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Interim public works director urges new asset‑management role to address deferred maintenance
Summary
Interim Public Works Director Barry Buchanan told the budget committee that Stayton faces large deferred‑maintenance needs across utilities and streets and proposed adding an infrastructure planning and asset management coordinator to prioritize work and pursue grants.
Interim Public Works Director Barry Buchanan told the Budget Committee the city faces substantial deferred maintenance across its water, wastewater, stormwater, parks and facilities systems and urged the committee to fund a dedicated asset management position to coordinate planning, prioritize projects and chase grant funding.
Buchanan said the city’s asset base is large and that much of it is in poor condition. "You have an asset base of about a billion dollars," he told the committee, and later said, "I am saying that you have about $250,000,000 worth of failed or poor condition assets in this city as it stands right now." He described the immediate consequence as both a planning and an implementation gap: existing master plans and condition assessments are not being turned into coordinated, prioritized work because staff time is limited.
Nut graf: Buchanan and staff argued that without a dedicated coordinator to aggregate master‑plan data, prioritize projects across utilities and streets, and prepare coordinated grant applications, the city risks piecemeal repairs (for example repaving streets that later must be reopened for underground work) and higher long‑term costs.
What staff proposed
- A new infrastructure planning and asset management coordinator position (proposed in the draft budget) to build and maintain an asset inventory, assess system condition, coordinate master plans, support grants and implement capital investment strategies. - Filling a city/civil engineer position and refocusing existing project engineers on capital project delivery and construction oversight while shifting planning/asset duties to the new coordinator.
Staff evidence and scale
City Manager Julia Hedrick told the committee that estimated replacement costs for city infrastructure exceed $840,000,000, and Buchanan said substantial portions of those assets are in poor condition. He and staff emphasized projects already underway (stormwater master plan, Riverfront Park design, water/wastewater trunk work) and noted that available grant funding increases the need for a single strategic planner to shepherd grants to implementation.
Committee questions and next steps
Committee members asked how quickly positions could be filled and whether staff had a recommended software/toolset for asset management. Buchanan recommended a middle‑range GIS‑based asset tool rather than a full enterprise system; council members asked staff to return with costed options and implementation timelines. Staff said funding for the position is included in the proposed budget and asked the committee to consider the longer‑term savings of coordinated planning versus ad hoc repairs.
Ending
Buchanan and other staff said they will continue recruitment for a city engineer and provide additional cost estimates for asset management software and staffing at the next meeting so the Budget Committee can consider the recommendations alongside the full budget.
