On January 8, 2026, the Newport City Council convened for an early Capital Improvement Program (CIP) workshop to review a comprehensive five-year "wish list" of infrastructure needs across all city departments. The administration presented detailed proposals totaling over $100 million in identified needs, emphasizing a shift towards proactive risk-based planning for utilities, public safety, and maritime assets. A significant portion of the discussion centered on the critical funding gap in utility infrastructure, with officials noting that the city is currently capable of funding less than 20% of its critical drinking water, sewer, and stormwater needs. Additionally, the department of finance presented a proposed reform to the residential parking program to address the overissuance of permits and enhance enforcement for full-time residents.
Thank you for being here tonight for our introduction to the uh 2627 CIP uh program. So without further ado, I'll turn it over to our city manager Colin Kennedy. Good evening. Thank you. Uh uh thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, counselors, and thank you, members of the public who have come tonight. Uh we're excited to do something in January this year that we did not do until late January. Maybe it was early February. No, it was February last year. Um, and that's introduced the the capital improvement program uh for the next fiscal year. Uh the part of the reason we're going early is because of a concerted effort by the city staff to identify issues well in advance of the budget season to allow counselors and policymakers and other community stakeholders to make more informed decisions about the magnitude of of what goes into an annual operating budget. Um the CIP is the first and most important, or I shouldn't say the most important part, but the first significant part of that effort uh and talks about the infrastructure and and policy related needs of the community uh that uh for uh for items that are not annual expenses but are incurred over lengthy periods of time. So things like infrastructure and bridges and roads, transportation improvements, public services, parks, all of those things that you buy that you retrieve and obtain value from for a prolonged period of time. Uh we're excited to produce tonight uh what we think is a very, very comprehensive list of items. Um ultimately the the price on the numbers of some of these items may seem very, very large. That is by design. We took the guidance from the city council last year to be as truthful in our reporting as we possibly can be, um, both to articulate what those needs are but also to articulate what those potential expenses are. Some of the biggest cost deltas in terms of unknowns lie in uh uh in some of our enterprise funds, but we also have about 13 plus million dollars in needs that we've identified in our jet from our general fund. Um we likely won't be able to fund all of those, but what it does is it it sets an accurate barometer in terms of what the city administration truly feels is needed to meet both the council's policy goals, uh its plans and policies, as well as emerging and current infrastructure needs. Um so thank you for the opportunity to present this to you today to give us plenty of time to chew on it over the coming weeks. And without further ado, I'd like to uh pass the microphone over to uh uh uh Mr. Jim Nolan, our director of finance, we'll get the presentation started, which will then be followed by a series of senior department heads who will be introducing their various areas. Uh one before we get going, quick question. So when we're putting something like this together from from your point of view, city manager, are we looking at are you putting this together as far as importance down to the least important amount, or are you just putting in by by department? Yes, but that could so the first part of your question, yes, but that comes later. So this is just a planning document. Think of this as a wish list. Uh uh later on, once more fidelity uh comes into view about what types of revenues uh we'll have available balanced again, what's balanced against what uh what expenditures we will need to make, we will have to make those more difficult decisions. But that is not for today. Uh treat today as as strictly a a uh a wish list of needs to meet policy goals and to meet uh infrastructure needs. Thank you. A five-year for five years, correct. We put the most focus on the first two years, especially the first year, because that's what will impact the imminent budget, but we forecast out um five years, correct. Good evening, counselors. Uh thank you, Colin. Um I'm gonna just really kick this off and really just kind of set the stage as to uh why we're here, what we're trying to accomplish. Um, and just want to uh give a big thank you to our department directors for all their support and getting through this uh document as well as Elizabeth Skeppa, who's who spent a many, many hours putting it together. Um so the CIP document, the objective. Uh the CIP document is a standalone planning document. Um, as a planning document, the CIP reflects information at the time it is prepared. So this is this is at the time. So really when we put this together, there may be some things that happen subsequent to us putting this document together that we can discuss, and that will be talked about during the budget process. The projects listed within are presented because department directors believe they are needed to protect public health and safety or maintain current facilities and infrastructure. The CIP is not a financial or funding recommendation. The CIP is not intended to become a budget document. However, we may be we may use it to assist us in determining what our annual budget will be. All projects contemplated by the city, regardless of whether they are listed in the CIP, must be formally authorized and funded before they can proceed. So the why are we here? The purpose of the workshop. Uh, we're here to present a comprehensive list of identified needs and projects from department directors, have a discussion with council in workshop format to get council thoughts and ideas.