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Public works outlines 2027 budget priorities: staffing needs, High Road cost updates and pedestrian safety funding
Summary
Public works staff told the committee it will update the High Road project budget with a recent opinion of probable cost, request pedestrian safety program funding tied to Safe Streets for All, and seek staffing adjustments and succession planning after recent retirements.
Public works staff used the July 20 meeting to outline preliminary priorities for the 2027 budget, emphasizing staffing, project cost updates and safety program requests.
Staff reported recent retirements in the engineering section and said recruitment is underway; they intend to include staffing requests in next year’s budget, including a lead assistant city engineer to provide licensed engineering capacity in‑house and reduce reliance on consulting engineers. The committee discussed succession planning at the water utility and asked staff to quantify expected cost increases for utility staffing replacements; staff said they would follow up with the utility manager.
On capital projects, staff said they will update the High Road project budget to reflect the latest opinion of probable cost from design consultants and will include a budget line for implementing recommendations from the Old Creek and Pheasant Branch Road traffic study. Staff also said they will seek pedestrian safety program funding tied to the Safe Streets for All safety action plan, contingent on grant outcomes expected around September.
Operational items flagged for the budget process included facility repairs and equipment (garage door, retaining wall evaluations, a welding/fixture table) and fleet space constraints at the municipal operations center. Staff described plans for an on‑call compensation program for public works similar to the water utility model and said the proposal aims to improve coverage, professional development and compensation for staff who respond to incidents off hours.
Committee members urged that routine road maintenance not be cut given long‑term pavement management impacts and discussed using a functional classification map to guide prioritization of collector streets versus smaller residential streets.
Next steps: staff will prepare a formal budget presentation for the committee’s next meeting and follow up on requested cost estimates and succession planning details.
