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Celina city officials want to convert all downtown streets to concrete in the next 10-15 years.
In order to accomplish that goal, officials will have to divert resources to downtown street reconstruction by pushing back other infrastructure projects.
After reviewing preliminary funding scenarios at a Dec. 9 meeting, Celina City Council discussed which projects could be postponed at a Feb. 4 work session.
The discussion
City staff presented three possible timelines for fully converting downtown streets to concrete and the costs involved:
Council members directed staff to draw up a five-year infrastructure plan based on Option B, which shortens the construction timeline compared to current funding levels but still allows for improvements in other parts of Celina.
What it means
City Council considered deprioritizing specific projects in favor of downtown streets reconstruction.
Based on their Feb. 4 work session conversation, construction projects that could be postponed beyond 2030 to focus on downtown Celina include:
The local impact
City staff said that Option B would be difficult, but doable.
“From a staffing perspective for engineering and the operation of these programs, Option B starts stretching the limits of our resources,” Assistant City Manager Kimberly Brawner said.
The city would likely have to outsource some of the work that could usually be done by the city’s in-house engineers, which Brawner said would increase engineering costs by 15%-18%.
Option B also involves construction on multiple downtown road projects at the same time, which city staff said would be inconvenient for downtown residents and businesses.
What they’re saying
Despite the resources required to reconstruct downtown streets within 15 years, council members agreed that the effort was necessary.
“It was before the '60s that all these roads were redone,” Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Grumbles said. “So it’s time.”
Council members said previous city leadership had discussed similar reconstruction efforts, but none of those plans were ever realized.
“I’m sure that it was understood amongst prior employees, but there wasn’t an officially adopted plan,” City Manager Robert Ranc said.
Looking ahead
Having a five-year plan in place will help make sure that current downtown reconstruction efforts can still be carried out by future city leadership, Ranc said.
City Council will vote on the five-year plan at their March 10 meeting.
