Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan


Introduction

This five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is the community’s vision for short- and long-range development, maintenance, improvement and building of new infrastructure assets to benefit our residents, businesses, property owners and visitors. It provides a linkage between the General Plan, various master planning documents and budget, and provides a means for planning, scheduling and implementing capital projects over the next five years. The CIP provides a long-term approach for prioritizing and selecting new projects in the City. Although the plan document is updated annually, it allows the reader to review projects planned over the five-year timeframe and provides an overview of works in progress. The CIP is intended to incorporate the City’s investments in infrastructure development and maintenance (i.e., capital improvements) with other significant capital expenditures that add to or strategically invest in the City’s inventory of assets. Studies and capital expenditures of less than $75,000 are not typically included in the CIP.

Procedures for Developing the Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan

Typically, procedures for developing the five-year CIP utilize the City’s forecasting, project evaluation and community engagement processes. However, given significant reductions in last year's capital program, this year's five-year CIP focuses on continuing to reduce the backlog of ongoing capital projects, address critical deferred maintenance, and identify projects that support ongoing land development projects in the City, by applying the strategy described below.











Identifying projects.

In the past, department managers would initiate requests for new projects and modifications to or re-prioritize of existing projects. These requests, along with supporting information, would be prepared as part of the annual budget process.

In the past five years, the City has invested in the development of long-term infrastructure planning efforts, including the Parks & Recreation Master Plan, Green Stormwater Infrastructure Plan, Zero Waste (Trash & Recycling) Plan, Information Technology Master Plan, Bedwell Bayfront Park Master Plan, Water System Master Plan, Stormwater Master Plan, Transportation Master Plan, and, most recently, an updated Climate Action Plan. These planning efforts have laid the groundwork to identify and prioritize key infrastructure needs in each topic area. The CIP, over time, then takes the recommendations from each plan and programs them for further planning, community engagement, design and construction. This has allowed for a more strategic approach to identifying capital needs, while still allowing the flexibility to respond to other projects or issues as they arise.

Prioritization.

Even with these master planning efforts substantially completed, projects must be further scoped and prioritized annually according to available funds and resources to successfully deliver the projects. Evaluation criteria applied to prioritize projects include:

  • Public health and safety/risk exposure
  • Protection of infrastructure
  • Impacts on operating budgets and ongoing maintenance needs
  • Capacity to deliver/impacts to other projects
  • Economic development
  • External requirements
  • Population served
  • Ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the City's 2030 climate action plan
  • Community/commission support
  • Relationship to adopted plans
  • Cost/benefit
  • Availability of financing

Community Input

Once the City Council’s priorities are defined through their work plan, an opportunity for feedback is typically provided to the City’s various commissions before the City Council’s incorporation into the annual budget. However, in 2021, the work plan was adopted on April 27, which did not allow time for commission review of the draft capital plan and proposed projects.


Approved Projects

This five-year CIP includes 35 projects receiving new funding in fiscal year 2021–22 and 57 carryover projects.

Eleven projects in this five-year CIP address ongoing infrastructure or facility maintenance needs and are included on an annual, bi-annual or periodic basis. Examples include street resurfacing and the sidewalk repair program.

New capital projects and projects involving infrastructure maintenance are identified. Projects approved in prior fiscal years that have not yet been completed are listed. Ongoing master plans, such as the Stormwater Master Plan, will also identify future projects expected to be needed in future year budget cycles.


Carryover Appropriations

Projects which had prior City Council appropriations but were not fully expended have remaining appropriation balances included as carryover amounts.


These amounts are strictly an estimate and will be trued-up at year-end close. Amounts reflected in projected carryover column should not be construed as funds available for commitment. In many cases the carryover estimate includes funds that have been encumbered/committed as a result of an executed contract for services or goods.


Project Funding Sources

The five-year CIP coordinates physical improvements with financial planning, allowing maximum benefits from available funding sources. It relies on funding from various sources, largely retained in the capital and special revenue funds, with uses that are usually restricted for specific purposes. Although an annual transfer from the General Fund to the City’s General CIP Fund (approximately $3.0 million) is part of the City’s operating budget, this funding is intended solely for maintaining existing infrastructure in its current condition. Funding sources are each further described in the City's adopted budget.

CIP Budget Project Prioritization

Beginning in 2019, staff categorizes the projects in relative priority based on the following factors:

  • Regulatory compliance
  • Public safety
  • Preservation of city assets
  • Improved efficiencies
  • Grant funding timelines
  • First in, first out
  • Available staffing

Tier 1 indicates that a project will receive the highest relative priority for staff and consultant resources. Tiers 2 and 3, respectively, indicates that a project will

receive significant resources only after the higher tier projects have received the necessary resources. Tier N/A indicates that a project is not currently competing for resources, typically funded in a future year. Staff is committed to completing the projects outlined in the CIP budget, regardless of tiers.

General Plan Consistency

The projects listed in the five-year CIP are presented to the Planning Commission during a Public Hearing before City Council adoption of the plan. The Planning

Commission must review the CIP in order to adopt a finding that it is consistent with the City’s General Plan. The Planning Commission reviewed the proposed 2021-22 CIP in June 2021 and included recommendations for prioritizing projects that would address the community disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and the resulting economic dislocations.


Environmental Review

The development of the five-year plan is not a project, as defined in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and an environmental review is not required. Individual projects listed herein may be subject to CEQA and environmental reviews will be conducted at the appropriate time during implementation of those projects.

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