Capital Investment & Infrastructure

In 2023, the Capital Planning Committee called the outlook for the Town’s infrastructure “disturbing,” noting: “For years, this committee has been warning Town Meeting and assorted Boards and Committees of the mountain of unfunded capital projects that were being deferred or that were fast approaching. This year, it is no longer possible to look past that reality.”
While Winchester has started to address its backlog of capital projects, most notably within WPS and with its recent adoption of the Community Preservation Act, the capital funding situation remains dire across Town. Recent analysis suggests we should be investing $21m annually to maintain our assets in good condition, compared to $7m that we are actually investing.
As a member of the Select Board, I will push to prioritize investments in:
- Our parks and recreation facilities, expanding the coming reconstructions of Leonard Field and McDonald Field to a Town-wide effort, and focusing on projects that benefit young families, seniors, and everyone in between, including larger projects, like the Packer Ellis Tennis Courts. We should also explore utilizing school buildings to host organizations offering after-hours classes and programming that can be enjoyed by adults of all ages.
- Our municipal facilities, including much overdue upgrades to the Library and Town Hall, as well as school facilities such as the Mystic School which are not currently being used by WPS.
While the CPA is a much-needed step forward, we must find thoughtful ways to plan and finance our capital work. To that end, I support:
- Creating a recurring program for light and heavy maintenance as part of a capital masterplan, building on the successful approach implemented in WPS.
- Utilizing innovative and modern methods of capital financing, combining state and federal incentives where applicable with concepts like value capture near up-zoned areas (like North Main Street) and new transit assets (like the Winchester Center MBTA station)