The Pleasanton City Council deferred or deleted 14 priority projects from the city's General Fund Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project list during the March 21 council meeting.

Some of the projects, which will be deferred to a later year or deleted altogether, include the Division Street Capital Improvement Project, city parking lot resurfacing and a short-term parking solution for the ACE train station parking lot.

"There's a long list of projects that we have in our Capital Improvement Program," City Manager Gerry Beaudin said. "What we have for you this evening is a recommendation to make some adjustments to the existing list and then what we'll do with that information is build a recommendation for a two-year capital budget and four-year CIP, which you'll see for public presentation and discussion at the budget workshop planned for April 18."

In Pleasanton, the capital improvement project budgeting for each two-year budget cycle typically involves prioritizing the funding for proposed projects based on revenue projections for the upcoming two-year budget period.

Director of Engineering Steve Kirkpatrick told the council the current process causes a problem with projects having to compete with one another for funding during those first two years.

"Then, after a project has been funded and it's in the next two-year cycle, it doesn't get considered again unless additional funding is needed to complete that project," Kirkpatrick said.

"That's an important thing that we're looking at tonight because we have not traditionally looked at those (projects)," he added. "We have not considered the priorities of projects that may not have started for any number of reasons -- from regulatory reasons, etc. -- but they have been budgeted and they remain budgeted. They remain a priority."

So when he and staff presented the three-page list of projects totaling close to $44 million in funding, Kirkpatrick reiterated that taking away those certain projects would help free up money for staff to consider in the current two-year budgeting process.

"Why is that important? I think one of the reasons is … there are a lot of priorities, a lot of goals, a lot of community desire, a lot of staff putting forward projects that are expensive," he said. "There's a lot of projects that are competing for really what is going to be a limited amount of money."

Originally, staff had recommended a total of 15 projects to be deferred or deleted, but Councilmember Julie Testa made a motion, which passed unanimously, to carry forward the first design phase for the Bernal Community Farm project with a fund of $350,000.

The removal of the 15 projects would have freed up $8.6 million for the council to consider in the current two-year budgeting process along with the $2 million that is made available to those projects through the General Fund.

Vice Mayor Jack Balch had staff point out that the $2 million would be drawn from the city's "Rainy Day Fund."

Director of Finance Susan Hsieh said that the city has about $10 million in the Rainy Day Fund and $3.5 million will be allocated toward capital projects during this fiscal year and every year for the next two budget years.

"With that $2 million in each of the next two years, and then $8.6 million freed up, if we delete and defer some of those projects, it leaves us with $12.6 million enabled to allocate to other projects," Kirkpatrick said.

After Testa's motion, $8.25 million will be the new funding number that staff will work into the budget discussions in the future leaving the city with $12.25 million to allocate out to projects.She reiterated that the money was "seed money" that was needed in order to break up the first phase of the project into several sub-phases.

"Phase one is a $1.2 million rough estimate for the improvements that are contemplated for that phase of the project and we would likely not move much forward in the near term with $350,000," Beaudin said. "We need to get to a critical mass and break that phase into probably sub-phases if we were to start earlier. But that work is not complete at this time. We just have an overall plan for phase one."

Kirkpatrick added that freeing up even those 14 projects will also help with staff goal of constructing a 10-year infrastructure plan where they plan on reshaping the entire four-year capital improvement program and two-year capital improvement project budgeting process.

"It really is focusing on how do we keep the existing facilities and infrastructure in Pleasanton that are currently aging … periodically turning them to "like-new" conditions. So maintaining what we have; a state of good repair," Kirkpatrick said.

Councilmember Valerie Arkin confirmed with staff that past priority projects such as the Century House remodeling project and the construction of a new skatepark were included in the ongoing maintenance portion of the 10-year infrastructure plan.

Kirkpatrick assured her that the first three years in the 10-year infrastructure plan identifies those enhancement projects that Arkin mentioned and their future ongoing maintenance.

"That's why you'll see the total funding number being more in those first couple years," Kirkpatrick said. "Later years are all focused on maintenance."

"We are deferring it," he added. "We are not saying it is unimportant to do this eventually, but is this the priority where that money sits right now because, as I said, it's on a pay-as-you-go. Should that funding be sitting there or should we be putting it to another use?"

He also pointed out that any of the deleted or deferred items can come back at any time

After the council approved the original motion from Testa, Balch wanted to look past the 15 items that staff had brought forward and motioned to "redeploy the dollars" from the skatepark design project, which was on the overall list of projects that are being carried forward by staff.

"When I look at the list of unfunded items that our community needs … I believe that we could redeploy those dollars to things that are in greater need," Balch said. "There's a lot of other needs I think can come before. It doesn't mean (the skatepark) is not a need. It just means, at this time, other things on the list, I find of a higher priority."

The motion was seconded by Arkin who said she wanted to be respectful of the vice mayor's request to discuss the item but was met with disapproval from the dais.

"When you're making a plan for a $10 to $14 million project and you're continuing to move forward on something, knowing full well that we have many expenses, to me it seems not responsible as somebody who's responsible for our fiscal sustainability in this budget," Brown said commenting on the vice mayor's past request to adopt staffs' Lions Wayside and Delucchi Park conceptual plan for the adjacent downtown parks, which proposes a complete redesign.

"Earmarking funds for a skatepark, meaning it's fully liquid to remove if an emergency comes up, to me makes more sense than spending more staff time to find out exactly if it is $10.1, $10.3 or $14.2 million," Brown added.

Balch told the mayor that he had only backed the conceptual plan, not the final funding number for that joint-park master redesign plan.

The 14 deleted or deferred projects include: Short-term ACE station parking solution – deferred;

Amador Theater facility assessment – deleted; Climate Action Plan update -- deleted; City parking lots resurfacing -- deferred; 2021 HVAC replacement - deleted; Phases 2 and 3 for the Old Vineyard Avenue pedestrian trail - deleted; 2022 sound wall repair and replacement -- deleted; Design of Val Vista Park restrooms -- deleted; A second bridge over Arroyo De La Laguna on Bernal Avenue – deferred; A 2017 Bridge Evaluations Program - deferred; Division Street capital improvements – deleted; Santa Rita Intersection Improvement – deferred; and Emergency vehicle access road maintenance – deleted.