The Committee of the Whole reviewed the City of Cedar Falls five‑year Capital Improvements Program (CIP) and voted to recommend the plan to the City Council after a presentation by city staff on Monday.

City staff presenter Jen summarized the CIP as a planning document covering roughly 224 projects over five years with an aggregate cost of approximately $485,000,000 and about 50 funding sources. "This is our 5 year capital improvements program," Jen said, adding that roughly $129,000,000 is expected from non‑city sources and about $356,000,000 from city sources.

Staff highlighted several major projects: the Hearst Center (CIP item 35) with an estimated total project cost of $8,600,000 funded through a mix of private fundraising, community foundation contributions, federal and state grants, gaming funds, GEO dollars, hotel/motel taxes, general fund savings and capital projects funds; parks master‑plan implementation (items 57–70) grouped to show a total of $6,000,000 with GEO funding of $2,600,000; an indoor turf complex (items 79–80) with feasibility and conceptual design funding proposed in FY26–27 and a proposed project cost around $17,000,000 assuming mostly private construction funding; a Dry Run Creek sanitary sewer extension (item 109) with design and bidding targeted by May 2026 and construction in 2026 funded primarily from sewer bonds; and the nutrient reduction improvements at the water reclamation facility (item 210) showing a CIP total of about $166,000,000 to meet EPA and Iowa DNR nutrient reduction requirements.

On fiscal and financing issues, Jen said the CIP is driven by legal and funding constraints — road use tax can only be used for road construction and repair, while other projects rely on general obligation (G.O.) debt, hotel/motel taxes, grants, or private funding. Jen noted the FY2027 column is most important for near‑term budgeting and reminded the committee that project authorization and funding occur later through specific contracts, design agreements, grant acceptances or budget actions.

Council members asked for clarifications about truck resale values and station equipment migration (staff replied that older units will be sold and equipment largely redistributed), whether water service is part of the University Avenue sewer extension (staff said no, the project covers sewer only), the availability of DNR funds for alley/asphalt work (staff said those funds are more limited now than five years ago), and how micro‑transit cost items relate to the current transit levy (staff said the CIP shows additional estimated funds that would be needed to transition to micro‑transit). For indoor turf, staff said initial CIP dollars are intended for feasibility and design work and construction would depend on developer interest.

Jen told the committee the city has already borrowed under a State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan for design work on the nutrient reduction project; the design phase is expected to take 18–24 months with construction letting targeted in 2027 and completion in 2031. Staff warned the wastewater project will influence future sewer rates and could affect the city’s debt capacity depending on financing choices.

The committee opened a public comment period and recorded none. An unnamed councilmember moved to recommend the CIP to the City Council for the public hearing on Jan. 20; the motion was seconded and the mayor declared the motion carried after affirmative voice votes were recorded on the floor. The committee’s recommendation sends the CIP to the Jan. 20 City Council meeting for public hearing and further action.

Next steps: staff will present necessary detail sheets and return with any requested changes before the council public hearing. Specific contract authorizations, grant acceptances and budget appropriations will follow separate council actions.