From an official standpoint, capital facilities are defined as the basic services provided by the public sector to a community as it exists today and as it is expected to develop in the future. Planning for those services and how they also develop in support of a community are a requirement of the state’s Growth Management Act — something city attorney Stanley Schwartz told Cheney’s City Council resembles a three legged stool of people, land and facilities.
“You’re not allowed to grow if you don’t have the capital facilities to serve the people,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz’s remarks came after the council unanimously, and with little comment, approved the first reading of an ordinance adopting the city’s “Capital Facilities Plan 2016 – 2021” at their March 22 meeting. The plan, which was recommended for passage by the Planning Commission, will have two more readings before adoption.
As required by GMA, the capital facilities plan provides for general planning under the capital facilities element, a narrower scope under the 20-year plan and very detailed plan through the six-year capital improvement program. These all in some way identify facilities and programs the city will need to meet its defined levels of service in numerous areas such as water and wastewater, power, transportation, public safety, parks and recreation and even education.
The latter are determined by plans developed by the Cheney School District and Eastern Washington University.
Levels of service range from response time for law enforcement and fire to maintaining specific voltage levels for power to pumping specific gallons of water levels to accommodate average daily demands. For instance, solid waste and recycling — Cheney’s most recent public service provided by the city — requires facilities to be able to handle half a ton of material per capita per year.
“That has been pretty much right on the dime,” Public Works Director Todd Ableman told the council of current capabilities.
In identifying needs in the six-year plan, Ableman said they defined specific projects or programs by three levels of service (LOS): deficiency (1), preservation (2) and growth (3). Most projects and programs carried an LOS 2 rating; meaning work proposed is done to preserve an existing facility or system component.
One program carrying an LOS 1 is a need for a billing system upgrade in the utility departments, projected to cost $50,000 and proposed some time this year. Two LOS 1 projects proposed for 2017 are an $800,000 re-drilling of city well No. 3 and a $240,000 replacement of the fluoridator systems.
The Light Department listed a six-year, $100,000 per year project to rebuild overhead lines in south Cheney, reroute a Turnbull feed and other conductor and pole needs around Oakland Street as a LOS 1, along with a projected $300,000 transmission switch work at the Four Lakes Substation in 2018. A $1.25 million new third substation projected for 2021 was listed as an LOS 3, needed to accommodate growth.
Replacing Fire Department self-contained breathing apparatus bottles was defined as meeting an LOS 1 to address a technical or regulatory deficiency or requirement. The replacement is proposed for 2017 at an estimated cost of $80,000. Replacing the city’s over 30-year-old primary fire attack engine was labeled LOS 2 and projected for 2019 at and estimated $550,000.
As part of the plan, all projects expenses must carry a balancing estimated of revenues to cover the outlays, incorporating a mix of grants, loans and fees.
In other action items, council unanimously approved a contract between the city and Esvelt Environmental Engineering for wastewater treatment environmental engineering services at the city’s plant. Ableman said Esvelt has a long history of working with the city, including design work on the water reclamation plant when it was originally built in the early 1990s.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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