Augusta city officials are considering borrowing nearly $7 million for capital improvement projects over the coming year, including what officials say are much-needed repairs to deteriorating streets and the Augusta Civic Center, above. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

AUGUSTA — City officials are considering borrowing nearly $7 million for capital improvement projects over the coming year, including what officials say are much-needed repairs to deteriorating streets and the Augusta Civic Center.

But they’re doing so, unlike in most previous years, without a formal longer-term plan in place for other major infrastructure repairs the city may need to borrow funds for over the next five to 10 years.

In most past years city administrators have provided to city councilors a five-year look at planned capital improvement projects when proposing borrowing funds each fiscal year to undertake such projects, which are generally longer-lasting infrastructure improvements.

However this year, due to staffing changes, city councilors are being asked to approve borrowing nearly $7 million over the next fiscal year for capital improvement projects without having a five-year borrowing plan in front of them for planning and perspective.

City Manager Jared Mills said new Assistant City Manager William Post, who started in Augusta last month, is reviewing past capital improvement projects to determine which have been funded and completed — work necessary to be able to put together a new five-year borrowing plan for the future.

However, that work has taken longer than anticipated and, with a Sept. 5 deadline looming in order to get a proposed referendum question to voters in November to authorize about $5.5 million in borrowing, Mills said they didn’t have time to provide that five-year plan. So, instead, councilors were presented at their Thursday meeting a plan for borrowing just in the coming year.

“Our assistant city manager has been working diligently to get us to where we need to be today, because we’re now coming up on crunch time for borrowing,” Mills told city councilors. “We missed last year’s borrowing, so we are falling a bit behind on that.”

Last year city officials were unable to put together a bond proposal package in time to borrow $750,000, which city councilors had authorized, to spend on road reconstruction projects.

The city charter allows councilors to approve borrowing up to $750,000 without seeking voter approval.

Mills said the city did no bonding in the last fiscal year. Rather than risk going another year without borrowing for much-needed projects, he said he presented the capital improvement plan only going out one year, not five or more.

Some councilors expressed concern about not having a longer look at plans to borrow for major and costly city projects.

“What’s missing for me is the multi-year look,” said Ward 4 Councilor Eric Lind. “It will be nice to get back to being able to see the whole, 10-year plan.”

Mills said the five-year plan will return in next year’s capital improvement program proposal, a task Post, a veteran city administrator, will take on.

Post said he’ll put together a longer-term bond schedule and include information not just on projects proposed, but also how they’d be funded.

“The idea is to try to keep the tax rate so it’s not jumping all over the place, have it so there is a gradual increase, to cover the costs we have,” Post said.

Mills said if councilors approve of the capital improvement plan the city next year would borrow just under $7 million. That’d include the proposed $5.5 million bond that could go to voters in November, as well as the $750,000 in bonding approved by councilors last year, and another $750,000 in bonding that’d go to councilors for approval later this year.

Mills said in typical years past the city has borrowed between $3 million and $6 million. But he noted that while the nearly $7 million bonding proposal for the next year is higher than that range, the city didn’t bond any funds last year.

The plan includes nearly $5 million in funds for public works projects, with much of that for road reconstruction and paving. Major road improvement projects are planned on Church Hill Road, State Street, Ganneston Street and Parkwood Street.

Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Judkins said he’d like the city to consider borrowing another $1 million for road construction, to catch up on construction work that’s been delayed as costs have escalated.

“As I’m out talking to folks one of the biggest complaints I get is the quality of roads in Augusta,” Judkins said. “I know costs have escalated, and so we’re doing half the work for twice the money, over the last four or five years. We’ve got to recognize that’s been a trend and caused our infrastructure to break down. I honestly think we’ve got to become more aggressive in our road situation.”

However, Mills said projects the city bonds money for must be completed within two years of the bond being taken out, and the city is already near maximum capacity in its ability to do road reconstruction projects in a timely manner.

The plan also includes about $1.1 million in funding for the Augusta Civic Center — officials have said the structure of the 51-year-old auditorium and meeting space building is solid, but major infrastructure upgrades are needed, including to the roof and electrical and HVAC systems. The roof replacement would be funded with $1.25 million received through Kennebec County in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and $750,000 in borrowing by the city already approved by voters.

Proposed projects to be funded next year at the Civic Center, which is a major economic driver for the city, include $300,000 for a new auditorium floor, $225,000 for a new basketball court, $200,000 to replace the north end stairwell and entrance doors, and $75,000 for parking lot and walkway repaving.

Councilors did not vote on the capital improvement plan Thursday but are expected to at a future business meeting, before the Sept. 5 deadline for a referendum question to be placed on the November ballot.