Englewood staff outline 2026–2030 capital projects; council told to prioritize as requests exceed available funding

City finance and department directors presented a preliminary 2026–2030 capital improvement plan (CIP) during a special study session, outlining a mix of programmatic maintenance requests and one‑time projects and identifying a funding gap between prioritized requests and available revenue.

Budget staff said Tier 1 capital requests for 2026 total about $8.7 million while currently available ongoing funding for the same year is roughly $4.0 million; staff noted an anticipated $3.0 million from new development that could increase available funds but still leave a shortfall. The presentation covered multiple funds and departments, including parks and recreation, public works, police, fleet and utilities.

Key items presented include Pirate Cove maintenance ($70,000), ongoing tree and open‑space work supported by Arapahoe County open‑space funds, golf course capital needs (carts, pump station), the new parks GO bond program (Fund 35) with roughly $41.5 million of projects planned for a three‑year spend down, and a range of street, bridge, stormwater and facility requests across public works.

Why it matters: city staff emphasized the mismatch between the number of competing capital priorities and available funds. Council members asked for more information and time to weigh priorities, and staff showed an Excel‑based prioritization workbook that Planning & Zoning, the Budget Advisory Committee and the city’s Capital Review Committee will use to score and recommend projects.

Council discussion and requests: council members and commissioners in the room asked for additional data on recent and pending development activity, recent permitting and the number and type of housing units built or under construction so members can better gauge the city’s near‑term development pipeline before making capital choices. Councilmember Kim Wright asked staff for permitting activity in the last year and upcoming PUDs; staff committed to provide permitting and development‑activity data.

Several councilmembers asked for clearer justifications on programmatic requests and asked staff to show what would be cut if the council wants to fit the 2026 requests into available revenue. Deputy City Manager Sean Lewis and Budget Manager Jenny Nolan said the CIP workbook and the scoring process will be used to collect feedback from advisory groups and guide council prioritization; the next touchpoint for the budget calendar was identified as June 23 for the department preliminary 2026 operating and capital presentation.

Notable project details: - Parks GO bond (Fund 35): Christina Underhill, director of Parks, Recreation, Library & Golf, described ballot issue 2C projects totaling roughly $41.5 million to address eight parks and two facilities, with construction largely planned to conclude by 2028. Underhill said the city will refine design and phasing as funds become available. - Public improvement fund programs: Victor Roushell, Director of Public Works, reviewed ongoing programs (alley maintenance, bridge repairs, pavement maintenance, neighborhood traffic calming, walk & wheel implementation). He noted a need to update biannual bridge reports, which increased the 2026 bridge repairs request. - Service center building: Public works requested a Tier 1 appropriation to replace Building 1 at the service center because current structures date to the 1950s–1960s and need extensive repairs or replacement.

Next steps: staff will collect scores and comments from the Budget Advisory Committee and Planning & Zoning using the workbook, return additional data on recent permitting and development, and bring refined CIP recommendations to council in follow‑up sessions. Council emphasized that scoring and public input will drive any decisions about which Tier 1 projects advance into the 2026 budget.