Moses Lake council adopts six‑year CIP 4‑1; Nelson Road grant work and downtown restriping draw debate

The Moses Lake City Council voted 4–1 to adopt the city’s six‑year Capital Improvement Plans (CIP) after a multi‑point discussion about transportation, water and park capital projects and grant funding. The motion to adopt the CIP was made during a special meeting and carried by voice vote; council members recorded four votes in favor and one opposed.

What the vote covered: The adopted CIP consolidated prior project lists across transportation, water, wastewater, stormwater, parks, fleet and facility projects. Staff estimated transportation revenues of roughly $17.5 million in 2026 and described nearly $10 million in grant funding tied to specific projects.

Why it mattered: The 6‑year CIP frames major capital spending and grants the city is pursuing or planning to seek. Several council members pressed staff on project details, grant obligations and potential costs to adjacent property owners for street improvements.

Nelson Road / Safe Routes to School debate

Levi (Public Works engineer) explained the Safe Routes to School application that covers a Nelson Road corridor project connecting several schools. Levi said the project scope includes sidewalks on both sides of the street in the eastern leg, rapid‑flashing beacons at crosswalks, curb bump‑outs to shorten crossing distances, pedestrian‑scale lighting and possible intersection reconfiguration near Edwards Nursery to improve safety. "We're proposing to install rapid flashing beacons at crosswalks..." Levi explained as he walked through planned safety measures.

Funding and property‑owner questions: The Nelson Road design package identified a $2.2 million Safe Routes grant and a $1.0 million water capital allocation on the project funding sheet, and staff said the grant was not structured to require direct reimbursements from adjoining property owners as a baseline. Council members raised questions about covenants that historically required adjoining property owners to share improvement costs and whether the city would call those covenants. Staff said calling covenants and reimbursing adjacent owners is a policy decision for council and noted grants can reduce the cost share for property owners; staff recommended council guidance on whether to pursue covenant call decisions or to use grant funds to reduce owner assessments.

Downtown chip‑seal, striping timeline and two hot spots

Staff presented a downtown chip‑seal and restriping project that began with chip seal on Sept. 11, fog seal Sept. 22–Oct. 3 and striping that started Sept. 29; staff said crews expect to finish crosswalk and arrow work by Oct. 24. Council focused on two contested locations:

- Wheeler Road at Pioneer/ Safeway driveway: Residents and a Safeway representative raised concerns that the new lane configuration and the position of turn pockets could create new queues and impede turning into the Safeway lot. Safeway said roughly 40% of its customer traffic uses the Wheeler entrance and asked the city to avoid a configuration that would worsen driveway queuing. After extensive discussion and public input, council directed staff to revert the Wheeler stretch nearest the Safeway driveway to the prior four‑lane configuration (status quo for that block) and to adjust signal timing to address queueing; council members also asked staff to continue observing the location and report back if additional changes are necessary.

- Alder Street at Broadway: Staff said they adjusted signal timing after early observations and recommended retaining the newly striped configuration at Alder/Broadway; several council members agreed. Levi said the Alder/Broadway timing change had reduced backups and staff will continue coordination with the state on signal timing. The council’s direction was to leave the Alder/Broadway restriping in place and to continue monitoring and coordinating with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) as needed.

Grant and funding notes

- Safe Routes to School: Staff confirmed the city has a $2.2 million award on Nelson Road and said some design elements can be reshaped during final engineering. Levi said grants could be used to reduce property owner assessments where allowed.

- Transportation Improvement Board (TIB): Staff cautioned that major changes to projects funded by TIB or similar boards could affect funding allocations and that any substantive change to an awarded project would be coordinated with the funding agency.

Formal action and next steps

- Motion adopted: Council adopted the six‑year Capital Improvement Plans (motion text provided at meeting). The recorded voice vote was four in favor, one opposed.

- Direction on restriping: Council directed staff to revert a short block of Wheeler Road near the Safeway driveway to the prior lane configuration and to adjust signal timing; council also directed staff to keep the newly striped Alder/Broadway configuration and to coordinate signal timing changes with WSDOT as needed.

Speakers quoted or reported

- Levi, Public Works engineer (government) — described Safe Routes to School scope and downtown striping adjustments: "We're proposing to install rapid flashing beacons at crosswalks...". - Rob Carlinzi, City Manager (government) — framed the CIP adoption and asked for council direction on contested locations. - Safeway representative (business) — said roughly 40% of store traffic uses the Wheeler driveway and expressed concern about driveway queueing.

Clarifying details extracted

- CIP vote: motion to adopt six‑year CIP passed 4–1; mover/second not specified in the roll call record. - Nelson Road funding listing on CIP: $2,200,000 Safe Routes to School grant and $1,000,000 water capital shown as funding sources for project T4. - Fire mitigation fund: staff proposed $40,000 in 2026 for planning related to a potential new north end fire station; staff noted a potential property donation under consideration.

Why this matters locally

The CIP vote authorizes the city’s near‑term capital priorities and sets up project applications and procurements that drive construction, traffic changes and grant leverage. The downtown striping decisions will be implemented immediately and affect vehicular and pedestrian flow; staff said they will continue monitoring and can bring revisions back to council if problems persist.

Provenance

topicintro evidence: "And so this evening, what we are requesting is a motion to adopt the 6 year capital improvement plans." (staff request to adopt the CIP)

topicfinish evidence: "K. Thank you for that direction. Next. The other hot spot." (staff concluding downtown restriping discussion and confirming council direction)