Here's a look at what Burlington City Council will work toward over the next 2 years
Burlington City Council members on Thursday laid out priority projects and policies to work toward until at least 2024, when the council will adjust those goals again according to progress, circumstance and feasibility.
During a three-and-a-half-hour goal-setting work session, the council heard from City Manager Chad Bird about priorities, obstacles and opportunities identified by city staff that were considered by council members as they listed their own priorities.
The council will officially adopt its goals at an upcoming meeting. Here's a look at the infrastructure projects that made the list:
Cascade Bridge
The replacement of the structurally unsound and long-shuttered Cascade Bridge was listed as a top priority by all but one council person, Matt Rinker, who, having been elected to the state Legislature, will resign midway through his council term.
The bridge first was identified as a problem in 2008, when it was declared unsafe and closed until 2010, when the council reopened it to foot traffic. It was closed entirely in 2019.
While the bridge long has been discussed by Burlington residents and council members wanting to see it either repaired or replaced, it was not identified as a priority by any city staff, Bird informed the council.
Fire Battalion Chief Todd Van Scoy echoed staff sentiments about the bridge during the work session.
"Everybody talks about that Cascade Bridge," Van Scoy said. "They've been talking about it for years. I've lived in this town all my life and, as much as some people think it's a need, some people think it's a want, but that's a lot of money, and you all and we could do a lot more with that money and spend it probably better than building a bridge."
Van Scoy further stated that Burlington is in greater need of additional public safety personnel, covered parking for the police station so cars can be started quickly in the snowy winter months, thus increasing response time, and equipment like snow plows.
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The council members explained that the plan is to largely fund the bridge replacement through grants.
"Staff continues to explore funding possibilities," Bird said when providing an update on the bridge replacement, which was among the council's 2020 goals. "As a matter of fact, I had a conversation with folks from the state office of the federal highway commission just this week on some funding opportunities for the bridge."
Other progress made toward its replacement includes its addition in the city's critical infrastructure packet for future funding requests from U.S. congressional representatives that has been shared with Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the completion of Impact 7G's Phase I archaeological and architectural history report, wetland delineation, and threatened and endangered species review for Cascade Ravine.
Mayor Jon Billups and councilman Robert Critser spoke in favor of keeping that momentum, arguing that the cost of the project will only continue to increase the longer it remains on the back burner.
"If we would've focused on Cascade back in the day, $3 million, $2.5 maybe, you would've had it done and over with. Now, you're approaching, well we're guessing, (between $7 and $10) million," Billups said. "The one thing I'm not willing to do is spend another $75,000 for a study on Cascade Bridge."
Construct a third fire station
The construction of a fire station in northwest Burlington to include a training facility had been on the council's priority list after its last goal-setting session, when it was listed among the secondary priority tasks.
Now, it's in the council's top four.
This station would be Burlington's third and would serve areas not currently covered by a four-minute response drive time.
Fire Chief Matt Trexel has largely been heading up the behind-the-scenes work toward this goal, having identified possible sites for the station and seeking out and consulting with an architectural firm. A Station 3 Committee also has been formed, with its first meeting being held in June. Members include firefighters, Burlington and West Burlington city officials, and one citizen.
Since then, the committee has reviewed a preliminary request for proposal for the project, with a cost estimated at about $2.1 million as of March.
Dankwardt Park playground
Completion of an inclusive and accessible playground at Dankwardt Park also ranked high on council members' priorities.
The design for the $1.2 million playground project has been completed and fundraising is underway.
The playground will replace the park's existing, 40-year-old wooden play structure and will be the only of its kind in southeast Iowa.
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Parks department office and maintenance building
The construction of an office and maintenance building for the city's parks department is new to the list this year after council members toured the parks facilities earlier this month.
"They are lousy," Billups said.
One is an old, drafty converted mobile home with wavy floors and the departments' equipment is kept in storage sheds spread out from Summer Street to Crapo and Dankwardt parks.
"What they would like at some point in time would be a new building for storage and also for just an office space, which we're not talking like a multimillion-dollar building," Billups said. "We're talking basically a metal building for the storage facilities, which is to keep elements off our equipment, and then a new office area."
Policies and other considerations
Council members also discussed:
Improvements to the existing dog park and the addition of a downtown dog park at the corner of Fifth and Valley streets.
The presence of recycling receptacles in high-traffic areas.
A more robust city cleanup program.
Solar power for city buildings.
And continuing to improve communication and collaboration between the city and Waterworks, as well as to facilitate the installation of water meters throughout the city.
Currently, water meters must be installed only when there is a change of ownership for a home and with new home construction. Two city officials spoke in favor of crafting policy to install water meters universally and possibly shift the cost of the installation and meter from property owners to Waterworks.
Other policies council members spoke in favor of crafting include:
Housing improvement and development incentives.
A policy for vacant and dangerous properties.
The elimination of waiver fees for the inspection department.
A tax increment financing policy.
And a fireworks policy that would make fireworks legal within city limits for a set number of hours on July 4.
Burlington Police Lt. Adam Schaefer pointed out to the council that what was not included in its goal-setting discussion was employee recruitment and retention, which ranked as the top priority among staff, especially those for public safety employees.
Billups said this will be addressed during budget talks and stated that wages for full-time city employees tend to be higher than Burlington's median wage, something that could help with recruitment. But Police Chief Marc Denney said it's getting harder to compete.
"The problem is we're competing with other communities and we're falling behind in some places," Denney said.
Financial considerations
This year's goal-setting work session came amid what Travis Squires, managing director of Des Moines Public Finance Services, described as a healthy balance sheet and an opportunity to break free from a 70% debt limit that was set by a previous council.
"I think there's a balancing component between where do we want our debt levy to be, what's reasonable, what can you justify, what projects do we want to do, and this whole debt limit," Squires told the council. "Is it time to revisit that and say, you know what, for the sake of our community, these projects are more important than living under this council policy that we set 10 years ago?"
The city is in good shape financially, with an A+ S&P rating, a far cry from the city's financial crisis of 2010, when the city had only 14 days worth of cash in its general fund balance and worried about being able to pay employees.
"We do have some flexibility if we would relax our self-imposed caps. (Current and past city councils and administrators) have done a great job of putting our city back on the right path," Billups said. "Now, we need to get some stuff done because we're competing with other towns for jobs and industries and homes. There's some things that we could take the reins off a little bit and let the horse run."
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But the city also has seen sluggish growth in property tax valuations, which have risen by a total of 10.8% over the past five years. That increase has slowed even more recently, with 1.4% growth over each of the last three years. But the council still has managed to keep from increasing property taxes, going as far as decreasing the levy by 94 cents after a change to the Descom funding formula.
The council was split over how to fund the projects that made the cut, and members agreed discussions will be needed about ways to fund the goals, including the possibility of removing the debt limit; increasing the tax levy; and putting in place a franchise fee, which would consist of an additional fee to utility bills, thus not putting the burden solely on property owners but spreading it out to include renters.
"Something Travis said that I found really impactful was if we just bumped up just a little bit, so we're currently paying something like $3.80 (per $1,000 taxable valuation in the debt levy), to 20 cents more on that valuation would generate an additional $5.5 million a year," councilwoman Lynda Murray said.
She also noted that the possibility of franchise fees was not well-received when discussed in the past, but that it could have been because it wasn't properly communicated. She suggested that, if residents saw that it would be to fund life-saving infrastructure, such as the fire station, then they might get behind it.
Councilman Bill Maupin said he is not a fan of debt and that families are struggling to get by as it is without additional property taxes or higher utility bills.
Critser said whatever increase the council may pursue could be dropped back down after a project or projects are complete.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington City Council 2022 goal-setting includes Cascade Bridge,
