Infrastructure Oversight Board reviews proposed improvement projects
After several meetings where they learned about the city’s current infrastructure projects, members of the Burbank Infrastructure Oversight Board got their chance to review proposed capital improvement projects for the upcoming fiscal year.
Hoon Hahn, the city’s capital-projects program manager, briefed board members last Thursday about the projects city staff members are planning to recommend to the City Council during its budget discussions later this year.
Although there was an extensive list brought forward that night, board members opted to continue the item to their next meeting to further review the importance of the projects.
Hahn said this will be the first fiscal year that the city will utilize funds generated by Measure P, a three-quarter-cent sales tax approved by Burbank voters in November 2018.
Revenue generated by the tax, which went into effect in April 2019, is estimated to bring in about $20 million annually, and at least half of that amount will go toward deferred infrastructure projects.
During the past three months of the 2018-19 fiscal year, Measure P generated about $5.3 million and none of it was spent as of June 30, 2019, Hahn said.
For the upcoming 2020-21 fiscal year, officials anticipate spending about $25.3 million on various infrastructure projects, of which about $13.2 million will be funded by the sales tax.
The rest of the funding for the next fiscal year will come from the city’s General Fund, development-impact fees and grants.
About $3.8 million is planned to be used for maintenance and facility inspections of city facilities and parks.
Another $12.9 million is proposed to go toward capital projects or upgrades to various city facilities and property, such as sidewalks, streets, traffic and security, Hahn said.
The Public Works Department is planning to use roughly $1.5 million to modernize the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, elevators and electrical infrastructure, among several projects, in city buildings.
Additionally, about $8 million is proposed for street, alley and concrete repair. However, that funding will come from grants and other revenue sources that are restricted to those repairs and not from Measure P funds, Hahn said.
The Parks and Recreation Department is looking to use about $1.3 million to replace irrigation systems across the city.
Hahn said about $8.6 million of the $25.3 million is proposed to go toward capital improvement projects.
A major portion of that funding — about $3.1 million — is planned to be appropriated to replace Burbank’s city yard with a new facility.
Additionally, about $500,000 would go toward addressing deferred maintenance at the DeBell Golf Course, which includes bunker renovations, repairing or replacement of netting, irrigation improvements and driving-range renovations.
