In a time filled with tough choices, City Councilors are facing one more: between Winslow Way and Wing Point Way, which one should get fixed first?
A wrong decision could lead to the loss of some $2.5 million worth of federal grant money, leaders say. Both projects have already lost elements included in their original conceptions, which have been trimmed considerably due to revenue problems at City Hall.
“Clearly there’s not much money to do anything,” said Councilwoman Kim Brackett. “I’m not sure there’s much to talk about.”
Still, after spending much of their recent meetings talking about the city’s financial capacity, leaders are beginning to turn their attention to specific projects and programs.
Members of the council’s Public Works and Transportation Committee spent a little over an hour working on the capital plan Monday. Work was set to continue at yesterday’s Finance Committee meeting.
Affordable housing, trail acquisition, shoreline improvements and some senior center design work were among the discretionary projects committee members expressed an interest in funding. Monday’s discussion was preliminary and programmatic; specific projects and the specific amounts allocated will continue to fluctuate as the process moves ahead.
Final passage of the capital plan was originally slated for next week, but has instead been pushed back until December, after leaders decided to delay a planned switch to a biennial budget.
Road work still is key, since the city hopes to reallocate promised grant money. Only a few road projects will be funded over the next two years.
Money problems have indefinitely tabled plans for a roundabout at the intersection of Wyatt Way and Madison Avenue. The project had earned an $850,000 grant; similar amounts were granted to projects at Winslow and Wing Point ways.
With the Wyatt project off the table, leaders hope to funnel the money to one of the other two road projects.
To take advantage of the windfall the work must be completed by the end of 2010, and the city can only afford to do one of them, Public Works Director Randy Witt said.
Staff is recommending the city do Winslow Way first, with Wing Point to follow in 2011. Brackett said Wing Point is a safer bet; she’s worried rate increases and other controversial elements of the Winslow Way plan could stall the work and result in the forfeiture of the grant money.
“I think it’s really important to the community that we complete a project,” she said.
One lesser discussed but expensive issue the city needs to address is the replacement of a sewer outfall near Wing Point.
Witt said the outfall isn’t polluting Puget Sound, but its location in tidelands that the state leases for geoduck harvesting is worrisome to the Department of Natural Resources.
The city has the option to either move the outfall at an estimated cost of $2 million or pay as much as $50,000 annually to DNR to compensate for lost geoduck revenue. Staff is recommending the city pay the fee for a few years until more money is available to do a larger project.
There is no full council meeting this week; their next meeting is scheduled for June 25 at 7 p.m.
