In anticipation of upcoming budget hearings, last week members of the Scotts Valley City Council discussed capital improvement priorities for next fiscal year, as well as the next five years, as detailed in the “Five-year Capital Improvement Plan” submitted by Interim Public Works Director Steve Hammack.
The “Five-year Capital Improvement Plan” recommended a prioritized list of city investments in the physical plant and maintenance of city-owned facilities, parks, streets, water and sewage systems, as well as equipment at city hall and the police department. The projects and priorities were discussed at some length at the April 18th City Council meeting and will be discussed again in upcoming budget hearings.
Twenty two projects with an estimated cost of $2.8 million are recommended for funding next fiscal year, with several projects and improvements prioritized as essential to health and safety or compliance with state laws, with other projects ranked as important but not critical, and still others that can be deferred until the next fiscal year.
Big ticket projects considered essential next fiscal year include a Sewer System Management Plan estimated at a cost of $375,000 that is required by the State Water Resources Control Board and in anticipation of a state audit on the compliance of the city’s wastewater treatment system with state law, as well as a several facility and equipment upgrades to the treatment system, $300,000 for sidewalk improvements between Mount Hermon Drive and the transit center on Kings Village Road, and $100,000 for the rehabilitation of Glenwood Drive.
A project considered a priority by the Scotts Valley Police Department is $150,000 for “Body Worn Cameras” for solo patrol police officers. Lt. John Wilson of the Scotts Valley Police Department said research, policy development and some basic community outreach for this project has been on-going throughout last year, and added, “This project is happening…and we hope to get it accomplished this coming year.”
Lt. Wilson explained that all the research into the benefits of body worn cameras by police officers points to better transparency of police work, reduced complaints, and more evidence when certain facts are disputed. “This project will be adding video to our audio,” Lt. Wilson said. The Scotts Valley Police Department has been using digital audio recorders for decades, according to Lt. Wilson.
Priority projects also include computer and telephone upgrades at city hall, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements at various city facilities, the senior center and parks around the city. Nonessential projects include new play structures at Sky Park and Hocus Pocus Park, improvements to the Brook Knoll and Vine Hill daycare modulars.
A new, unbudgeted project discussed at some length was the need for a complete makeover of the Public Works Department’s modular buildings and facility re-alignment at the city’s corporation yard. The current Public Works modular buildings are “beyond their useful lives,” according to the Five-Year Plan, and staff is looking into various options for a new building or expansion of the existing wastewater operations building and a reconfiguration of the vehicle maintenance facilities.
Although this project was not considered essential for next year and is pending an engineer’s analysis of options, the inclusion of the project in the five year plan was intended as a “placeholder”, pending the cost estimates and identification of possible funding sources.
In a separate action, the city council approved an annual street maintenance/ resurfacing program to be funded next fiscal year with an estimated $200,000 the city expects to receive as a result of the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB 1) that raised state excise taxes on gasoline and increased vehicle registration fees.
City Council members also discussed the possibility of sharing the new hire of a Building Official with the City of Capitola on a 50 percent-50 percent basis, for building plan review and building code compliance work in the upcoming fiscal year.
