Maddox Recommends Over $100M In Capital Projects For FY24

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox on Tuesday presented his proposed capital project budget recommendations for fiscal year 2024 to the Council's Finance Committee.

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The presentation featured well over $100 million in recommendations, which will now be mulled over by members of the council during upcoming work sessions.

And as has been the case since the inception of Elevate Tuscaloosa, the list of capital project investments has been broken down into three different funds: General Fund, Elevate and Water & Sewer.

OPIOD SETTLEMENT

One component of the proposed budget can be found in how the city aims to spend its allocations from settlements stemming from lawsuits against opioid makers, with the city on the receiving end of almost $700,000 to date.

Maddox explained that the opioid settlement funding can only be used in specific ways, which prompted the mayor's office to propose committing those settlement dollars to the Freedom Farm in Coker — a home for children who were victims of abuse, neglect or trauma, particularly as a result of drug addiction. The 60-acre project broke ground in January.

The mayor referred to the investment as the "perfect" public-private partnership (P3).

"This is a way to help some of our most vulnerable children in the City of Tuscaloosa to get the foster family support they need," Maddox said. "[The allocation] would have to go to City of Tuscaloosa children."

The proposed budget would see the city commit $375,000 in FY23 and the same amount the following fiscal year.

"If this were something the council wanted to invest in, we could look at three-year funding [models], five year-funding ... I think it's the pledge of the city that's most important, because it helps [the nonprofit] go out and get more pledges."

MAJOR GENERAL FUND

At present, Maddox says that this year's General Fund surplus, including Elevate Tuscaloosa, came in at $26 million, with roughly $17 million available for projects.

The largest General Fund commitment will be $6 million to go toward the construction of Station Six for Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue, with the property already secured from United Methodist Church and construction slated to begin sometime this summer. This allocation represents roughly a third of the funding for recommendations from the General Fund.

"This station is going to serve this community well for the next 50 years-plus," Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith said Tuesday.

In addition to the new fire station, Maddox also proposed $4.5 million in new paving, which would be in addition to the current contracts underway for major projects such as Joe Mallisham Parkway, Jack Warner Parkway and the city's partnership with the Alabama Department of Transportation that will be on a paving cycle sometime in August or September, Maddox said.

As for drainage projects, Maddox presented two major initiatives: $1 million for improvements for Patton Lake, along with $1.3 million for Juanita Drive, both of which have yet to go out for bid.

Other General Fund highlights:

• Fiber internet improvements in the amount of $700,000.
• Facility improvements totaling $1.75 million, primarily for elevator replacements.
• The demolition of the Veterans Memorial Parkway Pedestrian Bridge ($750,000), due to low pedestrian counts and the fact it would take almost $2 million to restore the underutilized bridge.
• Tuscaloosa Public Library roof repairs calling for a $1.1 million commitment, with the City of Tuscaloosa's match contingent on comparitevly equitable commitments from the City of Northport and Tuscaloosa County.

ELEVATE

In discussing the different projects funded as part of Elevate Tuscaloosa, Maddox first mentioned the 2022A bond contingency recommendation of $7.5 million — a safety net approved by the council the last time it went to the bond market, due to the looming threat of hyperinflation.

From this funding, Maddox recommended $4.3 million for improvements at Snow Hinton Park and $2 million for renovations at the Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA. What's more, $1.2 million would be budgeted for the Tuscaloosa Tennis Center from these bond contingency funds.

"With the Benjamin Barnes Branch and Snow Hinton Park, that's just a direct reflection of when we went to the bond market," Maddox explained. "The prices today are about 40% higher than they were at that time, but that's why the council set aside a contingency, because we knew the great inflation was beginning."

Other proposed Elevate projects:

• Nearly $2 million for Kaulton Park: $1.5 million from Elevate and $250,000 from the American Rescue Plan.
• University Boulevard Corridor Project: $750,000 from Elevate and $9 million from 2022A Bond.
• Improvements to Greensboro Avenue: $500,000
• Northern River Walk Expansion Project: $500,000. These improvement will be complimented by the ongoing McWright's Ferry Road Project.
• Additional $7 million recommendation for the Saban Discovery Center for site development. This is due to a pause on plans for an event center at the location, resulting in the money for the site development being moved out of the budget.

"We anticipate [the Saban Center] will be developed whether it's our partnership with the State of Alabama or whether it's eventually an event center," Maddox said. "So, we think it's prudent to go ahead and do the site development on that side. We feel very good right now with the governor's recommendation and this would be applied to that site ... If the state's funding were to change, obviously we would need to change what we are recommending today."

Funding breakdown for Saban Discovery Center

Water & Sewer Recommendations

The City of Tuscaloosa reports $14 million in surplus for Water & Sewer, with roughly $2.8 million available to spend in the upcoming fiscal year.

Instead of building out new projects, Maddox said the city aimed to invest in improvements to existing infrastructure, including the Hilliard Fletcher Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility and the Jerry Plott Water Treatment Plant.

Aiming to keep pace with growth in northern Tuscaloosa, the mayor is recommending $10 million in improvements for the Plott Water Treatment Plant.

"This plant is getting used heavily because of the growth in north Tuscaloosa and we're going to need to make the improvements so it continues to have the capacity to continue to serve that area of the city," Maddox said.

Maddox said the most significant water and sewer project in this round of projects, however, is the Northwest Sewer Line Expansion, which also fits in with addressing growth in that part of the city.

"Certainly we know this is going to be needed to continue to grow our city," Maddox reiterated.

No timetable has been given on when Council work sessions will begin regarding the proposed capital projects budget.

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