New civic center, water treatment plant, thousands of feet of water line coming to Silverton
Major capital improvements like a new civic center, a new water treatment plant and thousands of feet of new water line have swelled Silverton’s budget by $35 million to $97 million for the 2022-23 fiscal year from the approved budget of a year ago.
Silverton’s city council approved the budget at its June 20 meeting.
The city’s approved budget a year ago was $62 million, though that increased with supplemental sources of revenue.
The city 10 miles east of Salem has a population of 10,484. It has 50 full-time and three part-time employees.The city’s biggest expenditure in the upcoming fiscal year is for capital improvements. It is budgeting spending $54.9 million in that category.
Silverton’s under-construction civic center is estimated to cost $19 million and take 18 months to be completed from its April groundbreaking.
Most of that will be paid for by loans, including one of $10 million.
The new water treatment plant adjacent to its existing facility is estimated to cost $9.5 million, along with the replacement of 1,110 feet of intake line from Abiqua Creek. The city received a $9.5 million loan from Business Oregon for that project.
The city is installing a new pump station and water line at a cost of $4.6 million. Part of that will be paid for with a $1.1 million grant.
The water line project on Second Street will upsize 41,400 feet of water from Jefferson Street to Lincoln Street. The city received a $1.15 million grant from the Economic Development Administration for that. It also will contribute $200,000 to the project.
Also, 1,400 feet of Second Street from Lincoln will receive sidewalk and stormwater improvements at a cost of $2.4 million.
The city also has projects including a study on storage and recovery of water ($450,000), replacement of sewer pipelines ($450,000), improvements to the wastewater treatment plant ($245,000), a sidewalk on James Street ($307,500) and stormwater improvements from Rock Street to Jersey Street ($100,000).Silverton has a beginning fund balance of $55 million.
The city is receiving $1.1 million in its second installation of funds from the American Rescue Plan and $250,000 from Marion County for a pallet sheltering facility.
The fiscal year started July 1 and runs through June 30, 2023.
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Major capital improvement swell Silverton’s budget to $97M
