John Wetzel

The City of Powell has identified 77 capital projects and equipment purchases that it hopes to complete over the next five years.

Members of the Powell City Council reviewed the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) on Monday, one of the steps in the city’s months-long budget process.

The plan identifies capital projects that are anticipated over the next five years, determines priorities and identifies ways to fund them. The plan doesn’t commit the city to funding any item on the list; based on the costs and priorities, it provides information for the council members as they make spending decisions.

The total estimated price tag for the 77 listed items is just under $14 million. The city has identified funding sources that would cover $2.2 million of the estimated total. That includes USDA Rural Development grants, agricultural grants from the state and state and federal aviation grants.

Another $9.3 million of the proposed projects would be funded from the city’s enterprise funds, which are revenues generated from providing electric, garbage, sewer, water and internet services. The remaining $2.3 million would come from the city’s general funds, but with expected shortfalls, the plan warns that not all projects will get completed.

Each year, an average of $476,567 would come from the general fund to pay for the proposed projects — if all are pursued.

In the coming 2020-2021 fiscal year, the proposed capital projects would require $415,000 from the general fund.

The CIP gives each proposed project a priority ranking based on a set of criteria. Public safety, budget impact and the degree to which a project will improve the wellbeing of the general public are among the factors that go into the project’s priority ranking.

City Administrator Zack Thorington said new facilities are usually the first to get cut from the plan or deferred when there isn’t enough funding, as maintenance projects are priorities.

“If you can’t afford to maintain what you already have, it doesn’t make sense to have something new,” he explained at the meeting.

At the top of the list of priorities for fiscal year 2020-2021 is the first phase for the rebuild and expansion of the Vining Substation. A fire last summer at the electrical facility led to citywide power outages and brought attention to the need to rebuild the 30-year-old substation.

The first phase of the project, to be undertaken in the coming fiscal year, has a $2 million price tag, with a $1 million second phase next year. The city is pursuing a $1.5 million grant from the State Loan and Investment Board to help pay for the project.

An airport taxiway project came in as the second highest priority, costing $833,000. The project is fully funded through federal and state sources and has already gone out to bid.

A revamp of the tennis courts at Westside Park is also in the top five, with a cost of $60,000. The city is hoping to get some support from the Moyer Foundation to help pay for a portion of that.

Another $60,000 is proposed for a new storm drain to alleviate flooding in the area of the Immanuel Lutheran Church. The design and cost estimates are complete, making the project “shovel ready.”

The city may qualify for federal stimulus funds, which have usually prioritized shovel ready projects. Thorington said the city will complete the project, even without the funding, using water and streets department equipment and manpower.

Proposed equipment purchases include a new dump truck for the streets department, at a cost of $115,000, to replace one the city purchased in 1994.

A new backhoe would cost $110,000, with the expense shared between the water and wastewater departments

The city’s sanitation department is aiming for a new garbage truck for $250,000, of which it has $50,000 from outside sources. The department’s oldest truck is 12 years old, and it will be traded in for a discount on the new one or sold at auction.

The plan also proposes $100,000 for an irrigation renovation project for Homesteader Park. The total project is spread out over three years for a total cost of $264,000.

“It has been developed and designed for over a decade now, and we’ve never done anything,” Thorington said.

With the current system, watering the grass on the north side of the park by the National Guard Armory requires city crews to manually open the valves. A lot of the work will be done in-house, if the project is funded.

The council will determine what capital projects and equipment get funded this fiscal year when it votes on a final budget, which must go through three readings. The full budget process will be completed in June.