City council reviews capital improvements plan
With the Pacific Park project in the works, an opportunity to address drainage issues on nearby Lamar and Beckham streets presented itself, and with that, the Sulphur Springs city council approved an amendment to the capital improvement plan (CIP) targeting those issues last week.
“There’s a little history to this project,” city manager Marc Maxwell said. “This is one of the first capital improvement projects that we did after I got here, so this is getting close to 25 years old.”
The amendments cost is $62,000 to install 850 feet of 30-inch storm drainpipe.
Community development director Tory Niewiadomski also reviewed the CIP, which was approved to start in the 2019 fiscal year and runs through 2023. A CIP, in essence, is a “multi-year planning instrument used to identify needs and funding sources for public infrastructure improvements” according to Niewiadomski’s report.
“I do want to make a distinction that our Summer Paving Program is not part of the improvements program,” Niewiadomski said. “However, some of the funding is tied together…That funding comes from the general fund which funds the CIP, and any funds that are left over can go toward the program.”
At the time of approval in 2018, 46 projects were considered for the plan, but only 10 received funding. The most recent finished project is the rebuild of Bellview Street, and the rebuild of College Street from Jackson Street east to Como Street is the next project, which is sixth on the list. The total funding available for the CIP is $12.5 million.
“When we adopted the CIP, we anticipated having about $3.5 million over five years for water enhancements, $3.5 million for sewer enhancements and $5.5 for street improvements,” Niewiadomski said.
Niewiadomski raised the issue of the gap between funded maintenance and needed maintenance, a problem he said most cities have.
“Since the interstate system went in, we started to rapidly expand our network of water lines, sewer lines and streets,” Niewiadomski said. “On a per capita basis on number of miles, we now have people being responsible for more pipe under the ground.”
According to his report, the city would need to replace 1.55 to 3.1 miles of street a year to keep up with deterioration, but the CIP only funds a replacement rate of .58 miles a year, meaning the city falls behind about a mile a year. It is much the same with sewer, water and street maintenance needs. The funding needed is enormous as anywhere from $7.4 to $9.4 million a year would be adequate.
“I know a lot of these numbers are disconcerting, but we’re not the only place dealing with this,” Niewiadomski said. “This is happening everywhere in the United States.”
As for solutions to the funding gap, the city could more aggressively pursue grants and work closely with the county. The tax rate could be raised, or water or sewer rates could be increased. A value of $1 billion added to the city’s tax base would provide more revenue, but no extra infrastructure would have to be added. Infill housing, which is placing homes on existing infrastructure, is being pushed, but it is a slow way of building tax base. One solution the city adopted was a monthly street maintenance fee in January 2019.
“I think a big reason of why this was preferred was that it was a dedicated street fund,” Niewiadomski said. “When we implemented this fee, it gave the public the confidence they are paying money every month that is going to a dedicated fund straight to streets.”
While the current fee has helped in closing the gap, Niewiadomski said the fee might have to be raised in the future. The goal is to provide $1 million for street maintenance as opposed to the citys current $514,050, and Niewiadomski proposed raising fees for users in residential, multifamily and commercial zones. Residential and multifamily fees would jump from $5 to $11 monthly, and commercial fees would raise from $12.50 to $14.
“It’s important to note that it doesn’t fix our rebuilding problem, either,” Niewiadomski said.