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Resident questions funding choices in capital improvement plan, says Burnside Park delayed while Acton Cove allocation rose
Summary
A resident told the council he was disappointed Burnside Park was pushed to 2027 while Acton Cove project estimates rose substantially between the adopted CIP and a subsequent grant application.
Effie Brock, an Eastport resident, told the council she appreciates that Burnside Park appears in the capital improvement program but criticized the timetable and questioned a discrepancy she found between the city’s CIP and a state grant application for Acton Cove.
Brock said Burnside Park was moved to 2027 with no allocation this year, while the Acton Cove improvements project has seen increasing estimates. She said the city’s CIP initially listed roughly $100,000 for pedestrian improvements at Acton Cove, then a $92,000 bond allocation the following year, and more recently a $220,000 bond amount for 2026; she said the Department of Natural Resources grant application the city submitted later listed $375,000 in bond revenue for the same project.
“Did the city mislead the public when it passed the CIP with 1 expectation of expenditures for this park, but then applying for a much higher number?” Brock asked. She said she sought an explanation from the Department of Finance and did not receive a satisfactory answer in her records request.
Brock said she worries that projects on the side of Spa Creek with more affluent neighborhoods are receiving faster attention and larger allocations than parks in underserved areas such as Eastport. She urged the council to review how the CIP is compiled and to explain differences between adopted budgets and subsequent grant applications.
The council did not take action on the remarks at the meeting. No city finance official provided an explanation on the record during public comment in the transcript.
