The Evanston City Council on Saturday identified several long-term projects and needs for the next five years that will cost an estimated $98.5 million.
The capital improvement plan for 2005 to 2010, a five-year program for city staff to allocate money to infrastructure improvements, calls for one-fifth of its funding from property tax revenue, said City Manager Julia Carroll.
The City Council listened to plans to renovate parks, improve streets and transportation, public buildings and economic development. The council postponed discussion about information systems and the library to the next budget meeting on Jan. 29.
City planners estimated the plan would cost $32.3 million for the 2005-06 fiscal year. Judith Aiello, assistant city manager, said Evanston’s needs are greater than the amount projected in the plan. The city’s overall projected budget, which includes the capital improvement plan, calls for a $3 million increase to sustain the same services.
“We’ll have to lobby harder for federal dollars if we need to,” Aiello said in her presentation to the council.
Several aldermen said making Evanston’s streets safer and cleaner is a top priority, projected to cost $4 million a year.
“We’ve had some really tough issues and streets is one of them,” Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said. “We have lawsuits sucking up the capital money and it can be straining.”
The capital improvement plan would also work to improve bridges and upgrade street lights and traffic signals.
The plan estimates that street improvement projects will cost $2.2 million next year, an increase from $1.7 million in the last capital improvement plan.
Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) said he wants street repairs to be done soon because he has received so many complaints from residents. Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said littering and trash is another concern, especially on Dodge Street.
Newman said the conditions on Dodge Street are so bad that homeowners are trying to move out, calling the area “an embarrassment to the city.”
The projected plan also includes a new viaduct screening project, which would cost between $6 million to $9 million annually. Many of the viaducts near the trains are dangerous because ice builds up in the winter, Mayor Lorraine H. Morton said.
Other costs include $15 million to $20 million to be devoted to the Civic Center over five years. The Civic Center Committee last Tuesday advised that the current Civic Center building at 2100 Ridge Ave. is not worth rehabilitating.
The council also discussed funding for city parks and facilities management. Projects include renovating Lovelace Park and building a playground at Eiden Park.
Aiello said the capital improvement plan will be approved with the budget, but the council can change the recommendations at any time with a majority vote.
Reach Stephanie Chen at [email protected].
