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Falls City amends 2025–31 street preapproval plan, moves M‑32‑86 into one‑year priority
Summary
The Falls City Council reviewed and approved the City of Falls City's 2025'20231 six‑year street preapproval plan on Dec. 2 and amended it to move project M‑32‑86 into the one‑year priority list, city staff said.
The Falls City Council reviewed the city's 2025'20231 six‑year street preapproval plan at its Dec. 2 meeting and voted to approve the plan with amendments, including moving project M‑32‑86 into the one‑year priority list, city staff said.
The action matters because projects listed in the city's one‑ and six‑year plan are required for the City of Falls City to access state highway allocation and other infrastructure funding, staff told the council. City staff said the city received roughly $622,000 in highway allocation last fiscal year and about $186,000 in vehicle sales tax that flows through state funding programs to street work.
A city staff presenter described how the one‑year projects function as the city's near‑term priorities and noted some projects listed as one‑year are really planning‑level priorities that may move between the one‑ and six‑year lists. The staff presenter said the city is using a mix of funds and sometimes engineering work to make parcels shovel ready for development, and that one northern parcel between 30th Street and 35th Street is being prepared with electric and gas infrastructure using LV840 funds.
Council members and staff discussed technical tradeoffs, including brick streets, patching and overlays. The presenter said some brick streets are being patched with concrete in places where leaving or restoring brick is not intended. "If there's no future intent to leave it brick, then why spend the extra effort to put it back?" the presenter said, explaining that overlays can stretch limited dollars but are not a 20‑year fix. Council members raised repair priorities for Fourteenth Street and other high‑traffic corridors.
Council and staff also spoke about projects that cross jurisdictional lines. Staff said portions of some projects are in the county rather than inside city limits; those county portions were moved or shown as county responsibilities in the plan so the city would not incorrectly assume funding or ownership. The presenter said the city's highway maintenance contract pays roughly $11,000 annually and does not fully cover the city's maintenance costs for state highways running through town.
During discussion a council member moved to amend the plan to advance project M‑32‑86 from the six‑year list into year one; another motion moved project M‑32‑67 to the six‑year list. The council then approved the plan with the amendments. The transcript does not record a roll‑call tally for the street‑plan vote; the motion to approve was made and the council proceeded to a vote.
Staff said the plan is a working document and projects can be moved at later council meetings. The presenter also said staff would provide further updates on project engineering status and a 30% design for certain projects later in the week.
Background: staff framed the one‑year list as the city's immediate priorities used to target engineering and funding, while the six‑year list serves as a broader prioritization for future access to state and federal funds such as Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs. Council discussion highlighted the tension between short‑term cost‑stretching overlays on brick streets and longer‑term full removals and replacements that require larger funds.
