Aldermen postponed approval of a $34 million city improvements plan Monday because they said they needed more information.
The Capital Improvement Plan consists of proposed civic renovations, such as street resurfacing or water main installment, for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Currently urgent expenditures, known as “priority ones,” cost $34 million, with others totaling about $3.7 million. The city will most likely defer low priority projects to the next fiscal year.
City staff will bring a revised list of projects to the council in June for further discussion, City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. The revised outline will include information regarding the progress of each project at the request of several aldermen.
The aldermen said they need to know which improvement projects have already started before they approve the plan and may cut some projects before work begins.
“I don’t want to waste money by pulling the plug on something where we’ve moved forward on it 40 percent,” Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) said. “I certainly don’t think that we should borrow any more than is absolutely essential for us to keep the city moving this year.”
Ald. Don Wilson (4th) agreed, adding he wants to know the progress of each project, whether contracts have been signed or if they can be deferred.
About $8.3 million of the plans’ projected spending comes from general obligation bonds, which are issued by the city on which it pays interest. Other sources of funding are grants, revenue such as parking passes and leftover general obligation bonds, which also require interest.
The city pays $70,000 to $80,000 a year on bonds’ interest, said Steven Drazner, finance division manager.
Ald. Coleen Burrus (9th) said she wants to see how Evanston stacks up with similar cities.
“I would like to find out the percentage of debt that Evanston has compared to other municipalities with similar budgets to ours,” Burrus said.
Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) said she wanted more information on two low priority projects that seemed like repairs-a chiller replacement for the Evanston Public Library Main Branch and an expansion of a suction pit in West Evanston. Aldermen may promote these and other low priority projects to priority one status.
Library Director Mary Johns said the chiller currently operates at 25 percent capacity and may be an issue during the hottest days of summer. The current small size of the suction pit makes it unsafe for workers who periodically enter it to clean out the lagoon filter, said Doug Gaynor, director of parks, forestry and recreation. It has been a problem for several years, but is not an urgent problem, he said.
Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said she did not want to consider financing lower-priority projects given the city’s economic situation.
“I’m very curious about the effort of members of the council to spend money that we’re being given the opportunity to eliminate from this year’s capital plan,” she said. “I would encourage us to just go with the number one projects.”
Evanston resident Junad Rizki said he has questions about the CIP, namely about the status of past projects and the effectiveness of projects currently on the table. He worried about excess spending during difficult financial times.
“We have so little money, and we’re going to be raising taxes and we all know that,” he said. “Every penny is going to hurt the citizens.”
The next city council meeting will be at 7 p.m. on May 24 at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.[email protected]
