BEGIN PUBLIC HEARING:
ITEM NO. 6: RECEIVE PROPOSALS FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECTS (DRG)
Receive requests from the Public Works, Utilities Department, and City Manager’s Office for projects to be included in the 2005-2010 Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for the City of Lawrence.
A. STAFF REVIEW
This year, the capital improvement review process was divided into two segments because of the volume of projects the commission has been asked to consider. At the March 17 meeting the commission looked at the projects submitted by four city departments – Fire and Medical, Parks and Recreation, Police, and the City Manager’s Office (airport projects). This month, the commission will look at the projects submitted by the Public Works Department, Utilities Department, and projects proposed for downtown improvements. Any projects proposed by the public that fall within the area of these departments are also listed.
The Planning Office, acting as the program coordinator, annually prepares the Capital Improvement Plan and Capital Program from lists of projects and improvements submitted or suggested by the public or the various city departments and agencies. The Planning Office reviews the projects based upon their compatibility with the comprehensive plan. The projects were discussed and evaluated by the Capital Improvement Administrative Committee, with the committee making recommendations on the timing of some projects in an effort to make this document more fiscally attainable.
This set of projects represents a schedule of major public improvement projects and expenditures for the next six years. It is an attempt to look ahead to determine the needs for public improvements and then schedule them within the capabilities of the City's financial resources. The first year of the plan becomes the Capital Program for the next fiscal year, 2005, and contains the guidelines for the capital projects and expenditures.
The Capital Program is not a capital improvement budget separate from the City's annual operating budget. Rather, when approved, the Capital Program is intended as a guide to assist the City's departments and divisions in developing their annual budget. The appropriate department will present projects included in the Capital Program during the annual budget preparation process as part of the department or division's capital outlay items to the extent possible. Ultimately, the City Commission will make the decision of which projects will be undertaken during the next fiscal year.
The role of the Planning Commission in this process is to review the preliminary plan and program for consistency with the comprehensive plan and then submit a tentative plan and program to the City Commission for consideration. The City Commission can either accept the plan and program with or without amendments, or reject it. Thus, the Capital Improvement Plan and Capital Program included in this publication becomes an essential guide to basic community improvements.
B. PROJECT REVIEW
There are 193 projects included in this document, representing a total estimated expenditure of $535,225,300. Thirty-four of these projects are identified with some level of funding for the next calendar year. These thirty-four projects are estimated to cost $22,246,000 in the year, 2005.
Among the 193 total projects, there are 95 projects in this document that are identified to start (or continue) beyond the year 2010. These projects represent a total anticipated expenditure of $292,644,500. Rather than not including them at this time in the CIP document because they are beyond the 6-year scope of the plan, they are shown to keep them on the radar screen of the public, planning commission and elected officials as identified infrastructure improvement needs as the community continues to grow in the future.
A variety of funding sources are identified so many of the projects’ expenses will not be borne entirely by the city. For example, stormwater drainage improvement projects are paid by the utility fees collected with a property owner’s monthly utility billing. Similarly, the water and wastewater system projects will be paid with current revenues collected from the usage rate charges assessed to properties in their utility billing statements. Other funding sources include special assessments paid by property owners benefiting from the project, or Federal and State contributions received by the City through a variety of program sources.
The projects included in the plan came from a variety of sources including the City’s Transportation Improvement Program, Transportation 2025, the Water Distribution System and Wastewater System Master Plans, Horizon 2020, and the Stormwater System Master Plan. All projects in the plan are consistent with the comprehensive plan of the city.
Attached with the report are three tables showing: the estimated cost of each project, by year they are planned to begin; a table showing the total estimated cost of each project, by the proposed source of funds; and, a table of the projects proposed to start in 2005, by the source of funds.
A table with evaluation scores for the Public Works Department projects and the downtown improvement projects, assigned by the Capital Improvements Administrative Committee, follows those tables. The committee did not score the water and wastewater projects since the timing and importance of when those system improvements should be done is taken directly from the respective master plans and rate studies developed for the city by Black and Veatch Consulting Engineers.
Following this table are the project sheets for each department. The final section is a listing of projects completed last year or that are scheduled to begin this calendar year. A map(s) of the proposed projects will be prepared, but is not available at this time.
Recommendation: Planning Staff recommends the Planning Commission find these projects to be in conformance with the comprehensive plan and forward a recommendation to the City Commission for approval of the 2005-2010 Capital Improvements Plan for these departments.