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Funding allocated for new public works building next fiscal year

WINDSOR

Windsor’s Planning Commission recommended no changes to the town’s proposed 2020-2024 Capital Improvements Plan on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The matter will next go before Windsor’s Town Council on May 26 for a public hearing, with a final vote scheduled for June 9.

For the remainder of the current fiscal year, which will end on June 30, the plan calls for a total of $688,500 in capital expenditures, the majority of which is for the town’s contribution to Isle of Wight County for the construction of sidewalks from Church Street to the Holland Meadows housing development on Shiloh Drive. This payment was budgeted at $547,000 in the event that the town would need to fund the entirety of the project cost with local funds. In mid-2018, however, the Virginia Department of Transportation approved up to $304,000 in state funding for the project. Per the town’s memorandum of understanding with the county, Windsor will match roughly half of the project cost with local funds, with the county administering the project. According to Town Manager Michael Stallings, the town has already made its contribution in the amount of $231,454.75. Once construction is complete, any unused funds will be transferred back to the town.

In fiscal year 2020-2021, which will begin July 1 of this year, the plan calls for an additional $879,000 in capital expenditures, the bulk of which will go toward the construction of a new public works building. The cost, which will include preliminary site work and stormwater management requirements, is estimated at $680,000.

“We will be providing a new estimate once we are done updating the plans,” Stallings said. “I hope to have an update on the project for Council at our March meeting.”

Other capital expenditures planned for the upcoming fiscal year include: $35,000 for the construction of a parking lot at the town’s cemetery on East Griffin Street; $10,000 for sidewalk construction; $2,000 to extend street lighting to new areas; $34,000 for new outfitted police vehicles; $5,000 for police technology; $8,000 for improvements to the town’s geographic information system; $5,000 for information technology upgrades; $100,000 for the town’s Windsor Town Center; and future development/space needs fund.

Total capital expenditures decrease to $192,000 in fiscal year 2022, with fiscal years 2023 and 2024 each budgeted at $237,000.