis will be updated to incorporate new requests and inform the finance committee of available resources for capital needs.
The select board also began eyeing police cruiser replacements as another point of interest to tackle in the near future.
A significant project anticipated for the 2026 fiscal year would be sewer system improvements. Amount is to be determined at a future date. The expected lifecycle of the new improvements would be 50+ years. Water meters will also be replaced, which would cost approximately $3 million, and were last replaced back in 2005. High school security upgrades would cost $500,000, with a 15+ year lifecycle.
Policy decisions regarding pension, OPEB liabilities, future borrowing is weighted more heavily under new credit ration methodology, effective September 1st
Another item discussed during the meeting was the climate resiliency plan. Board Member Doug Thomas explained how some of the tasks the plan hopes to address are the following: project administration; community engagement; coastal vulnerability analysis; neighborhood flood protection for Fisherman’s Beach. The expected total for all these services is $291,500.
