Ventura Considers Projects Worth $122 Million : Government: A sewage plant, water wells and bike path lead the city’s list of 94 proposed capital improvement items.

A new sewage treatment plant, water wells and a bike path between Ventura and the Ojai Valley Trail lead a $122-million list of capital improvement projects being considered by the Ventura City Council.

The six-year plan recommended by city staff members details 94 proposed projects that would improve or maintain the city’s roads, water and sewer systems, and recreation facilities.

City officials emphasized that the proposed plan is not a wish list of projects. City Budget Director Mike Solomon said the $122 million is the “best-guess estimate” by city staff of future revenue sources and which facilities most need attention.

“Nothing in there is guaranteed,” Solomon said. “But if things happen that change our revenue picture, if the economy gets worse, we’ll make adjustments and change the plan.”

In the next two months, the council will hold study sessions and public hearings on the capital improvement budget to decide which projects it wants to include in the plan, scheduled to be adopted before April 1.

The draft was put together by city staff members based on the priorities of previous councils, which had adopted similar long-term capital improvement plans, Solomon said.

“The council can come back and change the whole thing,” he said.

The proposed plan calls for spending $46.1 million through 2000 on traffic mitigation programs and road improvements. Big-ticket items include $12.7 million to build an expanded Ventura Freeway interchange at Johnson Drive, and $7.8 million for improving the freeway interchange at Victoria Avenue.

Other traffic and road projects include $250,000 for improvements of the Main Street northbound on- and off-ramps, and $500,000 to build a pedestrian overpass over the Santa Paula Freeway that would connect Camino Real Park to the Thille neighborhood.

Water projects total about $38.5 million, most of which would go toward reservoir repairs and waterline replacement. About $1.2 million is earmarked for drilling two wells, and $5.2 million is set aside for major repairs to a reservoir built in 1939. Another $4.9 million would pay for replacing an aging reservoir at Grant Park with a 2-million-gallon steel tank.

About $28.5 million would be set aside for sewer and sanitation projects, including $8.9 million for a water treatment plant. Other projects include $1.2 million for replacing old sewer lines and $3.5 million to replace or repair filters.

The proposed plan also allocates $6.1 million for parks and recreation projects, including $1.8 million to construct the proposed 5.5-mile Ventura River bike trail, which would connect the 3.5-mile Omer Rains Trail along the Ventura coastline with the 9.5-mile Ojai Valley Trail.

About $1.7 million would be set aside for future park projects, and $495,000 would be spent on replacing playground equipment at city parks. Rotting redwood fence posts in parks around the city would also be replaced with steel, costing about $151,000.

Other projects include $3.9 million for repairs to three of the city’s older fire stations and building a new fire station in east Ventura, $2.1 million for upgrading the computer system at City Hall and at the police and fire stations, and $1.5 million for landscaping, lighting and paving in the downtown area.

Solomon said the council has historically made capital improvements a high financial priority.

“If you start messing around with not taking care of your infrastructures, you’ll pay double and triple in the long run,” he said.

The money to fund the proposed projects comes from a variety of sources. Sales, property and gas taxes, developer contributions, sewer and water fees, and state and federal grant money all contribute to the capital improvement budget.

Many of the fees and taxes can only be used for particular projects. For instance, money from residents’ water bills goes toward water-related projects.

Mayor Tom Buford said the capital improvement budget forces council members to think about the city’s long-term future, but, he said, from a short-term political view it is tempting to spend money on daily maintenance and operations instead.

“Maintaining services is more popular in the short term than putting money away for a rainy day,” he said. “We have to plan beyond the term of the current council members and force the council to take a long view.”