The $126.8 million plan is about 12 percent less than the plan adopted last year. City Manager Steve Hall said in the plan that the city is giving priority to maintaining what it has and not initiating new service or projects without ensuring it has the revenue to pay for them or trading them in return for other services or projects.
“The theme for the plan is simple – maintain what we have,” Hall wrote.
The plan guides the city’s priorities for its built environment, from buildings to bridges, utilities to roads. The plan, adopted every year, does not mean that all the projects will be done in six years, but it pinpoints Hall’s priorities. They can be reordered each year if the council wishes.
Three people spoke during a public hearing on the plan mostly voicing concerns.
“This CFP takes a relatively dramatic turn to place what are essentially maintenance costs inside the capital budget,” former Councilwoman Karen Messmer said. “And this use of capital budget for operating costs means that we’re not achieving forward progress on important goals and policies in the comprehensive plan.”
Bob Jacobs, who was Olympia’s mayor in the 1990s, said the council isn’t spending enough money on parks and pathways projects, which Olympia voters agreed to raise their private utility taxes for in 2004. He said the city needs to “slow down development and concentrate on acquisition.”
Some 53 percent of the plan is for transportation projects. Drinking water makes up the second biggest portion at 19 percent, followed by parks at 12 percent.
A number of the projects will be under way or complete next year. Some of the most significant and expensive projects are in the city’s water utility, which is funded by ratepayers. The city plans to transition its water supply from McAllister Springs to a well field, which is more secure.
Three or more wells are planned to be built between summer 2012 and fall 2013, at a cost of $6.5 million.
The city also plans to spend $4.8 million on a water main from the well field to the existing main at McAllister Springs.
The water utility will continue to replace manual water meters with automatic meters, a $5 million project to be completed in 2013.
Here’s a sampling of other projects:
• Street reconstruction, new sidewalks, lighting and bike lanes are set to be complete by fall 2012 on 18th Avenue from Boulevard Road to Hoffman Road. Cost: $5.2 million.
• Interim parking and access to Ward Lake and multipurpose areas is scheduled to be finished by October 2012. Cost: $437,000.
• A new sidewalk will be installed next summer along McCormick Street to Watershed Park and along Carlyon Avenue from Henderson Boulevard to Cloverfield Drive. Cost: $1 million.
• The Fire Training Center off Fones Road, which opens Saturday, will be expanded in a second phase by November 2012. Cost: $1.5 million.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869 mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
