City staff presented a workshop on the city's Capital Improvement Program (CIP), telling the council the CIP is a six-year planning document and that the revised CIP for the current cycle is about $113.2 million, largely driven by carried-forward appropriations and grant funding.

"The purpose of the workshop is to provide an overview of our capital improvement program which is also known as the CIP," Finance Director Mike Sylvia said, explaining only the first two years of the plan are budgeted and the remaining years are for planning. Sarah Taylor, the city's finance manager, told the council that "much of our funding for our capital projects comes from restricted non general fund sources," and listed gas tax, sewer fees and development impact fees as examples that are restricted to specific project types.

Why it matters: the CIP determines near-term spending on parks, streets, drainage and public facilities and shapes which projects are ready to compete for limited state and federal grants. Staff said recent grant awards and ARPA money produced a spike in capital spending during the last year and that grant opportunities of that scale are unlikely to recur.

Staff said the revised budget of about $113.2 million includes roughly $27.2 million in new appropriations adopted in July, about $81.7 million carried forward from prior years and roughly $4.3 million in additional appropriations this fiscal year. Taylor said grants accounted for a substantial share of FY24'FY25 spending, identifying about $11.5 million in ARPA funds and roughly $6 million in state grant allocations that supported projects such as the fire station rebuilds and the recently completed substation remodel.

The presentation summarized recent capital accomplishments: a solar installation at the Civic Center that staff said will generate about half the building's electricity, the Townsite Complete Streets project, roughly 70 lane miles of slurry seal and about 8.5 lane miles of street rehabilitation, plus 46 new speed humps and new sidewalk work along Vista Village Drive. Taylor said typical costs vary by project type; the presentation listed an example of roughly $1,000,000 per 1,000 linear feet for sidewalk construction and cited an average urban park cost of about $2.1 million per acre (Paula Vista Park was noted as an approximately one-acre park that cost about $4 million a few years ago).

Staff described current projects in construction or close to it: Fire Station 3, downtown parking at 119 Michigan Avenue, electric vehicle charging stations funded via a mix of ARPA funds and state grants, and ongoing slurry seal and pavement management work. The storm drain replacement project and several ARPA-funded drainage improvements were also reported as advancing.

Traffic Engineering Manager Sam Hassonin reviewed identified but unfunded projects or those in design: Emerald Drive Complete Streets (design funded; federal grant application pending), proposed roundabouts at Dorsey Way and West Knapp Drive, a Bavier Drive corridor study, medians landscaping conversion to drought-tolerant plantings, West East Drive traffic calming, a raised crosswalk near Foothill Oak Elementary, an AI-coordinated signal study and sidewalk/traffic-calming work for the Circle neighborhood. Hassonin told council that about 20 locations remain on a traffic-signal priority list and that most of these locations are unfunded.

Public comment: Sid Rothenberg, a private resident, urged reallocations to address ADA improvements at Bridal Terrace, a shade cover at the Park Terrace building (calling the currently budgeted $105,000 inadequate), a motion-sensor automatic door and an increase to support the senior congregate meal program (staff had suggested $60,000 to cover the remainder of the year). "I would also like to propose that the building be designated as a senior and community building and as such might serve in part as a satellite building to the senior center to develop meaningful programs for the surrounding Spanish speaking community," Rothenberg said, asking the council to consider committing $1 million to develop the Luce Duran Park building into a community use facility and to reuse commercial kitchens to expand hot-meal service.

Council questions and direction: Councilmembers pressed staff on several items. Councilmember Contreras asked about the makeup of recent grant funding; staff said about half of the recent grant-funded spending was ARPA, with roughly $6 million from state allocations tied to projects such as the substation and fire-station work. Contreras and others urged that staff prioritize design work so projects are "shovel ready" and more competitive for grants.

Councilmember O'Donnell asked about the current cost of a speed hump and was told install costs vary by street width and complexity (narrow residential streets were cited at roughly $5,000'$7,000, while wider streets can be about $10,000'$12,000). He also asked about the completion timeline for three traffic signals; staff said the contractor's deadline is mid-January and that the signals are scheduled to be completed by January, weather permitting.

Councilmember Fox asked staff to note that city survey responses prioritized improving and maintaining existing parks, walking trails and multiuse paths, and encouraged earlier design work for park projects such as Beaubier Park to position the city for competitive grants. The mayor expressed general support for parks but said he had concerns about continuing changes to roadways (roundabouts and other traffic impediments) and indicated he would not support some future roadway-focused CIP items.

Next steps: staff said direction from the workshop will guide development of the FY26-27 and FY27-28 CIP drafts; the process will include departmental review of costs and funding (January'April), a draft to council in May and final adoption in June.

No formal motions or votes were taken on the CIP during the workshop.