RESIDENT CAPITAL REQUESTS DUE NEXT WEEK

Is there a particular project you’ve been wanting to see happen in Amherst for years? Now is your chance to propose it to the Town! 

Residents have only one more week to submit proposals for inclusion in next year’s Capital Improvement Plan. Submissions are completed using an online form and must be received by Friday, November 29, 2019 at 4:30 PM in order to be considered for the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) capital budget.

The submission, which will go to the Joint Capital Planning Committee (JCPC) for review, must include an estimate of the cost, the useful life, and a project description and justification.

This is the third year that the Town has invited capital requests from residents. For FY20, there were eight submissions, three of which related to sidewalks. One of the eight, for an initial survey for a sidewalk along East Pleasant Street, was included in the Public Works’ capital plan submitted to the Town Manager and will go forward. The petitioners had submitted the same request for FY19 but it had not been successful.

Another submission — for a Crocker Farm Expansion Study — was not included in the Schools’ capital plan but did make it into the final Town Manager’s budget and was ultimately approved by the Town Council. The Crocker Farm study is scheduled to begin this December and finish by the end of March 2020. The information it will produce will help identify options and costs related to the ongoing efforts to deal with the Town’s elementary school buildings.

The Resident Capital Request process is one way for residents to have a say in how their property taxes are spent.