PORT ANGELES — For the first time in about eight years, the city does not have surplus funds to allocate to capital projects, said Public Works and Utilities Director Glenn Cutler.
Each year over most of the past decade, the city has used surplus monies from its general fund for upcoming capital projects, which are mostly infrastructure improvements.
Last year, there were no surplus funds, Cutler said.
He said that will likely result in a “different mix” of projects being done next year.
That means fewer projects that are covered by the general fund. Those include police and fire, park and other facility projects, Cutler said.
Instead, projects that are paid by other funds, such as utilities, are more likely to be budgeted for 2011, he said.
The City Council is considering what projects to include in its six-year planning document for capital projects, and how they should be prioritized.
A public hearing on the document will be held at its June 15 meeting. Council meetings begin at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
The draft document includes dozens of future projects.
Some priorities recommended by staff include gravel road paving, street overlays, a harborwide master plan and replacing the council’s audio recording system.
The council will use the document to help determine which projects get funded next year.
Also listed as a priority in the draft document are repairs to the Waterfront Trail and the Ediz Hook rip rap.
Cutler said the city is designing the repairs but is waiting on federal funds to get the work done.
Low on the priority list is a crosstown truck route, which was recommended by American Institute of Architects last year to remove the truck traffic out of downtown.
The grant-funded AIA report analyzed downtown and the “International Corridor,” which consists of First and Front streets from Lincoln Street eastward, and provide recommendations on how the city can improve those areas.
Cutler said the alternative route, which would likely direct trucks down Lauridsen Boulevard and Race Street, is low on the list because its expensive and the city needs funding assistance from the state or federal governments.
The project would involve street widening and other road improvements.
“It takes a lot of money to do it,” Cutler said.
If the city can get the grant funding, it will happen, he said.
To view the draft document, visit http://tinyurl.com/paplan.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsula dailynews.com.
