Capital Improvement's Public Hearing

Well, the end may be in sight. The end that is for the 2011 CIP process. The Planning Board approved the document with some minor changes at its November 8, 2011 meeting, and forwarded it on to the City Council. The City Council is reviewing the document currently.

This Wednesday, December 7 (AKA Pearl Harbor Day), the City Council will hold a public hearing on the Program as well as a workshop on it. I am looking forward to both. The Public Hearing is a great opportunity for the citizen's of Dover to come out and invest some time and effort into the investment of infrastructure int he City. This meeting will be a good way for Councilor's to gauge the capital priorities residents have as we move our City forward.

The workshop will be a good way for Councilor's to discuss, review and work towards a plan that they can support. The various department heads will be in attendance and will be ready to answer questions.

Next week, the City Council is scheduled to vote on adoption of the Program. For me, it is the middle of the process. If the Council does vote on it, I will then review the submitted project request sheets from August, and update any changes that occurred. I will also create the FY14-19 sheets based upon the existing ones, and send them back to the department heads. This will set them up for review and resubmitted to me in 6 to 8 months. 

Just like the budget process, which begins today, if not already, the CIP is a continuous process. It has a cycle that we follow year in and out. Now don't get me wrong, I won't do my updates and reviews before the end of the month, by my goal is going to be February 1. Then set them aside for a month and come back to them. This will give me a head start, and if I have a head start, then so will the other department heads.

At this point, I think we've had a successful CIP season. The City Manager proposed a program, which came in with no additional money to be bonded, over what was being retired. We hit the financial policies that have been outlined, using capital reserves where possible, Finally, we revised the book and video presentation and communicated the plan to the Council and Planning Board as well as the public, in a professional and accessible manner.

Smells like success all around to me.