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Lafayette city manager outlines 2025 wins, water and infrastructure priorities
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Summary
City Manager Katie Doling summarized Lafayette’s 2025 accomplishments and upcoming projects, highlighting downtown investment, a multi-year land use code update, nearly $1 million in sustainability grants, Goose Haven reservoir filling and a new drought plan, transportation safety upgrades, and three voter-approved facility projects to advance next year.
Katie Doling, Lafayette’s city manager, delivered an end-of-year address summarizing 2025 accomplishments and outlining infrastructure and community priorities for the coming year. She highlighted downtown revitalization, land-use reform, water reliability work and transportation safety investments.
Doling said the city launched a Downtown Development Authority to spur investment in Old Town and is continuing a multi-year effort to update the land use code to "modernize standards that will guide future growth to align with community values." She described new community amenities such as a weekly farmers market and plans for a pocket park to expand public gathering spaces.
"We're also continuing to build a sustainable Lafayette," Doling said, noting work on the city's climate action plan and that the city is expanding EV charging at the library, fire station and golf course. "These sustainable investments are made possible through nearly $1,000,000 in grant funding that we're putting straight into the community," she said.
On water infrastructure, Doling said the city has begun filling the Goose Haven water storage reservoir to strengthen long-term supply and that staff have started developing a comprehensive drought plan "to conserve water and prepare for a more uncertain future." The drought plan, she said, will balance conservation, infrastructure investment and emergency preparedness to safeguard long-term water security.
Doling also reviewed transportation initiatives. "Adopted earlier this year, Lafayette's Vision Zero Action Plan is helping create safer streets through the 5 E's — engineering, enforcement, education, equity and emergency response," she said, adding that projects completed this year include safety upgrades at the State Highway 7 and 119th Street intersection and improvements to the 120th Street bridge over Coal Creek that add bike lanes, sidewalks and safer signalized crossings.
Looking ahead, Doling said voters approved measures that will allow the city next year to advance three major facility projects: renovation and expansion of the Bob L. Berger Recreation Center, modernization of the service center, and construction of a new civic center. She said planning and implementation work will begin but did not provide project budgets or detailed timelines during the address.
Doling closed by noting Lafayette earned national recognition on a best-places-to-live list and celebrated the ribbon cutting of Willoughby Corner, which she said also received the Coggs Metro Vision Award for excellence and collaboration. She paused to remember former city administrator Fritz Sprague, calling him a "trusted, kind leader, and mentor." "His Lafayette is a place that welcomes you," she said, thanking residents for their continued engagement.
The city manager said planning and implementation for the voter-approved facility projects will begin next year; specific budget allocations and schedules were not specified in the address.
