Dear Council Members,
I am writing to follow up on the verbal comments I made during the Budget Study Session on the afternoon of Monday, May 17th.
I realize that the bike and pedestrian plans created have not been adopted by the council yet, but they are expected to be next month. While the plan is long term, budget plans are not. Budget plans lack any vision at all as they are planned to decrease from $2M in 2016-17 to $1M in 2017-18. If the council was visionary in dealing with the plan, they would allocate an additional $2M in 2016-17 for the express purpose of outsourcing the civil engineering necessary to make the bike and pedestrian plans shovel ready. There are ample opportunities in the bike plan to do so: Path along the 280 soundwall, bridges connecting neighborhoods, and re-engineering busy intersections to name a few. All of this should facilitate obtaining grants and matching funds in 2017-18 and beyond and will show that the council is serious about making the plan a reality and not something that we paid good money for that sits in a drawer.
I believe the voters will reward you for thinking longer term and now is the time to do so. The desirability of our city will be greatly enhanced by doing so.
Sincerely,
Byron Rovegno
