It looks like the next five years could be expensive. The City of Amarillo's proposed capital improvement plan comes with an estimated price tag of more than $900 million.

City staff presented nearly $1 billion in projects to Amarillo City Council members on Tuesday during a work session before their regular meeting.

The cost isn't likely what actually will be spent on projects over the next five years, Mayor Paul Harpole said, but is more of a starting point to see what needs the city has.

"I'd run out of pockets real quick if we had to come up with that kind of money," he joked.

Councilmember Dr. Brian Eades said the extensive list provides the perfect backdrop for the people of the city to begin to understand how much of a hole has been dug.

When asked how the hole got so deep, Eades said, "We're Midwesterners - always very frugal in our approach to governmental spending."

The largest slices of the

billion-dollar pie include $276 million to address road and drainage needs, $169 for utilities, $166 million for Amarillo Civic Center Complex, and $124 million in updates and expansions within the city's parks and recreational facilities.

Prioritization of the city's departmental requests will be based on their alignment with the Blueprint for Amarillo, public benefit, economic benefit and feasibility.

Over the next several months, city leaders will embark on a community engagement process to inform the public and gather feedback from residents.

City Engineer Kyle Schniederjan told councilmen $2.6 million is needed to reconstruct Ridgemere Boulevard between Northeast Third Avenue and Amarillo Boulevard. Schniederjan also requested an additional $294,000 to microsurface various city roads.

He said about $3 million was needed to address drainage issues at the 10th Avenue railroad overpass.

Councilman Elisha Demerson questioned whether city staff has some sort of book or document that outlines city streets' current condition and needs.

"For the purpose of planning, I would think you would have a book that at some point in time you can tell me where we are, so when we're doing a budget cycle we can determine how much we want to spend on roads and other infrastructure," he said.

Interim City Manager Terry Childers responded, "The reality is the efforts we have are out of date. Where we don't have any good plans, we use staff knowledge."

City staff also requested about $5.5 million to install a gas collection and control system at the landfill. The cost stems from a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality mandate because the city has exceeded the determined threshold on non-methane gas being expelled from the landfill. The gas collection and control system will burn off excess gas.

The majority of requests from Parks and Recreation include updates and expansions of youth sports facilities. One of its most expensive requests is a $29.3 million indoor aquatic center. Other requests include $4.2 million to renovate the existing softball complex, $11.6 million to expand the Rick Klein Baseball Complex, $12.4 million for a youth softball complex and $13.8 million for the Rick Klein Soccer Complex, which would host 10 fields including a stadium field.

At a previous council meeting, Parks and Recreation Manager Rod Tweet told councilmen a survey of more than 1,500 respondents showed the city wasn't meeting youth athletic program demand, showing a need for upgrades to facilities.

At that time, Councilman Eades said, "This is a huge part of economic development in a city like Amarillo," adding potential employers considering coming to the city look at amenities like youth sports facilities in making their decision.

Going forward, the council will begin discussions with the community in June and July to get their input on what projects are most important.

The council approved allowing the interim city manager to contract with experts to conduct the study.

"We cannot be effective in helping you reach the decisions if we don't do some community research as part of this outreach," Childers said, adding that if they handle the capital improvement projects well, they could receive national awards.

If not, "you will hear about it over and over again."

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