Like many cities, a decade of stagnating revenues and material cost escalation has resulted in a backlog of maintenance projects for Boulder.

The city is following a multi-year plan to finance and complete needed repairs to city facilities, and the city manager today appointed a 16-member community stakeholder group to advise the City Council and staff on priority projects.

“Tough economic times forced the city to defer maintenance in order to provide important community services,” said City Manager Jane Brautigam. “As a result, many of our buildings, parks, roads and other facilities require significant attention to avoid much higher costs later.”

Brautigam explained that the city plans to initiate needed maintenance and repairs over the next several years. The first phase includes using existing city revenue to finance accelerated work to fix significant deficiencies that could pose health and safety risks if left undone. Currently, the city has over $60 million in unfunded significant deficiencies and approximately $150 million in unfunded high-priority projects.

Boulder said it has the funds to finance some of those projects next year without raising taxes. Bonds supported by existing revenues could be issued to pay for up to approximately $60 million in repairs in capital improvement projects.

To help determine which projects should receive immediate attention, Brautigam appointed a 16-member Capital Investment Strategy stakeholder group to advise staff and City Council about how to prioritize maintenance and repair projects.

“This is a community issue that requires input from a cross-section of our city,” said Brautigam. “We’re looking at this project through the perspective of businesspeople, students, parents, renters, homeowners, board and commission members, as well as nonprofit organizations to ensure our priority list reflects community needs.”

The 16-member Capital Investment Strategy stakeholder group will review the projects and advise council on which maintenance and repair efforts should be included in this first phase using existing dollars. It also will make recommendations about how to effectively invest in Boulder’s capital improvement program for the next several years to ensure the city can catch up and sustain a maintenance and improvement program.

The following individuals were appointed to the Capital Investment Strategy Stakeholder group from a pool of nearly 50 applicants:

Leslie Brown
Natalie (Tally) Costa
Steve Fenberg
Nino Gallo
Cynthia Huseck
Dan King
Michael Kruteck
Kristin Macdonald
Victoria Marschner
Miriam McGilvary
Michael Minard
Bill Shrum
Max Taffet
Leonard Thomas
Bob Yates
Jessica Yates

Dan King, owner of the Boulder Outlook Hotel & Suites, has agreed to serve as chair of the stakeholder group. For more information about Boulder’s capital improvement program, visit www.bouldercolorado.gov/cip.