At its meeting on Tuesday, November 19, the City Council received an overview of the City's Public Works Department and past, present, and future efforts to maintain and improve aging infrastructure like roads, sidewalks, sanitary sewers, and City-owned facilities.

The presentation was kicked off by City Manager Chris Zapata, who discussed the Council's "back to the basics" prioritization of City infrastructure for the past three years, including support of Measure L, a 2022 sales tax measure currently generating $2.8 million annually for infrastructure projects.

Zapata also raised the question of borrowing against future Measure L revenues to accelerate the pace of improvements and take advantage of efficiencies created by undertaking larger-scale projects, e.g., reducing mobilization costs by resurfacing multiple streets at once rather than in piecemeal fashion.

Following Zapata's introduction, Public Works Director Kevin McGowan provided a detailed report highlighting infrastructure funding sources, recent accomplishments, the 21-person department's organizational structure, active capital projects, maintenance, the City's new Fix-It App for reporting infrastructure problems, and challenges currently faced by the department.

A video recording of the 40-minute presentation by Zapata and McGowan, followed by councilmember questions and feedback, is available on the City website, as are the presentation slides.

Upcoming Council deliberations on infrastructure projects and funding will be highlighted in future editions of Currents to encourage public participation.