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Engineering requests inspector position as stormwater and sidewalk projects spotlight FY27 budget
Summary
Director Jeff Davis presented the engineering and stormwater FY27 budget, asking to restore an inspector position to protect institutional knowledge and citing a $200,000 third‑party inspection cost; staff also flagged sidewalk projects, GIS funding and anticipated FY28 stormwater fee discussions.
Jeff Davis, director of engineering, presented the engineering and stormwater portions of the proposed FY27 budget and asked the council to restore an inspector position he said the department needs to retain institutional knowledge.
Davis told the council the engineering division handles plan review, construction inspection and administers the city’s one‑person GIS function. “We have one GIS administrator and GIS is a extremely important part of the city,” he said, and detailed capital priorities including sidewalk projects (Ohio Street phase 2 and Kusk Avenue) and exterior repointing work on city hall.
Why it matters: Davis said the department’s ability to inspect projects in‑house reduces outsourcing costs and preserves decades of field knowledge. He named Tim Smith as a longtime inspector who is “35 plus years” into his tenure and said hiring and on‑the‑job training are important to avoid gaps when senior staff retire.
Davis also quantified the cost of outsourcing: “We hired a third party inspector for city hall. Uh that was $200,000 for one project,” he said, noting that adding an in‑house inspector can reduce the premium the city pays when outside firms are used. Councilors discussed how contingency and capital budgeting currently build inspection time and contingency percentages into project estimates.
On stormwater, the presenter summarized that the stormwater utility (created around 2012–2014) funds MS4‑permit compliance and urban impaired‑stream work, highlighted recent drainage projects and watershed planning for the Johnwalk stream, and said the utility brings roughly $900,000 a year into the fund. Staff signaled they expect to bring a discussion about a possible stormwater utility fee increase to council in FY28.
Davis acknowledged a clerical error in the capital improvement listing that momentarily hid a $20,000 GIS update line and confirmed that the GIS update was intended to be funded. He also explained the city participates in a local NPO called Vax to assist with grant administration and capital planning and said the membership fee is approximately $26,000.
What’s next: Councilors asked for clearer line‑item detail and for staff to return with data on the inspector position’s long‑term budget impacts; no formal vote was taken during the session.
