The Moscow City Council recently published a list of goals they hope to accomplish in 2013, including highway beautification and street improvement.
“We decided to consolidate many previous year’s goals that were left hanging or had been merged into more recent goals,” said Sue Scott, city council member.
Scott said the city council has not yet discussed the goals for this year that will go into effect in October.
“The reason that the goals are discussed so far in advance is that it takes city staff and the mayor several months to develop a budget to support the goals,” Scott said.
The way the city obtains revenue to fund these goals come through grants, liquor sales and property taxes.
City council member Tim Brown said during the last budget cycle the council raised property taxes, generating $170,000 dollars in revenue on a more than $50 million budget.
The city is currently about halfway through the 2012 fiscal year.
The goals for the 2013 fiscal year to be discussed include developing improvement plans for the beautification of public right-of-ways at city entrances by 2014.
“This was motivated by one of our city council member’s disdain for that apparent junkyard on the north end of town along Highway 95,” said Moscow Mayor, Nancy Chaney.
Chaney said the city only has certain powers with regards to the aesthetic appeal of Moscow’s entryways.
“We have limited ability to regulate what happens on private property, but we can plant vegetative buffers, bushes and trees as long as they don’t obstruct traffic,” Chaney said.
Another goal of the council is sidewalk construction for non-motorized transportation and people with disabilities.
Chaney said the council has also been working closely with the Moscow Transportation Commission, a volunteer group that focuses on bicyclists and other means of transportation.
She said the development of transportation infrastructure is always in the works.
Chaney said the Public Works Department constructed a 50-year plan that reveal expected street extensions.
“As we anticipate futures growth and development, we want to make sure that the streets are interconnected and fully accessible,” Chaney said.
She said College Street is the latest example of road reconstruction requiring more details than some might think.
“It had to be completely rebuilt from the roadbed up,” Chaney said.
She said streets that are in the worst shape are handled differently with regards to budgeting than streets that need slight repair.
“Some streets are so badly degraded that it is much more cost effective to take a street that is not so bad off and make sure it’s protected,” Chaney said.
Brown said at city council meetings many goals are set each fiscal year, but not all of them will be satisfied.
“Its one thing to say goals, but who’s going to pay for all of that stuff? It takes a while,” Brown said.
Aaron Wolfe can be reached at arg-news.uidaho.edu