A few months ago, the “Z-Notes” entitled “Cleveland’s $10 Billion Tsunami Of Infrastructure Investment” drew quite a bit of comment. In it, I reported on an article in The Plain Dealer citing a Metropolitan Transportation Infrastructure Survey – recently released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
I said that I feared that the article also created the impression that Cleveland is woefully behind in infrastructure spending of all sorts – and said that I disagreed. In fact, I argued that Cleveland is actually ahead of the curve in infrastructure investment in the transportation, utility and cultural sectors.
Several readers pointed out that I did not include projects funded by the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects (MOCAP) of the City of Cleveland – and they are correct. I targeted larger “big-ticket” projects, and today I want to narrow that focus. And there is a lot going on here!
First, some bureaucratic background. MOCAP is the result of a reorganization of parts of City government by Mayor Frank G. Jackson’s administration, effective January 2011. Prior to that time, two city government departments both played significant roles in capital planning – the Department of Public Service, headed up by Director Cox; and, the Department of Parks, Recreation & Properties, headed by Director Wasik.
However, both departments also overlapped in terms of operational responsibilities. As a result, the reorganization decided to put all operational divisions into a new Department of Public Works, with Director Cox in charge; and, all capital planning responsibilities into MOCAP, headed by Director Wasik. MOCAP also includes divisions for architecture and site development; engineering and construction; and real-estate acquisition and disposition.
MOCAP completed two major studies in 2008 – a $300 million Pavement-Management Program (i.e., main arteries, bridges); and, a $400 million Facilities Plan (e.g., City Hall, recreation centers, police and fire stations).
The City knew that it lacked the capacity to undertake all these improvements over the 5-year period from 2009 thru 2014. So MOCAP, in consultation with other relevant City departments, prioritized the top 20% of the total list of needs – and effectively created a $300 million “rolling” capital budget that would be funded as follows:
In 2012, Director Wasik said that about 50% of the rolling $300 million program would go to roads and bridges and about 50% to facilities. Generally, improvements to roads and bridges are funded with 205 City funds – and an 80% match from other levels of government. Facility improvements are typically 100% funded by the City.
Examples of pavement projects that Director Wasik is currently managing include:
On the facility management side of Director Wasik’s responsibilities, the City is responsible for 196 buildings. In 2012, about 110 projects are in the queue, as follows:
Here, an example is Fire Station #36 – a new facility near East 131st Street and Kinsman Avenue, currently in the planning phase, and budgeted at $7.0 million.
MOCAP’s $300 million rolling program for pavement and facilities is part of a much larger $1.7 billion 5-Year Capital Plan that includes improvements at the airports, utilities, public health and public safety. That larger program is budgeted at $545 million in 2012, and includes planned expenditures of 1.7 billion thru 2016.
It’s easy to find issues to complain about such as the plague of pot holes, cranky bridges and antiquated rec centers. However, we need to understand that the City is committed to continually improving its infrastructure and is working to do so constantly.
