Public works presents multi‑million capital asks: wastewater, bridges, paving, drainage and park grant matches

Vanessa Valadaras and Public Works staff presented the largest share of capital requests and stressed careful prioritization amid rising construction costs. Ralph Cob summarized WPCA enterprise requests: $10 million for wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation (settling tank work) and $8 million for pump‑station replacement focused on Killerbrook.

Vanessa highlighted operations needs: fleet replacement (~$992,000) including a plow truck and a replacement loader, and $200,000 for transfer‑station roof, drainage and office repairs. Building management asked for $920,000 to replace aging city‑hall fan coils and additional roof and dispatch‑building repairs; the salt‑shed structural problems prompted an active bid and structural engineering work to restore capacity before next winter.

Public Works also described parks and recreation asks: Calf Pasture Beach improvements and pavilion work (pavilion funding added later in mayor’s recommendation), Cranberry Park trail work requiring an $883,000 city match to secure a grant (committee was told that failing to fund this year would jeopardize the grant), and a $1 million match for Mequest field lighting to leverage a $2.5 million grant for a $3.5 million field project. Large infrastructure projects included a $1.4M bridge repair package, an approximately $6M paving program (about 16 roads, ~5–6 miles), and a phased Kenan Pond storm‑drain program (project total >$10M, with $3M proposed near term for downstream outfall work). Committee members requested an explicit debt‑service and borrowing‑capacity briefing before final votes.