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2005 - Fall fi The Sal~ Salina NORTH OHIO STREET OVERPASS PROJECT Construction has finally begun on the even Crawford Street. The closing North Ohio Street Overpass Project. of the .Ohio Street railroad crossings, This project will eliminate all exist- combined with the construction of ing railroad crossings on North Ohio the new rail spur east of Salina will Street between North Street and Pa- result in significantly less train traf- cific Avenue.. It includes a 600-foot fic and disruption downtown. four-lane bridge over six of the ten existing tracks, and removal of four The North Ohio Street Overpass tracks. The bridge will be built project also includes significant aes- sliQhtly to the west of the existing theti<? improvements including land- Ohio Street to maintain traffic during scaplng, two 10-acre ponds, deco- construction, to lessen the impact of rative bridge rails, special fencing the surrounding neighborhood and to minimize relo- cations of major utilities. Portions of the existing Ohio Street will be converted to a frontage road for access to neigh- borhoods in the Woodland Avenue, Prospect Avenue and Van HorneAv- enue areas. A new rail connec- tion east of the City will allow removal . , of the two south- Bird s Eye View of North Ohio ernmost crossings at Ohio Street material, unique lighting systems and eight more crossings on streets and textured concrete sidewalks. west of Ohio Street. Approximately 4,000 feet of Pacific Avenue and Old U.S. Highway 40 will be relocated north of its current location on Ohio Street. The intersection will have signals and appropriate turning I~~es. Portions of the existing Pa- clflcAvenue roadway will be retained for access to existing and future de- velopment. Perhaps one of the least understood benefits of this project is the posi- tive impact it will have on downtown Salina. Currently, trains regularly block railroad crossings at Elm Street, Ash Street, I ron Street and Funding for this project is provided by a $12.3 million grant from the Kan- sas Department of Transportation, $1.7 million from the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and $6.2 million from the City of Salina. The project will be completed in the spring of 2007. During the project, Ohio Street WILL NOT be closed to traffic. Additional information about this project can be obtained from the Department of Public Works at 309- 5725. Inside this issue: 2006 Budget 2 Salina Soccer 4 Youth Program 5 Future CIP 6 & 7 Dear Salina Citizen, The City of Salina is pleaseato present to you the fair 2005 edi- tion of The Salina Citizen. We hope this issue informs you about City projects, and stimulates your interest and partici- pation in local gov- ernment. The City Commission and members of City staff encourage you to ask questions and make your views known. This is an ex- c~ting and challenging time for our commu- nity. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you to meet tile chalrenges ahead. Sincerely, Salina City Commission .The Salina Citizen 2006 City Budget - High Level of Service Continues In August, the City Commission finalized the 2006 City budget. The annual budget is the plan for how money will be spent by the City. The adoption of the budget is the result of several months of staff work. This work resulted in the City Manager presenting the proposed budget to the City Commission in July. The City Commission then held several public study sessions, during which they reviewed the proposed budget and accepted public comments and requests. The formal public hearing on the budget was held on August 15th, after which it was formally adopted. The adopted 2006 budgeted expenditures total $59,222,065, compared to $57,554,412 in 2005. This is a conservative 2.8% increase. The total property tax levy remains stable at 24.092 mills. Modest user fee increases will be implemented for emergency medical service charges and water and sewer charges. No increases are planned for sanitation or solid waste services in 2006. We anticipate the adopted budget will enable a continuation of the high level of service that the citizens of Salina expect and deserve. Some specific items of interest in the 2006 budget include: ~ Additional. resources committed for annual street maintenance and repair ~ Improvements to the North Broadway Street corridor will be initiated ~ Completion of the Salina Soccer Complex on east Magnolia Road ~ Downtown tree replacements Description Property Tax Levy Rate (mills) Taxes Levied ($) Taxable Property Valne Other Revenues: Sales Tax User Fees and Charges All Other Sources Total Revenue, All Sources Expenditures: Personnel Costs Services and Charges Supplies Debt Service Capital Outlay All Other Expenses Total Expenditures Budgeted Reserves Authorized Full Time Staffing Page 2. are scheduled ~ Update of the City's comprehensive development plan ~ No property tax levy change for 2006 ~ Initiation of an entryway/ directional signage program. 1 The following compares selected key elements of the 2005 and 2006 budgets. 2005 24.063 $ 8,067,300 335,262,182 13,035,000 . 24,998,539 7,314,744 53,415,583 2006 24.063 $ 8,467,343 351,882,271 $13,275,020 25,917,327 8,992,623 56,652,313 $ 28,302,199 8,276,543 5,251,181 6,903,383 7,496,420 1,324,686 57,554,412 15,012,636 498 $ 29,714,269 8,888,385 5,149,948 6,879,376 6,527,021 2,081,814 59,222,065 14,029,365 504 Bond Rating Upgraded - An Indication of Safe and Secure Finances In July, Moody's Investors Service grade provides access to a broader nity. These include: the local notified the City that the credit rating market, and potentially reduces inter- economy, population and incomes, assigned to City of Salina General est rates on future bonds. Lower in- current debt, overall strength of city Obligation Bonds was upgraded terest rates and more competition management, and financial health. from the A 1 rating to an Aa3 rating. means a lower cost to the taxpayer. In Salina's case, Moody's specifi- The City of Salina issues bonds cally cites "the City's sizable tax ~~ya f~~YmO~j~~r~~~:r~ ~~~:dv~~ .."the CitY'ssizati'le tax base, ~~~~~~~chhu~~~~r~~gacrt~g~~~~ ments. The bonds are then repaid which acts as a regionaleco- agement, and an average over a number of years, much like : nomic hub, strong G,tymanage- amount of rapidly retired debt" as a private individual repays a loanment . and an average amoun[of positive factors in their evalua- they have taken out to purchase rapidly .retired debt": as positiv.e tion. Within Kansas, 54 cities, their home. factors in their evaluation. counties, and school districts are rated by Moody's. Of these, only 11 are rated better than Aa3. The City has carried the A 1 rat~ ing, considered to be "upper medium grade" for more than 20 years. Bonds rated Aa3 are considered "high grade" investments. The up- / Moody's is an independent credit rat- ing agency serving the investor mar- ketplace. They consider a number of factors when evaluating a commu- This upgrade results in another posi- tive face our community can present to the world. . The Salina Citizen Financial Report Available to the Public The annual independent audit of the 2004 financial statements was re- cently completed. The audit opinion has been published as a part of the 2004 Comprehensive Annual Finan- cial Report (CAFR). The auditor's opinion was once again an unqualified, or "clean" opinion. That is the highest level of opin- ion that can be given, and means that the "financialrCll statements present fairly, in all material respects," the financial position of City activities as of De- cember 31, 2004. No statutory violations were noted. The CAFR consists of a number of related documents and schedules in addition to the Auditor's opinion. These are intended to help the reader understand its community's finances. The complete CAFR may be obtained from the City Clerk's Office, 300 West Ash, Room 206. It is also available on the City's website at http// www.salina-ks.gov/. Page 3. Fire Station Improvement Nearly Underway In regards to fire safety, the 1950's was an exciting time for the citizens and firefighters of Salina, Kansas. The decade was ushered in with the construction of a new state-of-the- art headquarters fire station at 222 West Elm - one that was nationally recognized. Then, on the shirt tails of that project, a second fire station was erected at 1120 South Santa Fe in 1957. Over the next 50 years, Salina added two additional fire sta- tions; one at 669 Briarcliff in 1969, and another at 2633 Belmont Av- enue in 1985. In 2001, the sprawling growth of Salina prompted leaders to contract the services of a firm named "Almont Associates" to conduct a fire station location study to evalu- ate the existing fire station locations and to identify future needs. The positive results of that report indi- cated that Salina's four fire stations are positioned in opportune loca- tions. The report also recom- mended improvements and expan- sion to Fire Station NO.2. This was to increase the overall performance of the station, due to its centralloca- tion. Following the report from Almont, an internal study was conducted, and an architect was hired to develop a concept plan for the station improve- ments. Shortly after the plan was completed, the project was added to Architect's DraWing Of The Proposed Fire Station the City's comprehensive capital im- provement plan. Today, we're close to seeing work commence on the first major step of fire station im- provements, a complete facelift and moderate addition to Fire Station 2. lakewood Bridge Projects - A Local Historic Relocation Completed In 2000, the City received a grant for ture and reuse as a pedestrian $800,000 of state and federal grant the construction of a replacement bridge adjacent to the recently built funds. The total cost of both projects bridge over the Old Smoky Hill River Lakewood Middle School was very was approximately $1,120,000. Both at the south entrance to Lakewood well received from both the Histori- bridge projects are now substantially Park. The original bridge was found cal Society and the Kansas Depart- complete and the citizens of Salina to be structurally deficient for motor ment of Transportation. The State will benefit from these projects for vehicles, but retained significant cul- Historical Society liked the fact that years to come. tural and historical significance worth the bridge was literally moving back preserving. The "1887 Vintage Steel to within a few hundred feet of where Pratt Truss Bridge" with wood plank- it was originally constructed back in ing was originally constructed over the 1887. In fact, the relocation project Smoky Hill River Channel on North was so well received that the City of Ohio Street. In 1964, the bridge was Salina secured another grant moved to the south entrance to Lake- through the Transportation En- wood Park. The bridge is now on the hancement Program for the rehabili- State and National Registers of His- tation and relocation of the historic toric Places, due to its cultural and bridge. historic significance. Through these two grants, the City The relocation of the historic struc- of Salina leveraged approximately Lakewood Truss Bridge Prior To Relocation .The Salina Citizen Page 4. Salina Soccer Complex - Something Our Youth Will Get a Kick Out Of Beginning in the summer of 2003, and operated by the Parks and Rec- opened, the City of Salina will have a the City of Salina and the Salina Soc- reation Department. Special sched- total of 12 full-sized soccer fields cer Club collaborated on the devel- uling will be provided to the Salina available for public use, including six opment of a public/private soccer Soccer Club for leagues and tourna- at Bill Burke Park, one at Oxbow complex. The site selection process ments. Other city soccer programs Park and five at the Salina Soccer lasted for nearly two years and in- will be scheduled at the complex Complex. eluded many different locations accordingly. The complex may be throughout the City. The final site expanded in the future to eight full- was selected on the south side of sized fields if demand increases and East Magnolia Road between the as funds become available. When floodcontrolleveeandtheSmokyHiII the Salina Soccer Complex is River. The Salina Soccer Complex is scheduled to open in September of 2006. Soccer Site Aerial View A local engineering firm assisted the project team on a fast-track design/ build process for Phase I, which was completed in September 2005. Phase I includes earth grading, drainage water, electric power, sprin- kling and seeding of five full-sized soccer fields. Each soccer field is 360' x 225' in size, which is larger than a football field. Space is avail- able for three more fields as funds become available in the future. Phase II of the project will begin con- struction in April of 2006. That phase will include an eastbound right turn lane on Magnolia Road, a paved parking lot, lighting, sidewalks and fencing. If funds are available, Phase II may include a concession stand, restrooms, sewer system, mainte- nance building and playground/con- venience area. Half of the funding for the project ($750,000) is provided by private donations generated by the Salina Soccer Club, while the other half will be paid with sales tax funds provided by the City of Salina. The complex will be owned by the City of Salina Fire Suppression Emerg. Med. Srv. Codes/Inspection Public Education Engineering Design/Inspection Traffic General Services Streets Flood Works Traffic Control Central Garage Sanitation Planning & Development Planning Neighborhood Srv. If you have questions regarding this new park facility, please contact the Salina Department of Parks and Recreation at 309-5765. CITIZENS CITY COMMISSION Deborah Divine, Mayor AlanJilka Donnie Marrs R. Abner Perney John K. Vanier II Municipal Court City Attorney * Human Relations Water & Wastewater Water Treat. & Dist. Wastewater Collection & Treatment Solid Waste (Landfill) Patrol Investigations 911/Communication Internal Affairs Finance & Administration Museum Arts Education Arts Services River Festival Horizons Grants Community Art/Design * Contract Position Swimming Pools Golf Course Neighborhood Ctrs. Parks Recreation Forestry Cemetery Bldg. Maintenance City Clerk Accounting Utility Acctg. Treasurer I . The Salina Citizen Salina Area Youth Sportsmanship Initiative (SAYSI) In an attempt to bring back good our speaker. There were approxi- ECRA Complex, with over 1,000 sportsmanship to youth sports and mately 350 in attendance. Our an- youth and adults at the event. This provide the two greatest benefits- nual Fall Fest/City Soccer Fields is a kickoff event for the spring and good character and respect, the Grand Opening was held the last summer youth baseball and softball Salina Area Youth Sportsmanship Ini- weekend in August with free hotdogs season. A big part of this event was tiative (SAYSI) was formed in No- and ice cream, tub games, door a Kansas City Royals baseball clinic. vember of 2001. New this year was a High School Coach's softball clinic for girls. Our mission statement is as follows: The SAYSI has been organized to pro- mote comprehensive sportsmanship programs for all youth sports in the community. In conjunction with local youth sports providers, continuing education will be provided for par- ents, coaches, officials and all youth participants. The overall objective of SAYSI is to show how important sportsmanship is at the youth sports level and to make it contagious enough to have a positive impact on all community activities. Take Me Out To The Ballpark Page 5. Another important aspect of our or- ganization is the education of par- ents, officials and coaches that at- tend clinics for certification. These are offered for the different sports activities that occur throughout the year. The SAYSI staff is available to speak to any community or civic group that might be interested in hearing more about the program. prizes, skill games for football and soccer, inflatable obstacle course, As part of our mission, we work for and sports arena for soccer. This the community and encourage any- event brought out 500 in attendance. one with questions or suggestions The 4th annual Take Me Out to the to contact the Department of Parks Ballpark was held in May at the and Recreation at 309-5765. - UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE SALINA BICENTENNIAL CENTER SHHS BLUE & GOLD CLASSIC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT ----------------- DECEMBER 5 - 10 CENTRAL VS. SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ---------------------- DECEMBER 13 KANSAS SOCIETY OF LAND SURVEYORS ---------------------------- JANUARY 12 - 14 SALINA INVITATIONAL BASKETBAll TOURNAMENT --------------------- JANUARY 18 - 21 AMBUC'S LEISURE LIVING & SPORTS SHOW -------------------------- FEBRUARY 3 - 5 SOUTH VS. CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ---------------------- FEBRUARY 10 p HOMEBUILDERS ASSOCIATION HOME & GARDEN SHOW ------------------ FEBRUARY 17 - 19 4A HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING STATE CHAMPIONSHIP -------------------- FEBRUARY 24 - 25 SALINA BICENTENNIAL CENTER P.O. BOX 1727, SALINA, KANSAS 67402-1727 For tickets to selected entertainment events. order online at www.bicentennial.org or call toll free 1-888-826-SHOW (1-888-826-7469) All events listed are subject to change. Consult our website for the latest information. The Salina Bicentennial Center is completely ADA accessible. We provide handicapped parking for cars & vans, wheelchair & companion accommodations and hearing assistance. Visit our website at www.bicentennial.org .The Salina Citizen The City's 2005/2006 Capital Improvement Program Improving Our Infrastructure For The New Millenium At a total cost of $43.5 million, the City's 2005/2006 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is the largest and perhaps most diverse such program in the City's history. The CIP enables the City to manage the infrastructure. Infrastructure is the physical struc- tures which tie our community together. Our streets, bridges, flood control systems, water and sewer systems, parks and public buildings represent a considerable invest- ment in our community. The CIP allows projects to be scheduled in accordance with available funding sources to meet priority community needs and demands for improved public services. This process is strongly driven by what we hear from the community, and what we see as obvious needs. It is very important that citizens take an active role in contacting City officials to express capital needs. The City's basic strategy for capital improvement planning can be summarized as follows: (1) maintain the capacity and function of essential facilities serving the overall city, (2) upgrade public facilities in areas where deficiencies may exist and, (3) provide new and expanded facilities in locations experiencing growth and development. Below are some examples of the 2005/2006 CIP. Page 6. Downto,wn7A61enitie. ?0005) :,([IiTJ$'l'i6:~,~!~)~gR ~ariid fi'xtur~ 'iJUUU If!!!:;t,,~ ,pr,~ . The Salina Citizen For further information re- garding the Capital Im- provement Program or specific capital projects, contact the Department of Public Works at 309-5725. Page 7. 2~ -OtheJ;", li>r (2605 -'~~ I~ (2006 - $1':~ North Ohio Over as New,qQP'~,9rjf1!g'8i</;" North Ohio St ; Rea ($20.2 Million) #iI Lakewood Repl'hce.Btidae LakeWooa Pe8'eima;, rilfQ'i (2005) Bicentennial CenteLlriiDrovC!ments (2005) -Replace Sound S.. yStem~...'~ '" 1;" ~'" Ii!' ;.; ,,;trj 'ff,,<,ifJf!f~iIX -Replace Scoreboardl r4l~ -Improve Heritage Hall ($760,000) South Marvmount Rdi~OO5) 2005 - Phase II ($293':GQO) F:ire.,Station #2 Proiect,,(2005/2006) Expand station capacity'and' capability ($1.2 Million) ge - Ohio to ~iverside .The Salina Citizen Building Services - Safety Issues You assume that when you buy a home, rent an apartment, or walk into an office building that the structure is safe and sound. You don't think about the danger of electrocution when you turn on a light switch or plug in an appliance. You assume the plumbing works properly and is not a health haz- ard. You expect heating, air con- ditioning and other mechanical sys- tems to operate safely and effi- ciently. Safe buildings don't just happen by chance, but are the re- sult of a partnership between de- sign professionals, professional contractors and professional build- ing safety inspectors working to- gether to build safe environments in which to live, work, learn and play. Our community has adopted vari- ous construction codes in order to protect the health and well-being of our citizens. We also have a number of trained professionals to help assure that those codes are implemented to ensure safe build- ings. Sometimes, the do-it- yourselfer can become intimidated by the permits and inspection pro- cess. This is often the result of either not understanding the rea- sons for the codes, or the long- term benefits they produce. This is very understandable and why we are here to help. The mission of our staff is to "as- sist our citizens through the course of their projects by providing in- formation and solution-based cus- tomer service in a courteous, pro- fessional manner." The goal of our staff is to partner with our citizens to achieve projects in which suc- cess is not only measured by the completion of a building or installa- tion that has met all of their ob- jectives, but by conformance to lo- cal building, fire and zoning codes that ensure safety and peace of mind. To that end, we have developed many informational brochures that are available in our Building Services offices or on the City's webpage. These include: "When Do I Need a Building Permit," "Tips on Hiring a Contractor," "Home Buying Tips" and "Swimming Pools." They can help the average citizen begin to become familiar with local building requirements. We're At Your Service "In order to serve you better, City staff maintains a corpputerized Citizen Service Request (CSR) system. ,Jhis syste~ assists s1aff in expediting and;~ffectiveIY responding to citizen concerns. If you have questions or service ' req ts, please contact the City Man er's office at (785) 309- 5700. You' may also send ques ns or requests1via our e- mail lin on the City of Salina's official municipal website: WWV(.!iJllina-ks.gov Page 8. Articles were written by city staff, with design and editing by LaDonna Bennett. Questions/Comments? Call the City Manager's office at (785) 309-5700. Residential Patron Salina, KS 67401 BULK RATE CAR-RT SORT U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALINA, KS Permit No. 400