TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to present an updated report to the City Council on the status of our infrastructure and the funding of ongoing maintenance within 60 days.
DISCUSSION
One of the core responsibilities of municipal government is to maintain our public infrastructure, such as streets, sidewalks, and public buildings. In addition to the safety and quality of life benefits of such infrastructure spending, maintenance saves considerable amounts of money over the long run by preventing costly repairs and replacements. Thus, maintaining our infrastructure is not only the right thing to do for current residents, but also our obligation to our children and other future residents for whom we should leave the city in at least as good a condition as we found it.
In addition to recognizing and addressing unfunded liabilities, proper infrastructure maintenance and repair is also part of prudent fiscal management. The City Council received a report on the status of our citywide infrastructure in 2011. Based in part on that report, the City Council has made positive changes to its approach to infrastructure. These include the re-institution of residential street maintenance (slurry seals) after ten years of deferring maintenance and the set aside of one-time funds for infrastructure funding. It is appropriate that we now receive an updated report regarding infrastructure and maintenance funding for our consideration.
Among other items, the update should include the ongoing shortfall for residential street repair and maintenance, sidewalk repairs, and public building maintenance. Analysis regarding future savings that could accrue from properly funding maintenance should also be included. Moreover, spending on residential streets and sidewalks, both in the General Fund and in all funds, over the last ten years is requested to give context to our historical levels of investment for these critical pieces of public infrastructure.
As the Mayor highlighted in this year’s State of the City address, much still needs to be done and infrastructure will be a focal point for the coming year. Our streets, sidewalks, public buildings, and systems all need repair. We need to plan now for how to most efficiently maintain and repair our infrastructure in a way that utilizes our resources for the greatest good.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no significant fiscal impact for this report. To the extent that infrastructure maintenance spending is increased, there could be a corresponding amount of long term cost savings from preventing deterioration. For example, the American Public Works Association estimated that cities save $6 in street repair costs for every $1 invested in maintenance.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mayor Bob Foster
Councilmember Gary DeLong
Third District
Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell
Fourth District
Councilmember James Johnson
Seventh District