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Public Works committee lays out $24.16M project list and debates campground’s future
Summary
Staff presented a multi-million-dollar list of prioritized water, sewer and park projects and detailed repairs at Scott Family Park while the committee debated campground operations, costs and whether the city should sell or continue funding the campground.
At the Colona Public Works Committee meeting, staff presented a prioritized list of capital and maintenance projects with an estimated total need of about $24,162,000. The list included Cleveland Road water and sewer extensions ($1.5 million), lift station rebuilds ($1 million), wastewater treatment plant regionalization ($12 million), valve and hydrant replacement ($300,000), sidewalk repairs ($1.5 million) and a range of park and Scott Family Park-specific upgrades totaling about $410,000.
Committee members discussed TIF 4 money available for improvements in the Stonebridge area (committee members said at least $100,000 had been earmarked) and asked staff to confirm TIF boundaries before assigning funds to sidewalks, parking or playground equipment.
A substantial portion of the meeting focused on campground operations. Staff reported the campground currently has about 99 seasonal campers and described recurring maintenance problems: the pool has ongoing leaks (multiple repairs attempted), a recent pool-pump purchase cost about $3,800, and a single pool filling reportedly used roughly 150,000 gallons of water with an associated bill of about $1,800 being charged to the campground account. Staff said the campground operates reactively with limited dedicated maintenance staffing, and line items in the campground budget are largely depleted.
Opinions diverged: one staff member said bluntly that he would "sell the damn thing," arguing the city lacks the staff and steady funding to run the facility efficiently; other members pointed to volunteer groups (Campers United) that reinvest money into activities and urged that the city consider an annual event-approval process so recurring events need not be submitted repeatedly to council.
Next steps: staff will verify TIF boundaries, get pricing for proposed sidewalk and parking work in Stonebridge, and return with cost estimates and a recommended funding plan. The campground operations discussion concluded with a request for clearer accounting of campground revenues and costs and options for staffing or potential sale.
