Common council approves $171 million 5-year Capital Improvement Plan
Includes one BearCat and $170.7 million of other stuff
The Financial Affairs committee recommended the city’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for approval on February 14th. It was considered by the Common Council on February 22.
The first half of the 5-year CIP was discussed on January 31. You can read about it here. It included a lengthy discussion of a $300,000 Lenco Bearcat G2 Rescue Vehicle for the police department and whether or not it was appropriate to call said BearCat a “tank.”
Ald. Meindl had an additional comment during the Common Council meeting on February 22:
When I knocked on doors during my campaign, residents asked how I felt about the police. I said, “Of course I support the police. And I will pledge to fund their budget” which I just voted in favor of a few months ago for two years at existing levels. I also told constituents, “No bazookas or tanks.” Little did I know that a relative joke about my red line would actually come to fruition.
He reminded the Common Council that while the Lenco BearCat has been used to save lives, “Wauwatosa is not a warzone” and this vehicle doesn’t do a good job of “repairing social bonds” in the community. He referred to the BearCat as a “scaled-down tank in a civilian setting,” and was also upset that the common council refused to spend $5,000 to cancel residents’ medical debt, “but will spend $300,000 on this vehicle without batting an eye.”
Ald. Andrew Meindl made a motion to remove the BearCat from the CIP and allow the police department to use the money for something else but it died for lack of a second.
Ald. Margaret Arney and Ald. Meagan O’Reilly expressed agreement with some of Ald. Meindl’s points but said they would nevertheless be throwing their support behind the BearCat.
Ald. Sean Lowe called it probably “the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make on the council” but was persuaded by the fire and police chief’s arguments for the vehicle’s utility and indicated that he too would be voting for the BearCat.
I was at the forefront of the protests in Wauwatosa. I was out there constantly. And I was not a fan of any military vehicle being on our streets. However, and with that being said, with the increase in school shootings and whatnot across America, I do feel that I took an oath on this common council and part of that oath to me is ensuring that as a common council member, I have a personal goal and duty to also keep Wauwatosa as safe as possible at all times.
Ald. Dubinski, who served three years in the Army and over 31 years on the Wauwatosa Police Department said, “I don’t understand why anybody would be against this.”
Some of the other large projects (>$200,000) for 2023 discussed at the Financial Affairs committee meeting on February 14 include:
North Avenue Paving, Met-to-Wee to Mayfair Road ($9.6m): In conjunction with WisDOT. Bids are currently being solicited.
STH (State Trunk Highway) 181, Wisconsin Ave. to Center St., Preliminary Engineering ($570k): Covers the city’s share of the preliminary engineering and design. Actual construction will be much more expensive.
Pavement Repairs and Spot Improvements ($360k): No details. Done annually.
Sidewalk Improvement Program ($1.2m): No details. Done annually.
Reconstruct North Avenue Bridges over the Menomonee River ($820k): Covers the costs of design work. WisDOT will provide funding (approx. $24m) for most of the actual construction. The city will be responsible for about $5m of the total cost. Includes realignment of roadways and raising bridges to accommodate higher floodplains. Actual construction will be in 2027 or 2028. Previously discussed here.
Construct Fiber Optic Connections between Critical city facilities ($340k): No details. Done annually.
Schoonmaker Creek Utility Improvements and Flood Relief ($500k): Preliminary analysis to refine cost estimates for two potential plans. Actual construction costs could be between $50m-100m and the city plans to allocate approximately $25.5m for the project over the next 5 years. The city’s Finance Director, John Ruggini emphasized how complex the financing and timing of the project will be given its scope and cost. Previously discussed here and here. Ald. Tilleson, I think referring to a comment made by Ald. Lowe (see here) in August of last year, added:
There was a very misguided and immature insinuation that we were just dragging our feet on this project and when the new council took place there was this flurry, and there was this allegation that we needed to be more on this. And I think the points that you just made and that John just made as well need to be stressed to everyone, how complex this is. And all the different moving parts, and all the different funds that are going to be spent on it, and people just need to slow their roll and recognize that we're working on it, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. But that it is something that remains front and center of your efforts.
WA3009 Sanitary Sewer Lining and Lateral Grouting ($1.6m): Portion of cost paid for by MMSD. I don’t really know what this is. Makes sewers last longer?
103rd Street Storm Sewer Relay ($800k): Construction will start in a month. Partial funding. Mayfair Mall to North Ave.
Honey Creek Storm Sewer Outfall Improvements ($320k): Money for design of 20 new storm sewer outfalls in conjunction with Army Corps of Engineer and MMSD redesign of Honey Creek.
There was a second slide full of projects, but I’ll just mention the two most expensive below:
Potter Road and 109th Street Improvements ($6.4m): The city will be replacing storm, water, and sewer piping on 109th Street between Wisconsin Ave. and Potter Road. The water and storm piping on Potter Rd. between 109th and the Underwood School will also be replaced. A consultant will be hired to assist with the design. All the water mains are ARPA funded (See here which describes the Potter Road water main relay replacement thusly):
The city got a second water tower in 2013 for its western pressure district so that it could have two online at the same time to provide reliable water service during periods of high demand (e.g., like firefighting) but it never worked right. They could only put one online at a time. They think the problem is an old piece of pipe. They’re going to replace the pipe.
New park at 116th and Gilbert ($3m): City staff previously estimated the cost at $3.8m (Previously mentioned here), so I’m not sure if they’ve scaled back some of their plans. Nevertheless, at least as of June last year the plans included walking trails, a playground, BMX trail, sledding hill, and a picnic area. The park will be paid for through ARPA funds ($2m) and anticipated MMSD and state stewardship grants ($1m).
The 2023 projects discussed on February 14 were in addition to the ten already discussed on January 31. These included the hotly contested BearCat, replacement of a fire engine, police and fire station remodeling, repair, and upgrades, street improvements, etc.
Overall, the city proposed to spend about $29.5 million in capital improvements for 2023. This is about three times the amount spent in 2022 and two times the amount spent in 2021. As Mr. Ruggini said during the first half of the presentation on January 31, “the city has been underfunding it’s infrastructure probably since the 1970s,” and “the deferred maintenance is probably on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars.” So, they’re trying to catch up.
Discussion among members of the Financial Affairs committee centered on details of a proposed remodel of City Hall and the library for which a preliminary feasibility study was presented to the common council on January 17. Total costs ranged from $50 - $70 million but the CIP proposed $4 million for the project in 2027 to cover some of the initial planning. Mr. Ruggini said that the construction project itself would “almost certainly” require a referendum for approval.
Ald. Amanda Fuerst also asked whether the proposed CIP depended on the creation of a transportation utility (discussed previously here), the legality of which is currently being contested, and what the backup plan would be if the city wasn’t able to move forward with it.
Mr. Ruggini said they are not looking for approval of the transportation utility until July after which the city will need 4-6 months to build the software infrastructure before billing starts in January of 2024. Even if the lawsuits were not yet resolved by July, he would ask for the common council to approve the creation of the utility with a contingency to reverse course before the new year if the court cases resolved unfavorably. Mr. Ruggini added that if that happened, they would propose a revision to the 2024-2028 CIP that would likely remove some of the funding for City Hall and reallocate it to transportation projects.
Ald. Fuerst said that if there’s “a possibility for us as a committee to have a discussion on the City Hall project sooner than later that might be helpful.”
The 2023-2028 Capital Improvement Plan (BearCat and all) was approved by the Common Council on February 22, by a vote of 14-0. Ald. Meindl voted “Present.”
Regarding this statement,
As Mr. Ruggini said during the first half of the presentation on January 31, “the city has been underfunding it’s infrastructure probably since the 1970s,” and “the deferred maintenance is probably on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars.” So, they’re trying to catch up.
In my opinion most institutions and households underfund and defer maintenance, a poor financial practice. It’s good news that this has been acknowledged and a positive step proposed. It’s bad news that this has been going on since the 70s.
I'm appalled that we're spending $300k for a police tank. It really smacks of the need for machismo. It is most certainly overkill. l. Am sure there will be a picture of this vehicle in the newspapers showing how formidable is our police force. Also, my utility bill has increased significantly, the need for which was discussed in one of your previous newsletters. The prospect of seeing additional charges for transportation costs is somewhat daunting. The question of whether my property taxes will be less is certainly not resolved. There's so much that is approved and decided upon without actually considering the unintended consequences.