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Council discusses Town Square improvements, parking and trail grant prospects
Summary
Councilors reviewed capital-improvement priorities including a potential $650,000 grant, a proposed $750,000 Town Square project, and options for parking-lot repairs and a recurring CIP set-aside.
Midway City Councilors reviewed competing capital improvement priorities during the work session, focusing on Town Square improvements, parking needs and a pending trails grant.
Staff said the draft CIP assumes a potential $650,000 grant that would be confirmed May 1 and that the Town Square plan includes a placeholder figure of roughly $750,000. Councilors instructed staff to keep those revenue assumptions separate from trail line items until the grant is confirmed.
Why it matters: Council members said improving downtown parking and the Town Square could boost tourism and economic development. Members discussed creating or restoring an annual CIP set-aside to accumulate cash for opportunistic property acquisitions and improvements.
Details from the meeting: Officials identified one city-owned parking lot on Main Street that now requires repairs, including filling a roughly 2-foot drop at the entrance and edge-grading to increase useable spaces. One councilor suggested an immediate allocation of $35,000 to stabilize and gravel the lot; others suggested using the general maintenance budget or the city's CIP parking fund instead.
Councilors recalled an older practice of setting aside $20,000'$25,000 per year to build a CIP acquisition fund and debated increasing that to $50,000 annually to accelerate availability of local match funds for grants. Staff said the city retains about $100,000 in a CIP parking account and that adding annual contributions could position the city to act quickly if suitable property becomes available.
On timing and next steps: Staff will separate the pending $650,000 grant from trail line items in the CIP until award is final and provide a revised CIP breakdown. Councilors also asked staff to explore uses of the existing CIP parking balance and to return with a recommended annual set-aside amount for council consideration.
Ending: Council members said they expect to revisit these capital priorities as grant outcomes and more detailed cost estimates become available.
