John Berry, chair of the Capital Planning Committee, presented the committee's draft ranking at the March 31 Select Board meeting. The committee categorized seven requests: five as highest priority, one medium and one lower priority.

Why it matters: The ranked list guides what the town may place on an upcoming warrant and what the Finance Committee and voters will consider for capital funding. The school project accounts for most of the town's capital total, but the committee also highlighted municipal vehicle and equipment needs.

What the committee presented
- Highest-priority items reported by the committee included: a new truck for the animal control officer (shared-cost arrangement with Medway), two fire-department items (radio receivers and a UTV with trailer intended to replace a brush truck), Library HVAC repairs and a special-education van for the school fleet rotation.
- The committee placed a DPW dump truck in the medium category and a Building Department request for a Chevy Blazer as the lower priority. Committee materials described roughly 19 school vehicles in rotation and a plan to replace one special-education van per year on average.

Points of contention and next steps
- Audience members and a municipal operations speaker challenged the medium ranking for the DPW dump truck, describing heavy rust, frame welding, and a truck taken off the road in other years for safety. Presenters said the truck was bought in 2012 and that an additional truck will be requested the following year.
- John Berry acknowledged variability in committee raw scores, said some committee members gave low rankings and that the committee would revisit the truck's ranking at its next meeting. He said the committee often averages members' scores and that the medium designation does not mean the item is frivolous.
- The board later acted on the capital-warrant draft and removed the Building Department's Chevy Blazer item from Article 8 (see "Votes at a glance"). Berry said the committee would finalize its draft at a meeting the next night.

What was not decided: The precise financing approach for DPW vehicles (lease vs. purchase) and whether to move the dump truck into the highest category remained open; Berry said the committee would reconsider raw scores at its next meeting.