MILL CREEK — Mill Creek residents will have a chance to speak up about their ideas of where and how their city’s parks could be spruced up, which roads need smoothing over and which intersections could use a traffic light.
City staff is interested in comments on the city’s proposed capital facility plan.
The capital facility plan looks out seven years at projects related to transportation, parks, drainage and facilities. The projects generally are each estimated to cost at least $15,000. The plan also identifies funding sources and how much funding will be earmarked toward each project per year.
A committee comprised of City Council members, planning commissioners and staff will begin meeting this month.
Projects are ranked according to how important the need is to the community and how many people will benefit from the improvements, public works director Tom Gathmann said.
During the first meeting, the committee will address funding predictions to gain a better idea of how much money the city will have to work with, Gathmann said.
The committee will present its recommendations to the entire council this summer. Residents will have an opportunity to voice concerns during a public hearing before the plan is adopted.
Projects included in the current plan include installing traffic signals along Seattle Hill Road, upgrades at three city parks, and improvements at City Hall and the police station building.
This year, the city is particularly focused on long-term street maintenance, Gathmann said. Most of the roads within Mill Creek are 15 to 30 years old and are generally in good shape, he said, but roads have a fixed life span. Postponing repairs will become more expensive to fix rather than making minor fixes right away.
Gathmann cited Mill Creek Boulevard, Mill Creek Road and Ninth Avenue SE off of 164th Street SE as problem areas that could use some repairs this year.
“To ramp up and keep roads in good shape could potentially cost $1 million per year,” he said.
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