Councilman to Host Town Hall on CIP

The City of San Angelo’s Capital Improvement Plan will be the focus of a town hall forum hosted by District 5 City Councilman Lane Carter on Tuesday.

The gathering will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at College Hills Baptist Church, 2102 Johnson St. The public is invited. Budget Manager Morgan Chegwidden, who oversees the preparation of the Capital Improvement Plan, will make a short presentation before answering questions from the audience and collecting the public’s input.

The plan prioritizes how the City should address large capital needs. Projects must have a useful life of at least three years, cost more than $25,000 and require at least six months to complete. Street, water and park projects are in the CIP, as are the purchase of fire trucks and other heavy equipment. Projects in the CIP that are nearing completion include City Auditorium’s renovation, the dog park and a fire training center.

You can share your thoughts via a short online form at cosatx.us/CIPinput. The feedback will help the City Council in passing the 2017-22 Capital Improvement Plan.

The City will also host a forum to gather public input on the CIP at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the McNease Convention Center, 501 Rio Concho Drive. The forum will air live on the City of San Angelo-Public Information Facebook page and on SATV, Suddenlink channel 117. It will re-air daily on SATV in the weeks afterward. It will also be posted on the City’s website at cosatx.us and on its YouTube channel.

The city charter requires that a five-year CIP be published and available to citizens. The plan can be read in hard copy form at City Hall, 72 W. College Ave., or online at cosatx.us/budget. The charter mandates that public input be sought to ensure the CIP reflects citizens’ needs and wishes.

Once the City Council approves the plan this spring, it will help shape next year’s budget. CIP projects have a wide range of funding sources. Those include grants, designated revenue, debt instruments, fund balances, and sales and property taxes.