Review: 2022-2027 Capital Improvements Plan
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Rachel's Council Review |
As usual for the review, my comments are red and italicized in the context of the latest Council Preview by Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen.
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Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
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The Ames City Council meets on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. (note early time) at City Hall. The agenda includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.
- 1. 2022-2027 Capital Improvements Plan.
This document details our anticipated spending on capital improvements (physical infrastructure, rather than operational costs) over the next 5 years. All told, the CIP for 2022-2027 represents $289,419,489. (That's right, over a quarter of a billion dollars.) There is a very good summary at the beginning of the document, outlining budget amounts by department. Then the document goes into detail about specific projects and funding sources. Here are some of the highlights from the introduction of the CIP:
Utilities - $131,913,962
--Electric Utility - $23,575,000 for advanced metering, electrical vehicle charging stations, 161kV line relocation, critical system generations, etc.
--Water Utility - $35,222,000 for 3 new wells (increasing water capacity by 40%), security improvements, advanced metering, standby generators
--Sanitary Sewer - $59,669,962 for nutrient reduction modifications (both at the plant and in the watersheds), co-generation, sewer system improvements
--Stormwater - $12,050,000 for erosion control, stormwater detention/retention systems improvements
--Resource Recovery - $1,397,000 for improvements at the Resource Recovery Plant
Transportation - $115,250,092
--Streets/Traffic/Paths - $89,959,980 for all scheduled road and alley pavement maintenance, shared use path installations and maintenance, Intelligent Transportation System improvements, Main St. paver repair, resurfacing of Grand Ave. from Lincoln Way to Murray.
--Transit - $19,397,112 for CyRide vehicle replacement and facility improvements
--Airport - $5,853,000 for runway, apron, and lighting maintenance
Culture and Recreation - $39,188,605
--Parks & Rec - $38,891,605 for indoor aquatic center, downtown plaza, ped. bridge at Moore Memorial Park, and other projects like playground equipment replacement
Public Safety - $1,981,830 for fire engine replacement and fire station maintenance
Community Development - $750,000 for Downtown and Campustown Facade grant programs, Neighborhood Improvement Programs
General Governmental - $375,000 for City Hall maintenance and improvements
Each of the budgets listed above were presented to Council in detail by city staff, and staff members were available to answer any questions council had about the specific items and projects in the Capital Improvements Plan. This workshop is an introduction to the many other budget items that will come before council for decisions in the following weeks.
Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially. This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.
- PFAS Briefing
Due to a recent statewide water testing initiative, Ames recently received results of tests for PFAS in our water. As the memo notes, though PFAS were detected, they are below the EPA's Health Advisory Level.
Council took this memo under advisement, but took no action. - Alliant Energy
This is an informational memo from Alliant Energy regarding energy transmission rate changes.
Council took no action on this item. - 4 Inch Watermain Replacement
This memo from staff is in response to a Council inquiry about the cost of replacing all the 4" water mains citywide.
Council took no action on this item at this time.
Thanks for reading,
Rachel Junck
Ames City Council, 4th Ward