City approves millions in improvements

By Lee Bonorden (Contact) | Austin Daily Herald

Published Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Talk about a shopping list, that’s what the Austin City Council faces.

City departments and staff have proposed near-$80-million in capital improvement projects over the next five years.

The city’s CIP proposals were unveiled at a work session Tuesday night.

Tom Dankert, finance director, led the presentation with help from James Hurm, city administrator, Jon public works, and Kim Underwood, interim Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department director.

According to Dankert, 98 percent of the spending requests come from the city engineering and PRF departments.

“All of the proposals are fund-driven,” Dankert said, “If the funding doesn’t come through, the project doesn’t go through.”

The total request for capital improvements over the next five years is $79.97 million.

The improvements would impact on every citizen, every facet of life in Austin: The airport, treatment plant, street construction, trails, office equipment, vehicle replacement …name it and it’s in the CIP.

In announcing the proposed five-year plan, the limited use of property taxes was highlighted.

This would be possible because the city has been using a combination of investment earnings from the building fund, user charges and “sound fiscal management” to leverage city money from outside funds from state and federal agencies.

Under the proposed plan, spending would run from $23.5 million in 2009 and $22.7 million in 2010 before dropping to $15 million in 2011, $9.7 million in 2012 and $8.9 million in 2013.

The largest single funding source would be grants: $7.8 million in 2009, $8.5 million in 2010, $5.6 million in 2011, $3.3 million in 2012 and $1.9 million in 2013.

Meanwhile, the city’s share of the tax levy would generate revenues ranging from $308,600 to $679,666, $425,000, $266,833 and $441,000 over the five-year period.

Bond issues and local sales taxes account for the second- and third-highest revenue sources.

Over the five-year period, the city proposed to bond for nearly $15 million of the CIP costs.

Local sales taxes are estimated to bring in another $13 million.

The city’s waste water treatment plant fund would generate another estimated $12-million in revenues.

Among the highlights of the CIP proposals were:

Austin Police Department

Three new marked police vehicles and a new unmarked police vehicle. Also, replacement of the Community Service Officer vehicle.

A 60-foot addition to the city storage building near the public works facility for impounded vehicles.

All of the public safety expenditures would come from tax levy revenues.

Austin Fire Department

Replace concrete in rear of the fire station. Two new park benches in front of fire station. Exhaust scrubbers for fire trucks.

Replace ladder truck and rural fire tanker.

Austin Public Library

Public group work area remodeling, indoor lighting upgrade, three self-mark machines, building equipment, carpet replacement in high traffic areas.

J. C. Hormel Nature Center

Land acquisition of tillable ground north of the Nature Center and its restoration.

Repairs to the Jacques Chipault Trail.

Replace 1997 van.

Major upgrading to the visitors’ center.

Administration

Computer replacement in Austin City Hall.

City hall interior maintenance needs.

A new city visitation center.

Replace oldest carpeting in Austin City Hall.

Replace 1996 phone system, copy machine and engineering department office equipment.

Downtown mall upgrading including new bike rack.

Waste Water Treatment Plant

Topping the longest list of CIP proposals are new high rate filters and clarifiers, digester construction and upgrading, phosphorous reduction and the 1939 vintage administration building improvements.

Central Garage

New vehicle wash bay, cold storage and an addition of one bay for vehicle storage and equipment purchases.

Waste transfer

station

Upgrade compactor and scale, replace concrete tipping floor, boiler and mechanical upgrades.

Austin Municipal Airport

A new airport sign, hangar roof repair on the main maintenance building, improvements to hangar sites, purchases of a large mower, truck plow and de-icing equipment, taxiway joint repairs, upgrading and rehabilitation of fuel storage tanks and tree trimming at the Nature Center approach path to the airport.

Street

improvements

Also a length list of CIP goals, because of the number of streets.

The list totals $3.2 million in street projects in 2009.

In a separate section devoted to Minnesota state aid street projects the list includes Oakland Avenue Northeast to I-90, North Main Street from Oakland Avenue to Second Avenue and Fourth Avenue to First Drive and Third Avenue Southeast from South Main Street to fourth Street Southeast.

The 2009 state aid street projects are estimated to cost $1.3 million.

Pedestrian, hiking trials

Four new trail extension projects, trail maintenance work, Blazing Star and Shooting Star trails’ connection (Dependent upon receipt of state grant), Southwest trail expansion in Austin Community Park area south to waste water treatment plan and connecting with Fourth Street Southwest, plus pedestrian bridge over I90 at West Oakland Avenue.

The CIP also proposes sanitary sewer studies in the Ellis Middle School area. The first phase of the study would involve the inspection of 400 properties.

The studies would include Second Avenue Southwest were a 15-inch line feeds into a 12-inch line, creating a bottleneck, the Dobbins Creek lift station and sanitary sewer repair on all street projects.

Among miscellaneous CIP projects proposed in the five-year plan are:

• Decorative street lights and landscaping along Eighth Street Northwest, signal light upgrades on Main Street and Oakland Avenue, street lights along Oakland Avenue Northeast among others including storm sewer inspections and upgrades.

• Mower County Senior Center 5,000-square-foot expansion estimated to cost $661,760 with help from a Hormel Foundation grant. In addition, the senior center is targeted for myriad improvements to restrooms, irrigation system, heating and mechanical and parking lot.

There is also more flood mitigation work to the North Main Street area estimated to cost $13.1 million and funded equally with the local option sales tax revenues collected by the city and monies from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources bonding bill share. The work is being done in phases and involves property acquisition to clear areas for the flood protection work.

There will also be more scattered site acquisitions in areas subject to repetitive flooding.

There are specific projects in the area of Austin Noon Lions Park from Second Avenue Northeast from the Cedar River east to Eighth Street. Turtle Creek and Dobbins Creek areas are also earmarked for flood protection attention as well as stabilizing stream banks throughout the city.