The city manager presented a recommended five-year Capital Improvement Plan (FY2027'031) on Oct. 28 that staff said totals roughly $1.1 billion and emphasizes school renovations, fire station replacements and rehabilitation, and necessary water and stormwater projects.

The plan, staff said, serves as a spending schedule and multi-year strategic investment plan. Corey Cloud, Assistant Director of Budget and Evaluation, told council the recommended plan was developed considering the city's strategic priorities, debt-management policies and community feedback. He said the plan aligns projects with the city's stated focus on "people, places and government." The recommendation moves only the first year into appropriation; the remaining years are a funding plan and are subject to later appropriation.

Cloud said that the recommended five-year total is "approximately $1,100,000,000," slightly lower than the currently adopted plan. He described how project roll-offs and new projects change totals year to year and noted a $7,000,000 reduction in community development spending driven primarily by the final year of Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI) funding in FY2026. Staff emphasized that general fund bond and cash capital have a direct impact on the operating budget and that the recommended plan is modeled on a conservative assumption of issuing debt annually. Based on unaudited FY2025 numbers, Cloud said the plan "brushes up against" the city's debt-policy thresholds but remains in compliance with the four debt-management ratios the city uses.

Key first-year and near-term items highlighted by staff include:
- Public safety: Fire stations average 41 years in service. Fire Station No. 11 design/"right-sized" construction is budgeted at about $14,000,000, and the plan includes $27,000,000 for rehabilitation and upgrades to existing stations. The staff presentation identified full replacements for specific stations (identified in the presentation) and separate rehabilitation money for stations not scheduled for total replacement (kitchen and living-quarter upgrades). Staff said new financing mechanisms (a planning fund and a line of credit) are being explored to accelerate replacements.

- Education: The plan includes about $167,000,000 for education and learning over five years, including $10,000,000 annually for school facility renovations, bus replacements and 1:1 technology funding. FY2027 includes the final-year funding for Warwick High School at $32,000,000; Denbigh High School renovation is included in the out years with an estimated cost of $58,800,000. Cloud said the plan also includes furniture and equipment funding to make renovated facilities operational.

- Maritime, parks and cultural facilities: The plan identifies bulkhead repairs at Mitchville Marina and the Seafood Industrial Park; funding for Grissom Library site improvements (stormwater and roadway infrastructure); funding to replace the Hilton Fishing Pier (estimated cost about $3,300,000 with a $600,000 shortfall shown for FY2027); dredging at Leeward and other marina locations; and the first phase of Stoney Run Park (trails, restrooms, parking, multipurpose fields). Campground restroom replacements are budgeted with $2,400,000 in 2031 toward an estimated $5,000,000 total to replace seven restrooms built in the 1960s.

- Streets, pedestrian and demolition work: Staff described $113,000,000 in scheduled state and federal grant support for street and pedestrian projects, dedicated design funding ($500,000 in FY2027) for five segments of a bicycle/pedestrian plan (Trail 7507), and continued annual funding of $300,000 for demolition of blighted vacant buildings.

- Facilities and waterworks: The recommended plan continues funding for construction of a new courthouse, acquisition and renovation activity at the municipal complex, and a large portfolio of environmental stewardship projects addressing stormwater, sewer and waterworks infrastructure. Staff noted Waterworks maintains six dams and two treatment plants, requiring sustained investment.

Cloud emphasized the distinction between the planning-level five-year totals and the legally appropriated first year; the recommended appropriation is only for FY2027. The plan will be posted online the evening of Oct. 28 and staff said they will return for additional work sessions and to present the CIP for formal adoption on Feb. 10.

Council members questioned timing of debt issuance and noted the relationship between a potential property-tax-rate reduction and the CIP's affordability. Several members urged prioritizing school construction and renovation work and asked staff to explore whether bringing certain projects forward (for example, Fire Station No. 9) is feasible within existing bond authorizations. Staff responded that design for Fire Station No. 9 is authorized and that construction timing is linked to the Grissom Library site project.

Cloud and staff also told council they would bring alternative financing ideas forward before final adoption and that debt-service projections in the presentation assume borrowing annually, which may not be required if projects progress more slowly.

Council did not take a final vote on the CIP; staff listed Feb. 10 as the scheduled adoption meeting and invited council to ask questions and request further detail at upcoming work sessions.