Council reviews recommended $25 million capital budget, hears project highlights including Rock Island Parkway work

City staff on Monday presented the recommended 2025 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to the council, proposing a capital budget just over $25 million drawn from a total $28,900,000 request and outlining major projects in streets, fleet, water and wastewater, public safety, and facilities.

At a study session, the staff presenter summarized the planning process that leads from the city’s comprehensive plan and council strategic plan into the CIP and then into the one-year capital budget. “A total of $28,900,000 was requested for 2025,” the presenter said, adding that the recommendation for the 2025 capital budget is just over $25,000,000 and that future-year entries in the CIP are planning estimates that are not yet budgeted or approved.

Why it matters: the CIP sets multi-year planning and signals which projects staff will prioritize for funding and scheduling. Staff said it spread available funding across projects using ARPA dollars, general-fund excess, CIP fund balance, Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) and grant funds.

Staff highlighted several large categories. Streets and related projects account for roughly $9 million of the recommendation, and fleet replacement was listed at about $1.2 million. Street projects noted by staff included 1st Avenue reconstruction, work on 35th Street and Rock Island Parkway, continuation of downtown improvements and a new downtown alleyway with street-lighting work in Downtown Rock Island. Fleet items included a sewer vehicle and several Ford pickup trucks, plus a parks dump truck with plow and spreader.

Stormwater and water projects were also flagged: staff proposed just over $1 million for stormwater work including the 18th Avenue pump station and 23rd Street intersection improvements, and about $4.6 million to continue the water meter replacement program. A PFAS remediation project appears in the CIP but staff emphasized it is contingent on securing litigation-related funding: “that depends on whether that lawsuit goes through or not,” the presenter said.

Wastewater work was listed at $5.1 million, including the Mill Street digester rehabilitation and the Southwest Treatment Plant pump station replacement; staff corrected a slide duplication and clarified those are wastewater projects.

Other departmental items included $200,000 for economic development programs (described generically to allow council changes to previously named programs), $1.75 million for information-technology upgrades including a new voice-over-IP phone system and continuation of the ERP project, $275,000 for police equipment including body-worn cameras and an Axon Fleet camera system, and $230,000 for the P25 station alerting system for fire. Parks and library items included a $175,000 roof replacement for Whitewater Junction and $100,000 for library parking-lot reconstruction; public-works continuation funding for the Sunset Marina was listed at $690,000, and community-development included $85,000 for North Street demolition.

Staff reviewed the schedule for upcoming steps: the study session was noted at the next council meeting, a Truth in Taxation hearing is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 25, and the presenter initially misstated dates before correcting that first and second readings of the budget are planned for Dec. 9 and Dec. 16. The presenter said printed white binders would be provided to council members who wanted them and that electronic copies would be available for those who preferred digital formats.

In a brief question-and-answer exchange, the presiding officer asked Chief McCloud about fleet timing. Chief McCloud said fleet replacements remain a few years out and corrected staff on the status of community-room shades, saying Public Works had already fixed them; staff agreed to remove the shades replacement from the CIP before first reading. No formal votes or approvals on CIP items occurred at the study session.

What happens next: the council will proceed with the Truth in Taxation hearing and the scheduled readings of the budget in December, at which point formal actions on the capital budget could occur.