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Edgerton council discusses 2025 capital plan, ARPA priorities and possible library furnace funding
Summary
City staff outlined the 2025 capital plan and borrowing assumptions, urged redoing traffic counts to improve a DOT grant application for IKI Drive, and asked the council to authorize quick investigations into LED lighting upgrades and a new library furnace using available ARPA and capital-surplus funds.
City of Edgerton staff presented a draft 2025 capital plan Tuesday, urging the council to prioritize a limited set of projects and flagging funding options, including capital surplus, borrowing and unallocated ARPA funds.
“Last year there was a significant increase in shared revenue and the capital plan assumes using much of that for roads,” said City staff (first presented at the capital-plan discussion). Staff said the city expects to keep annual debt service near $600,000 and has a planned $1.5 million borrowing in 2027 to sustain larger street projects.
Why it matters: the council must decide which projects to commit before the end-of-year deadline for obligating roughly $200,000 of unallocated ARPA money and $46,000 in ARPA interest. Staff emphasized the legal and practical limits on using ARPA only for one-time capital projects rather than ongoing operating expenses.
Key proposals and concerns
- IKI Drive: Staff said state DOT traffic counts used for past competitive grant rounds likely undercount local usage (school and park traffic). Staff recommended deploying a traffic counter and reapplying in future rounds to improve the city’s score.
- Library furnace: Councilors flagged a failing library furnace that staff estimated could be expensive; members asked staff to compile cost estimates and to consult the library board on a shared-funding approach. Councilors discussed covering a majority share but requested the library board consider contributing.
- Energy projects: Staff listed candidate ARPA-funded energy upgrades, including municipal building LED lighting ($87,000 estimate), battery backup for city hall, and solar installations. Councilors agreed to prioritize investigation of lighting upgrades and a redesigned book-drop system at the library as near-term ARPA candidates because both offer energy or operational savings.
- Street and utility sequencing: Council discussed sequencing Washington and Albion Street projects and warned that some overlays would be only short-term fixes if the road base is failing; staff noted some streets may require complete reconstruction and that utility work below streets can change costs.
Next steps and deadlines
Council directed staff to return with firm cost estimates and implementation options for the library furnace and lighting upgrades as soon as possible so the city can obligate ARPA funds by the end of the year. Staff also committed to pursuing better traffic counts for the IKI Drive DOT application and to present options for borrowing or reallocating capital-surplus funds prior to the first draft of the 2025 budget.
The council will continue budget and capital discussions in upcoming meetings as staff provides the requested cost estimates and grant preparations.
