SR 05:312 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Status related to City Council priorities could also come into play W'ith the subcategories. If the Council approves the category system in this report, staff intends to include some level of subcategories to further refine the priority process. In addition, staff anticipates a modification in the CIP development process that alloW's for identification of project priorities early in the process. Staff recognizes that any priority system W'ill include some gray areas that W'ill need to be addressed as the Council revieW's projects. For example, the library expansion project could be a Dual Purpose project if it W'as determined that it promoted economic development and received considerable grant funding that minimized City expenditures. A trails project that W'as initially placed in the Dual Purpose category due to expected grant funding could be moved to the Community Enhancement category if the grant funding W'as not approved. Further, Council members and/or members of the community may vieW' project benefits differently resulting in differences of opinion regarding the placement of a project. As an example, based on the perspective of the Friends of Kottinger Creek as outlined in their attached September 17 letter, the Kottinger Creek Restoration Project W'ould be Dual Purpose rather than Community Enhancement as reflected in this report. As a result, regardless of any prioritization system, the City Council must W'eigh information and perspectives and make decisions regarding the benefits and impacts of CIP projects. HoW'ever, adopting this or an amended priority system creates a platform that facilitates community and Council discussion about project benefits in the context of shared values and goals. Adoption of the priority system W'ill also lead to a revised process for adopting the CIP since the Council W'ould need to prioritize projects early in the CIP process to facilitate staff efforts to provide funding options. Once the projects W'ere prioritized, staff estimates it W'ould conduct a series of public meetings to solicit community input on rankings. This input W'ould be factored into the final decision related to the allocation of CIP funding. In addition, the Council W'ill need to decide W'hen to start this system as beginning it immediately may impact funding for projects that are fully or partially funded. If this is the case, it W'ould be necessary to postpone discussion on projects, such as the Alviso Adobe, and the Veterans Hall that are currently scheduled to be revieW'ed for additional funding until the Council has had an opportunity to fully implement the priority system W'hich W'ill take approximately three to four months. Alternatively, the Council can continue to revieW' CIP projects for funding direction W'hile staff prepares the material necessary to implement the neW' system. Staff's goal W'ould be to have the system in place by the Mid Term CIP. Funding Modifications In addition to establishing policy to identify the highest priority CIP projects, the Council has expressed interest in reducing the number of funded reserve projects in favor of providing maximum funding to the highest priority project(s). This W'ould essentially eliminate the current practice of establishing multiple funding reserves for CIP projects. The advantage of this approach is that it establishes a process W'hereby funding tracks the highest priority projects. As SR:05:312 Page 7