[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Gardner 9-5-2006 by Ord. No. 1434. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 11-18-2013 by Ord. No. 1563]
There shall be established in the City of Gardner a Capital Improvement Planning Committee. Members shall consist of the Council President and/or designee(s), the City Engineer, the Director of Community Development and Planning, the City Treasurer, the Director of Public Works, the City Purchasing Agent/Civil Enforcement Director, the City Auditor, and the School Department Business Manager, all of whom shall serve ex officio. The Committee shall choose its own officers.
A. 
The Committee shall study proposed capital projects and improvements involving major nonrecurring tangible assets and projects which:
(1) 
Are purchased or undertaken at intervals of not less than five years;
(2) 
Have a useful life of at least five years; and
(3) 
Cost over $25,000.
B. 
All officers, boards and committees shall, by November 1 of each year, give to the Committee, on forms prepared by it, information concerning all anticipated projects requiring City Council action during the ensuing six years. The Committee shall consider the relative need, impact, timing, and cost of these expenditures and the effect each will have on the financial position of the City.
C. 
No appropriation shall be voted for a capital improvement requested by a department, board, or commission unless the proposed capital improvement is considered in the Committee's report or the Committee shall first have submitted a report to the City Council explaining the omission.
The Committee shall prepare an annual report recommending a capital improvement budget for the next fiscal year and a capital improvement program, including recommended capital improvements for the following five fiscal years. The report shall be submitted to the Mayor for consideration and approval. The Mayor shall submit the approved capital budget to the City Council for adoption.
Such capital improvement program, after its adoption, shall permit the expenditures on projects included therein of sums from departmental budgets for surveys, architectural or engineering advice, options or appraisals, but no such expenditure shall be incurred on projects which have not been so approved by the City through the appropriation of sums in the current year or in prior years, or for preliminary planning for projects to be undertaken more than five years in the future.
The Committee's report and the Mayor's recommended capital budget shall be published and made available in a manner consistent with the distribution of the Mayor's budget recommendations to the City Council. The Committee shall submit its original report to the City Clerk.