City department directors outline $14 million in 2012 capital improvements

At the city council meeting earlier this week directors of several city departments presented capital improvement plans for fiscal year 2012, which begins July 1.

The city facilities department requested $60,000 for a major overhaul of the roof on city hall, but withdrew a request of $32,000 to repair the exterior of the police station.

“I think it has been decided that those are throwaway buildings,” Assistant City Manager Roger Kolman told the council. “It would be a waste to invest the money in them.”

The IT department’s request for $52,740 to upgrade city hall computers from Microsoft Office 2003 to Office 2010, and from Microsoft XP to Microsoft 7 was met with skepticism by Councilmember Carl Diedrich. He questioned the bulk upgrade expenditure and asked why computers couldn’t be upgraded piecemeal, as needed. The IT department representative said that the need for a city hall-wide upgrade was pressing because the computers could not open many contemporary files and had other problems due to outdated software.

Mayor Smith was supportive of the expenditure. “By going for half a loaf, won’t you end up expending more labor and chewing through the costs anyway?” he asked.

General government capital improvement costs for fiscal 2012 presented by Development Services Director Brent Billingsley included $7.7 million for the city services center and $2.2 million for the Santa Cruz wash project. Looking ahead to 2013 and beyond Billingsley said the city complex would require another $7 million or more, and that the Santa Cruz Wash diversion would cost another $5.2 million or more.

Fire Chief Wade Brannon detailed $3.5 million in needed CIP costs for the fire department, including $2.7 million for a new fire station near Smith-Enke Road and John Wayne Parkway, $780,000 to replace two defective fire engines and $35,000 for new radio equipment.

Looking ahead at 2013 and beyond, he said the department would need another $6.3 million in capital improvements, including $4.7 million for a fire station in Tortosa, $1 million for a ladder truck, and $390,000 to replace a third defective fire truck. (See related story: “Fire Sale on Fire Trucks”)

Economic Development Director Danielle Casey said her department was scheduled to receive $400,000 to aid in economic development in the city. Councilmember Alan Marchione questioned this figure as being “too well-rounded.”

“I would like to see something more specific about projects that add up to $400, 000,” Marchione said.

Casey explained that the figure was just an estimate and placeholder determined several year ago when several million dollars available for economic development assistance was spread over a period of five years. She said she would have a better idea soon about specifics of how the money will be spent.

Councilmember Carl Diedrich said he was afraid that the amount was too low.

“That is not enough money to do much,” Diedrich said. “It will start the paperwork, but that is about it. If that number is published, it might discourage businesses that are thinking about coming here because they will think the city isn’t prepared to invest in economic development.”

Diedrich said he didn’t want the city to limit its economic development budget based on the current business climate, but rather focus on the future and what will be needed as the economy continues to recover.

Casey said that the city was not strictly limited by the $400,000 amount. “If something came up and some business wanted to come here that needed assistance, the council could allocate additional money.”

The council also approved the final site plan for Sequoia Pathway Academy’s new campus and altered the city code so that it will no longer require a two-thirds majority vote by the city council to dismiss a city manager.