Hutto's updated Capital Improvements Plan provides for three new fire stations and a water master plan for the city within the next five to 10 years.
Every year, the Hutto CIP is updated by a committee that includes representatives from each city department and the city's planning and zoning commission. The committee identifies projects throughout the city that affect health, safety, development and other factors, and from there, the committee recommends adding or subtracting projects from the long-term plan.
Typically, utility projects are planned on a 10-year timeline, while projects that will be paid for by the city's general fund are planned within a five-year projection.
"They're projects over $25,000 that are expected to have a lifespan of 20 years," Hutto City Engineer Matt Bushak said. "Every year we do this before the budget. That way, when we go through the budget process, we can see if there are actually funds."
The council formally adopted the CIP at its May 23 meeting. The plan includes 68 projects the city hopes to accomplish between 2014–23. Each project is put in one of six categories: parks, facilities, water, wastewater, streets or drainage.
A second fire station
Projects added to the CIP this year include plans to build the city's second fire station, to be located south of the railroad tracks, near the intersection of FM 685 and SH 130. The 12,000-square-foot station would be built in 2017 with an estimated cost of $4.5 million for the facility and $2 million for equipment.
The station will provide fire, rescue and emergency medical services to the city's southwest side. The city's current station on Exchange Boulevard incurs response delays if trucks have to wait for trains.
"We need [the new fire station] for response times," Hutto Fire Chief Scott Kerwood said. "We need it to save lives and property."
The CIP also includes two other fire stations in addition to Hutto's second proposed station, one on north FM 1660 and one on the street's south end.
Water infrastructure
While the city recently developed a wastewater master plan, which includes a project to build an additional wastewater treatment plant, Bushak said a water plan will help the city better facilitate utility needs as Hutto grows.
"We do want to look at interconnectivity of water lines, just making sure as the city grows, as development comes in, we have the right size water lines in the right locations," Bushak said. "[Right now] we have a water model, but as a staff we don't have the resources to look at the whole system."
The cost for the water master plan is $200,000, and the plan will be revised every five years.
With the master plan, the CIP also calls for water line improvements throughout the city, including repairs to water lines laid by Heart of Texas, the city's main water provider; building water lines on Limmer Loop, FM 685, CR 199, CR 132, FM 3349 and FM 1660; line relocations on FM 685; water lines that feed into the new wastewater plant; improvements to water lines in Old Town Hutto; and more.
In total, the water projects are expected to cost approximately $9.2 million between 2014–23, with approximately $1.1 million in additional budget costs.
Sports complex
The city could also see the creation of an outdoor sports complex on 25 acres adjacent to the Williamson County landfill on Landfill Road and north of the Jonah water tower near CR 100 and FM 1660. The complex is part of an interlocal agreement between the city and Williamson County to develop, construct and maintain sports fields. Youth athletic fields were identified as a top priority in a recent Hutto resident survey, according to the CIP, and are expected to cost $988,000.
"The City of Hutto does not have any public fields," said Mike Hemker, Hutto Parks and Recreation director. "We're trying to prepare for the day that we need to have a home for youth sports."
Other projects
Also included in the CIP are park projects such as improvements to the Saul House, a historic home in the city, and an extension to the Hutto Lake Park Trail; facility projects including library renovations and a new City Hall; water and wastewater projects such as new water storage facilities and pipelines; and transportation items such as sidewalks.
In total, the CIP projects are estimated to cost approximately $80 million.
Other identified projects that did not rank high enough to be included in the CIP's funding and timeline projections include a skate park, justice center and work on Cottonwood Creek.
The full CIP can be viewed at www.huttotx.gov/
documentcenter/view/4592.
