City presents $11.8 million FY26 bond and five-year capital improvement plan to planning board

City Manager Phil Crowell briefed the Auburn Planning Board on March 11 about the city’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and a proposed Fiscal Year 2026 bond package that would fund public safety, facilities upgrades, parks, roads and other infrastructure.

Crowell told the board the CIP shows a multi-year program and that the FY26 bond sheet is the immediate focus. He described the city’s decision to buy a building on Kitty Hawk to house the fire department — allowing the public safety facility project to be done in one phase — and estimated the Engine 2 facility at South Main Street would cost roughly $8.4 million when complete. He also described a Powell Center project estimated at $9 million, demolition of 7 Chestnut Street to create parking for the Palace Center, retrofit work at 121 Mill Street (estimated roughly $1.5 million across phases), and congressional earmark efforts such as an approximately $8 million request to extend water and sewer to Outer Broad Street/Outer South Main.

Crowell said the city has received roughly $4 million in funding for the Littlefield Dam removal and that, taken together, staff are managing about $88 million of capital projects across the portfolio. He told the board the FY26 bond sheet lists bondable projects totaling $11,797,000 and that the city is also relying on other funds (EMS reserves, operating capital allocations, congressional earmarks, ARPA and prior capital allocations) to stage work. Crowell summarized other priorities: fiber expansion, security cameras, an updated road assessment and a new facilities manager assigned to review and schedule future roof and HVAC work across city buildings.

Board members asked how specific projects interact with development and construction access (notably the Stetson Road culvert issue) and about how Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds are being captured and reserved for public safety debt service. Crowell said TIF accounts are building and that the city council controls use of TIF revenues through capital budgeting decisions.

Crowell asked the board to review the five-year plan and said staff will return the CIP to the board at a workshop so members can provide feedback before the council considers a final bonding package.

"We should be hearing those numbers and going back to the public safety committee, building committee, within the next two weeks," Crowell said regarding public safety cost estimates. "Part of our process for the public safety facility was the need for us to move that project in one phase rather than two phases."