In an effort to provide detailed information on the Capital Improvement Plan presented to Milford City Council in late April, Milford Times will publish a series of articles detailing projects staff has identified in the plan. Council will approve the CIP, which is a plan used during the budget process, in June. The next of the series will provide details on Public Works
When the Milford City Council approves the CIP, they are authorizing staff to move forward in seeking funds that may cover the cost of the project, whether that be grant funding or funds within the current budget available to bring the project to fruition. According to Mark Whitfield, the plan is just that, a plan, but council is aware when they approve it that staff will move forward with projects included in the plan.
“It is not a budget. The CIP is a living, breathing document that is in constant change throughout the year, but updated annually for Council’s review and comment. The funding for projects in the plan come about with the annual budget,” Whitfield said. “The money identified in the plan is projected costs over the life of the project. We use the plan for applying for potential grants when opportunities arise. In other words, we would not apply for a grant for a project, if that project was not identified in the CIP.”
In the current CIP that council will approve after making adjustments, Public Works is requesting approval for $83.5 million of the $145.5 million total for the proposed CIP. The first portion of the CIP for Public Works detailed $1.3 million in projects for garage and facility expenditures.
“The first is the Kenton Treatment Plant Control Relocation,” Willis Shafer, Director of Public Works, said. “We are looking to do a design and engineering for relocation of the controls in 2026 as we had a water leak there and it damaged controls. In 2027, we will proceed with the project. The next is for Parson Thorne Apartments, improving their water metering system over the next three years to improve our revenue.”
Other projects included a street vehicle tablet program, utility vehicle, wastewater pump odor control along with improved storm drainage for Wilber and Pine Streets. Mayor Todd Culotta asked if the city already had a utility vehicle and Shafer replied that Public Works did not.
“If we have one, they should be shared,” Culotta said. “I’m not against purchasing one, but I think it’s worth looking into. I see a lot of equipment around and just figure it could be a cost saving measure.”
Street projects accounted for $45.1 million of the CIP over the next five years. The funding for the projects would come from utility funds, grants, DelDOT, realty transfer tax and others. One of the projects was a reconfiguration of the 10th Street and Rehoboth Boulevard intersection to better accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic. That project is anticipated to cost $3.85 million with around $3 million in grants from DelDOT and the remainder from the general fund.
“The next is ADA plan improvements which we are just going to continue to improve,” Shafer said. “We will use these funds to incorporate into road rehabilitation projects where we need to bring areas up to ADA standards. I would like to see us evaluate our infrastructure and continue to try to improve what’s there currently, so I think there is more to do.”
The next projects presented were five street projects that would involve water, sewer, sidewalk and curb replacements as well as street overlay. These would be at NE 5th Street, SE 4th Street, Fisher Avenue, Hall Place and McColley Street at a cost of $16 million over five years.
“The next is an evaluation of the 12 city ponds we maintain through the city,” Shafer said. “We would like to have a consultant help us develop a maintenance program to make sure we meet state standards.”
A culvert at the police station and a 4th Street flood study were also included in the CIP.’
“Next we have downtown streetscaping on Columbia Street from the Riverwalk to Franklin Street,” Shafer said. “This is for a decorative sidewalk and storm drainage improvements at a cost of $41,000 over five years. In 2026, we would like to do the five-year road evaluation study as it is recommended that we review our road system every five years to determine areas that need to be paved.”
Replacement of the Maple Street bridge, which will be 80 percent paid by DelDOT and 20 percent by the city, is estimated to cost $2.8 million over the next five years. Bringing the Masten Pond up to standards is estimated to cost $200,000 over the next five years. Initially, this project was supposed to have support from a developer who has since learned they do not need the pond and have withdrawn support.
“We are asking for a new video message board to use during events,” Shafer said. “As you know, the town has grown bigger, and we are closing downtown for more events. We have close to 20 that we use these to let people know roads are closed for whatever reason.”
Shafer was asked if it was cheaper to rent them and Shafer replied that this was a project that the police department may be able to assist in the purchase through traffic safety grants.
“The Northeast Front Street TAP Project Phase II includes decorative sidewalks,” Shafer said. “The sidewalk will not be enlarged. We have been asked to add some parking along Causey Avenue and that intersection needs some safety features such as crosswalks.”
Shafer also stated that the city needed to purchase new barriers for road closures as theirs were over 40 years old. A transportation study was also requested at a cost of $456,047. Another costly project was the replacement of the Southwest Front Street bridge at $2.5 million, the share the city must pay with DelDOT covering the rest. A roof enclosure over the city gas pumps met with some resistance from council.
“What is the purpose of this enclosure,’ Councilwoman Madula Kalesis asked to which Shafer replied that it would protect the staff and helps reduce degradation of the pump hoses in sunlight.” I mean, how often do you have to change the hoses? Isn’t that just normal wear and tear? It’s been like this for 23 years. I mean, I get wet when I get gas.”
Shafer explained that after the rain, sunlight dries out the hoses, so they are replacing the pump hoses often. Councilman Jason James agreed with Kalesis, asking what else the enclosure would do other than keep staff dry. Kalesis stated that she would like to know what the cost was for replacing hoses as she did not see a need to spend $100,000 just to keep rain off of staff when the rest of the world is getting wet when they buy gas.
“We do have a fuel measure, and it takes a lot of beating in the rain,” Shafer said. “I just had to get one of the boards replaced because it shorted out. That meant our fuel pumps were down for a while.”
Kalesis asked if they could be provided a cost estimate of how much the boards and hoses cost over time to compare to the cost of the roof enclosure.
Brian Jester, Building Operations Supervisor, presented the next section of the Public Works CIP. The facilities portion was estimated to cost $2.28 million over five years. The costliest project was expansion and efficiency upgrades to the public works building at $1.2 million. Improvements to City Hall were estimated at $51,000.
Solid waste projects totaled $340,000 and costs would be covered by solid waste reserves. Water projects totaled $24.1 million with the northwest water tower estimated to cost $7.3 million. Electric projects totaled $5.03 million with substation projects the costliest at $2.1 million.
