PORT ANGELES — Funds for street improvements under the first draft of the proposed 2010 budget would continue to be below what the city needs to bring all of its main arterials up to par, says the Port Angeles public works director.
“We are continually losing the battle for improving the road conditions,” Glenn Cutler told the City Council in response to a question from Deputy Mayor Betsy Wharton during a budget work session on Tuesday.
Later, Cutler commented rhetorically, “Do you know of any city that isn’t” behind in street projects.
He described the conditions of Port Angeles’ main arterials as being 25 percent poor, 30 percent fair, and 45 percent good to excellent, and told the council that it would take between $10 million and $11 million to bring all of the city’s main arterials up to top condition.
Tightening belt
With the city having to tighten its financial belt because of the recession, making a significant dent in that figure would be difficult for the city without large grants.
According to Cutler, if the city spent $800,000 a year on improving its streets for the next dozen years, “we still are not going to get to what I’d consider an excellent or good road system.”
The first draft of the proposed budget, released to the council Sept. 24, doesn’t come up even to that mark.
That draft document has available funds for large paving projects and road reconstruction set to drop by nearly a half, from $975,000 to $500,000.
That is likely to change, said city Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski, who added that, at this point in the process, having any such funds available at all is significant during a recession, when cities nationwide are having to continue to trim their spending.
“It is positive from our point of view,” she said.
Funds for regular street maintenance, which includes filling potholes, removing snow and some small paving projects that don’t require a contractor to be hired, is also set to decrease from $208,713 to $177,450 in 2010 in the proposed budget.
But Cutler said the city is not at risk of having to place any restrictions, such as weight limits, on roads to keep them driveable.
Any of the proposed figures can change at the request of the City Council before the final budget is approved in early December.
Road improvements funded in 2009 include reconstruction of portions Peabody and Fifth streets, and paving of First and Front streets downtown, planned for this month, and paving of Lauridsen Boulevard between L Street and the Tumwater Truck Route.
The issue of street funding was initially brought up at the work session by City Council member Larry Williams who referred to the city as being “deep in the doo-doo” in terms of road maintenance.
Prioritized list
He called for a prioritized list of city services.
Such a list — separated into categories of core services, basic governmental functions and discretionary programs — would give the council and staff a road map to use when balancing the budget, he said.
The lack of such a road map is why he voted against approving the 2009 budget.
“I don’t think . . . staff has a real clear consensus from council as to what our absolute essential critical services are,” he said.
Williams’ proposed priority list included fire and police support and maintenance of the city’s main roads under the core services.
Basic governmental functions would include routine upgrades to infrastructure and discretionary programs would include quality of life programs among other items, according to Williams’ proposal.
Williams asked that the council address that issue before discussing the draft budget.
The consensus from his colleagues was to come back to that issue at a later meeting.
“If we are willing to go on a tour without a road map, I am willing to go on the ride,” a slightly frustrated Williams said in response.
Money spent on roads
Ziomkowski said Thursday that the city has spent about $14.5 million on the city’s road system in the last 10 years, but Cutler said it has not had enough money to make significant strides in improving its streets.
While Cutler said that this problem wasn’t anything new when he came to the city about 10 years ago, replacing the Eighth Street bridges did eat up a large chunk of money in recent years that could have gone to other street improvement projects if they didn’t need to be replaced.
The city spent about $3 million on that project, which was almost entirely paid for by the state, and which was finished in February.
Another large project, building The Gateway transit center, had a similar, but lesser effect on money available for street improvements.
Over the last 10 years, Ziomkowski said the city spent about $2 million from its general fund on that project which could have been legally allocated by the council for street projects.
The city budgeted about $6 million for the project, but the other money spent comes from funds that can’t be spent on streets, she said.
The total cost of building The Gateway, budgeted at $14.7 million, which includes a contingency fund, has not been settled.
Overall decrease
The first draft of the proposed budget includes an overall decrease in spending of $3 million, from about $103 million this year to about $100 million next year, with a slight increase in the general fund.
That fund — which is the main operating account for the city — is proposed to increase from $17.2 million to $17.3 million due to a $200,000 contribution from the city’s reserves.
The general fund pays for such series as police and fire but also contributes funds to each city department.
Proposed funding cuts for recreation activities — which overall amount to about $11,000 and include eliminating Family Fun Day — was also questioned at the work session.
City Council member Karen Rogers proposed that city staff find another way to cut that amount from the budget.
“As families struggle . . . recreation opportunities is important,” she said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.