by JEN BIUNDO

The city of Buda’s official wish list approved by councilmembers Tuesday night includes nearly $100 million in projects over the next five years.

But city leaders say it’s difficult, if not impossible, to speculate on how much of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) they’ll actually tackle over the course of the next five years. Though some big-ticket items such as a new $4.4 million library may fall by the wayside in a tight economy, councilmembers said the CIP will act as a placeholder to keep the city on track.

“Sometimes things get forgotten or bypassed,” said Councilmember Cathy Chilcote. “I think it’s really important to keep these projects up front and on the table.”

Early this year, councilmembers had considered floating a bond issuance to fund some of the projects. But Buda Mayor Bobby Lane said that after a tight budget year in which the city struggled to provide services while not making cuts, he didn’t anticipate considering any bond issuances in the next year.

“When the economy starts to pick up again I can definitely see Buda going out to bond to improve the quality of life, but right now we’re just in hold steady mode,” said Councilmember Tom Crouse.

The council approved the five-year Capital Improvement Plan unanimously in a 6-0 vote, with Councilmember Scott Dodd absent. The city’s engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam prepared the document.

The biggest slice of the pie includes nearly $60 million in proposed roadwork, including $1.3 million to reconstruct Bluff Street and $7.7 million to extend the Truck Bypass from FM 967 to FM 2770. Meanwhile, the city is also planning to do many road improvements in-house.

“We had $11 million worth of street work that needed to be done, and instead we bought a $93,000 truck and the staff is going to do it,” Councilmember Sandra Tenorio said.

While there’s little chance that the city, with an $11 million annual budget, could tackle $60 million in transportation spending in the next half-decade, councilmembers say some projects could be funded through development agreements or grant funding.

The city is also looking to complete about $16 million each in water and wastewater infrastructure projects, including $6 million the city has committed to the Hays-Caldwell Public Utility Agency for its six percent share in the construction of a pipeline that would supply cheap groundwater from the Carizzo-Wilcox Aquifer.

The CIP also includes about $3 million in debt that the council voted to issue this May for several critical wastewater projects, including the state-mandated expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which was nearing full capacity. Another $2.8 million could be sued to extend water and wastewater service into the Oxbow subdivision four years down the road.

While the lion’s share of the CIP focuses on infrastructure projects that aren’t likely to get the average citizen jazzed up, it does outline $4.6 million in the 2011-12 fiscal year for construction of a new library.

That’s a price drop from earlier projections. Last January, city staff estimated that it would cost $5 million to expand the library on its current site, $8 million to build a new facility on donated land or $11 million to purchase land and build.

“Do we need things? Yes, but we need to be realistic about what kind of debt our base supports,” Tenorio said. “And sometimes that means we don’t get a big new library.”

In another change from the original plan, the CIP dropped about $10 million in expansion for Buda City Park, replacing it with a $50,000 parks master plan study that could guide future growth.

Each penny on the property tax rate would yield about $1 million in a 25-year bond, meaning the city won’t be able to afford more than a small fraction of the projects without seeking outside funding.

“The challenge is how to do this without incurring a lot of debt,” Chilcote said. “We need to make sure we utilize as much grant funding as we can.”

The city currently carries about $27 million in debt, said finance director Chris Ruiz.

In addition to possible hikes in Buda’s property tax rate, Tenorio said she wanted the city to be cognizant of the financial burden imposed on citizens by other taxing entities like Hays CISD and Austin Community College, which could annex the area this spring and impose a nine-cent property tax, as well as rising utility bills.

“Is it a pipe dream? No,” Tenorio said of the CIP. “It’s something we want to be creative about how we get, all while being responsible to the city.”

Transportation Projects: $59.94 million
Representing about 60 percent of the capital improvements the city hopes to undertake in the next five years, Buda is only undertaking about $95,000 in this budget cycle for ongoing road repairs.

Transportation projects include:
Ongoing Pavement Repairs, $461,800
Main Street Sidewalk and Bridge, $334,000
Bluff Street Reconstruction, $1,322,600
Old Goforth Road Reconstruction, $7,599,300
Dacy Lane Reconstruction from Hillside Terrace to Kelly Smith Lane, $4,843,300
N. Main Street Signals at Sequoyah and Bradfield, $379,600
West Goforth from Cedar Street to IH-35, $3,439,000
Truck Bypass from FM 967 to FM 2770, $7,717,000
Overpass at Truck Bypass and Railroad, $5,960,700
Old Black Colony Road Reconstruction, $7,029,900
Old San Antonio Road, $6,652,200
Overpass at Truck Bypass and FM 967, $6,145,500
Main Street Widening from Garrison Rd. to Cabela’s Dr, $5,179,600
Cabela’s Drive Extension, $2,878,400

Water projects: $16.43 million
The next biggest slice of the CIP pie, the water projects include about $6 million the city has committed to the Hays-Caldwell Public Utility Agency. Buda is covering five percent of the cost for construction of a water line that will pipe water from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer into Hays County. Kyle recently committed $34 million to cover its 28 percent share.

Water projects include:
Main Street Waterline Replacement, $327,500
Main St. Pump Station and Well #1 Upgrades, $51,600
HCPUA Management, $465,574
HCPUA Construction, $5,638,382
NE Buda Loop, $2,534,900
Oxbow Water Service, $1,316,300
IH-35 East Water Line, $1,309,600
Southwest TM, $2,522,200
NW 18-inch loop at Manchaca Springs Road, $1,333,700
Westside Future Water Supply, $928,700

Wastewater projects: $16.12 million
In May, the city voted to issue up to $3.8 million in debt to upgrade the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which had reached the 90 percent capacity that triggered state requirements for expansion. The city says it can repay that debt through wastewater revenue.

Wastewater projects include:
City Wastewater Model, $75,000
Replace Bluff Street Lift Station, $1,275,600
Garlic Creek Force Main, $1,683,200
Replace Downtown Clay Pipe, $1,466,601
Bradfield-Lifschutz Upgrade, $1,115,200
WCID #1 Lift Station Upgrade, $423,750
12-inch FM 967 Interceptor, $2,380,600
South Buda Interceptor (II), $1,096,500
Garlic Creek Lift Station, $1,355,900
Northeast I-35 Interceptor, $466,200
Southwest I-35 Interceptor (III), $1,221,100
Oxbow Wastewater Service, $1,478,800
15-inch Northwest IH-35 Interceptor, $1,065,600
15-inch Southeast IH-35 Intercpetor (IV), $1,019,400

Facilities projects: $4.6 million
The city issued debt in 2007 for a new Parks Department building in Buda City Park, which is set for construction this year. But plans are less certain for a proposed $4 million-plus library expansion or reconstruction.

Facilities projects include:
Parks Building, $300,000
Buda Public Library, $4,373,000

Drainage project: $164,000
The only project in this category is a City Drainage Master Plan, included in this year’s budget.

Parks projects: $50,000
While the city considered putting large-scale parks projects into the CIP, the only expenditure to survive was a $50,000 study for a parks master plan that could plot out future park development.