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Infrastructure budget in line for $9 million
(by Sue Reid - February 08, 2012)
Infrastructure budget in line for $9 million
By SUE REID
Solon city Engineer John J. Busch presented City Council's public works committee last week with an amended 2012 infrastructure budget, increasing it by about $500,000 from preliminary estimates and taking the total to $9.077 million.
The committee forwarded the budget to council's finance committee for review.
Mr. Busch also provided the committee with a history of infrastructure projects dating back to 2009.
Aside from recent years with two larger projects, including the Aurora Road east storm-water and sanitary improvements and Pettibone Road reconstruction, more or less, the city consistently operates in the $8 million to $9 million range, Mr. Busch said.
There were discussions at the committee's January meeting about the sizes of certain projects in the past and questions about some of the estimates projected for 2012, including the concrete and asphalt repair programs.
In the adjustments for 2012, Mr. Busch reduced some projections and added some items.
The amount allotted for materials testing, for example, dropped from $80,000 to $60,000. He increased the city's portion of the allotment phase 2-B project in the area of the "ABC" streets from $695,100 to $763,660 and added a line item for the restoration of tree lawns associated with the Pettibone Road reconstruction estimated at $100,000.
Another addition was improvements to the horse crossing at SOM Center Road (Route 91) and Hawthorn Parkway, based on pending recommendations from City Council's safety and public properties committee at a cost of $55,000, which includes design and engineering.
Councilman William D. Mooney asked Mr. Busch what projects he would move up on the list if additional funds were available.
Mr. Busch said the Solon Road sidewalk project would get moved up.
"We're always ready to move forward with projects," he said.
Mr. Busch noted that, historically, there always has been a cushion provided within the infrastructure fund for unexpected items.
"With larger projects, such as the Aurora east storm and sanitary improvement projects and Pettibone Road reconstruction, we more or less had depleted the infrastructure fund of any excess money, which we knew those two projects would do," Mr. Busch said.
While he is putting together a "healthy estimate of projects" for every year, at the same time, he said, he would like to put money aside to rebuild that fund for larger future projects, if and when they come up.
Mr. Mooney said he agrees with Mr. Busch's top three priority projects, which are: the Solon allotment infrastructure improvements, with the city's portion at about $763,660; the $7 million Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency-funded citywide traffic signal upgrade, with the city's contribution at $750,000 per year for two years; and the Preserve subdivision phase three storm-water modifications at about $416,000.
Councilman Robert N. Pelunis said Mr. Busch provided the committee a "good road map" of where the city is at.
Following budget hearings this month, the committee said, it will look at the infrastructure budget one more time at its meeting in March.
"At the same time, we are also moving forward with a lot of those projects we've identified in the 2012 budget," Mr. Busch noted.
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