Council looks ahead at five-year improvement projects

One of the parts of any city’s annual budget that is of the utmost interest to many of its residents are capital projects. That’s because these projects are things that their citizens can see, use, and appreciate.

Tuesday, city council voted unanimously to approve the tentative Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. Adoption of the final plan is set to take place on May 26. If an item needs additional discussion, it can come back before council prior to that date.

Budget Manager Angela Mannine led the discussion and said planning begins in August each year with meetings with the city manager, finance and department heads to review and revise the five-year CIP. Fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1, has a total of 35 projects identified with a total cost of $35,107,418.

A city report states that:

• The Capital Improvement Plan’s purpose is to annually review and assess the state of the city’s capital equipment and infrastructure.

• It assists in prioritizing replacement and renovation based on assessment and available funding.

• The Capital Improvement Plan was presented to the Utility Advisory Committee (UAC) on Oct. 1, 2025, with no proposed changes.

• The Capital Improvement Plan was presented at a resident workshop on Oct. 1, 2025, with no requested changes.

• The Capital Improvement Plan was presented to the city council on Dec. 16, 2025.

• Since that meeting the Pavilion at the Boulder Creek Golf Course has been added, funded by the Redevelopment District Area Fund.

There was a resident workshop in the Council Chambers on Oct. 1, to give residents a chance to ask staff questions about the Capital Improvement Plan. Nearly 250 suggestions have been received by the city. Of those, 42% were incorporated in CIP projects.

According to that same report, the proposed five-year plan includes 54 projects for a combined cost of $134.5 million.

As to where the funds to pay for these projects come from, there are five projected sources over the next five years. The Enterprise Fund, which includes the airport, electric, water and wastewater funds, totals 40%. Another 24% comes from outside funding like the Regional Transportation Commission and Federal Aviation Commission, while 19% is governmental. The remaining 3% is from golf course surcharges.

The funding for fiscal year ’27 is slightly different, with 27% being voter-approved funding being the second largest slice of the pie next to governmental funding. Voter-approved funding is made up primarily of proceeds from Tract 350, which has since been renamed Liberty Ridge. For FY27, $8,563,500 will be used to help fund the new community pool.

An item that has come up since the council last discussed the CIP plan on Dec. 16 is the construction of a 10,000-square-foot pavilion at Boulder Creek Golf Course. This would replace the existing 7,400-square-foot structure that has been used for many years and has hosted a variety of community and private events.

The new $8.5 million structure, unlike the current one, would include a kitchen and restrooms. The tentative date of completion would be sometime in 2029. Mannine said all the money would come from the Redevelopment Fund, with $5 million of that currently in place, $1.75 million for the following fiscal year, $750,000 in FY ’28 and finally, $1 million in FY ’29.

She said the annual Boulder Dam Credit Union gala, which hosts about 400 people, was used to gauge the space needed for an event that size. She assured council, after being asked by Councilman Steve Walton, that the city’s public works departments signed off on this cost, taking into consideration inflation over the next few years.

For more information on the CIP plan for the next fiscal year, visit www.bcnv.org/CIP2027. Residents are encouraged to send suggestions to CIP@BCNV.org.