Six-year capital spending plan under scrutiny.
By: Jennifer Potash
With the aim of reigning in costs and completing more municipal projects, Princeton Borough is reworking its six-year capital plan. Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi will give the Borough Council an update on his plan to prioritize the municipal projects at tonight’s meeting.
"I haven’t seen a single project on the list that isn’t worth doing," Mr. Bruschi said Monday. "The question is: What do we have to do now and what can we hold off for two or three years?"
The borough’s capital budget is typically in the $2 million-a-year range, Mr. Bruschi said.
Typically the borough’s capital program results in an annual increase of $150,000 for debt service. Adding to the concern, state aid and available grant funds have dwindled or are no longer reliable sources of revenue for capital projects, Mr. Bruschi said.
The increases in the $5.5 million 2003 capital budget came largely from borough’s one-time contribution to the Princeton Public Library construction, Mr. Bruschi said. But the projects listed in the existing capital plan would lead to a capital budget well above the typical $2 million, he said.
"It was supposed to be a one-time hit and go back down," Mr. Bruschi said. "We cannot afford a $5 million-plus (capital) budget every year."
A to-do list of very expensive road projects makes a return to the $2 million levels difficult, he said. Cleveland Lane and Witherspoon Street are two of the several road reconstruction projects slated for the next couple of years.
In charting a new six-year capital plan, Mr. Bruschi said the borough must make hard decisions about how many projects to do in a given year.
"If we have $1 million to spend, do we want to spend it all on Mercer Street or do we want to do several resurfacing projects with that money?" he asked.
He also wants to set new policies to hold down costs on road projects.
A common problem with a borough road project is the cost increasing because of design changes.
"The benefit is we end up with a good quality product that everyone’s happy with," he said, "but the cost never goes down as a result of the design changes."
At tonight’s meeting, the council is expected to vote on several ordinances that fund 2003 capital projects including sewer work, joint recreation projects, the construction work for Humbert Street and Jefferson Road, and assorted municipal vehicles and equipment totaling about $3 million.