Capital Planning Committee Alan Slavin and School Superintendent Barry Rabinovitch presented a five-year Capital Expenditure Plan that estimated that the town would need to spend over $58 million in capital improvements to schools, The Police Department and the Council on Aging before 2015, including an estimated $4 million for 2011. While stressing that they were not asking for the money at this Town Meeting, the committee emphasized that the expenses will soon come due.

"We can't just spend money to spend money anymore," Capital Planning Committee Chair Alan Slavin said after the meeting, arguing that the town needed to become aware of the expenses facing the community, as well as the fact that, in these difficult financial times, the community was going to have to find creative ways to fund the projects.

The committee members interviewed members of each town department and asked each to document their upcoming needs and estimate and prioritize the expenses associated with each. It did the same with the school department. The estimates depend on several variables, which the committee acknowledged in their preliminary report, but Slavin said that it was still important to get the town to plan ahead for their future needs.

Over half of the money, $32 million, was estimated for the School Department. Both Decas and Minot Elementary Schools need to be renovated within the time frame at an estimated cost (with a 50 % state reimbursement from the state) of $12,500,000 each. School Superintendent Barry Rabinovitch presented his portion of the report and prioritized an estimated $500,000 for a feasibility study to be completed for Minot Forest Elementary School.

He said that his most urgent building expenditure was replacing the temporary, portable classrooms at Minot Forest and Decas Elementary that have "outlived their usefulness." The classrooms are recommended to be used no more than a decade. Most have been used for between twelve and fifteen years, Rabinovitch said.

The Police Department estimated costs of $12,242,000, with the major expenditure being an $11 million station proposed for 2015. The report suggests that funding this over 5 years may be preferable. The department estimated $513,000 for 2011, with over half of the expense, $225,000, devoted to replacing the radio infrastructure. The next major expenditure was $128,000 to replace four police cruisers.

The Council on Aging submitted the third highest costs with an estimated $9,159,100. A new building for the department is estimated at $9.1 million, but was budgeted for 2015.

Municipal Maintenance estimated expenses of $1,757,000, with 2011 costs of $565,000. Next year's costs are mostly to replace vehicles.

Departments submitting estimates of under $1 million included Emergency Medical Services ($725,000), Water Pollution Control Facility ($597,500), Town Buildings ($480,000), Information technology / communications ($459,000), Harbormaster ($322,000), Wareham Free Library ($204,700) and Health Department ($80,000).

Slavin said that the committee's next step would be to analyze the estimates and try and find creative ways to fund the expenses.

He suggested that the town might investigate collaborations to reduce costs, possibly sharing infrequently used equipment among towns in the region or among several departments.

Other options he suggested included consolidating dispatch services, or possibly contracting out school transportation services.

He said that these and other options would be explored as the committee continued to meet and held public meetings over the summer to try and get the public's feedback. The committee will also be working to develop a maintenance schedule for town expenditures.

"It's always pay me now or pay me later," Slavin said. "We've really been paying later."