Letter to Residents
From the Office of the City Manager
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Sugar Land Today | October '09 - November '09 Issue
With the City’s Fiscal Year 2009 coming to a close, the City Council approved a $220.3M FY10 budget on September 15 (see p. 5 for more detail). Even with the recent completion of many major capital projects—the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Fire Station No. 1, and the Pawm Springs Dog Park, this budget includes an $86.77M Capital Improvement Program—just a portion of our $303.75M, largest-ever, five-year CIP.
This aggressive program, a large percentage (32%) of which will utilize alternate funding sources such as grants and Fort Bend County mobility bonds, will allow us to take advantage of the lower construction costs currently seen in the market by accelerating new projects while also continuing our progress on long-term capital initiatives.
For instance, work continues on our hike and bike trail program, which has been a very important initiative for years. In FY10, we will be finishing the design and entering the construction phase of the Brooks Street Hike & Bike Trail, adding 6,000 linear feet of trail and linking Brookside / Belknap with SH6. We will also begin the design of a major trail along Ditch H; with construction funding slated for FY11, this will one day serve as the primary link between North Sugar Land and Brazos River Park.
Additionally, the City is also currently working on a number of traffic and transportation related projects and initiatives in order to address growth and further alternate modes of transportation throughout the City. Such work includes not only the planned SH6/US59 intersection modifications and the addition of a triple left turn movement, but also the beginning of construction of the planned roadway improvements for other major thoroughfares such as Dulles Ave. and University Boulevard.
As part of the FY10 CIP, the City will build a new elevated storage tank and continue its conversion from groundwater to surface water as the Surface Water Treatment Plant design is completed. With an estimated construction cost of $49M outlined for FY11, the surface water plant—scheduled to be online in 2013—is set to be the single largest CIP project in the City’s history.
This list of projects only begins to scratch the surface of what we have planned for FY10. We will also be breaking ground on Fire Station No. 7 in 2010 in Telfair, purchasing additional park land, improving First Colony and Imperial Parks, and completing the design of phase II of the Brazos River Park. Proposed improvements will include an access road from US59 through the site, an amphitheater, trails, and more – all designed to complement the future entertainment district. Additional information on all projects may be found at www.sugarlandtx.gov.
We certainly have a lot planned, but we are excited about the year to come and look forward to celebrating our achievements with you next year, as we are sure to be cutting many ribbons!