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At the December 4, 2023 Town Council Meeting, the Town Council was presented and unanimously approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget for the Town. The budget presented is a balanced budget and is focused on providing key services through operations and maintenance funding. The budget document also ties to the Town Strategic Plan which was also recently approved unanimously by Council and can be found on the Town's website.
As Town Administration works through the budget process, our focus is to understand the key objectives and goals of the Council and receive feedback from you, our residents. A key focus of the budget is to produce projects, programs, and deliver services that improve the quality of life for our community and its businesses. Your input helps to drive the future of this Town, and we are incredibly grateful for your feedback and ideas throughout 2023 to help identify some of the projects planned for 2024. Some of these highlights of the approved budget for FY 2024 budget include the following.
Recreation planning will be a key focus of 2024. In late 2022, the Town accepted a donation of approximately 60 acres of vacant land and expects to take ownership of the old Letford Elementary School site (about 6 acres) in Q1 of 2024. Given the opportunity to better program these spaces to meet community needs and desires, we will be issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Park Planning consulting services, that will include community participation. The RFP was planned for 2023, but a request from the community to explore a financial feasibility study for an outdoor pool took priority over the planning of these two spaces. The report on the pool study is expected to be completed in Q2 of 2024. Based on the study's recommendations and direction from Council, Staff will scope the RFP of the park spaces to consider inclusion of this facility. We have also allocated funds in 2024 for the construction of two new playgrounds and pour-in-place facilities at existing parks in Town. One of the parks will be Aragon Park near downtown. The other park location has yet to be determined but will be identified based on the age and condition of the chosen facility. The pour-in-place portion of the playground allows for full ADA compliance and provides a safer landing for our kids. Finally, an allocation of $1 million has been set aside for additional trail development. Our ultimate goal is to create a trail system that connects all portions of Johnstown together using a multi-use trail system.
Another initiative we are planning in 2024 is to bring full-depth road patching in-house. While this is not the traditional milling and overlay of road surfaces for long sections of roadway, this will address utility repair areas of roadways and enhanced maintenance of potholes that will establish longer lasting and more permanent road sections. The general size of these repairs will be anywhere from 5' X 5' or up to 12' X 12'. This will be an initiative we will pursue in the second half of the year because this will require both hiring of additional team members and specialized equipment to perform the work. The equipment will have lead time on delivery before we can begin with this service. It is important to note, this will not replace our regular Pavement Maintenance Programming (PMP) and roadway overlays. The PMP budget as a side note, is budgeted at $2.2 million. While projects have not been specifically identified, the roads identified for improvements are based on our road assessment and analysis project which was completed in 2021.
In 2023, the Town completed the new signal at Carlson and Highway 60 to improve safety. In 2024, we will be working on various projects associated with Colorado Boulevard. Those projects include the widening of Colorado Boulevard north of Highway 60. This will make the roadway a 4-lane section in certain areas. The Town is working to coordinate this project at the same time with the intersection of Highway 60 and Colorado Boulevard. Improvements to the intersection will be interim improvements to include new signals and improved movement around the intersection. As part of this design, we are also working to determine the ultimate layout of the full intersection which will be the responsibility of new development and the adjacent property owners at this intersection. Finally, the introduction of the new Roosevelt High School has been an amazing addition to the community, but traffic flow was not as effective as everyone had planned. Accordingly, we are working to design an improved intersection in 2024 with planned construction in 2025 during the summer season when school is not in session.
In 2024, the Town will continue construction of a new Central Wastewater Treatment Plant with expected completion in 2025. This is necessary due to our existing lagoon system which is not able to meet more stringent permit requirements - the facility is over 50+ years old. The replacement of the facility will also increase the plant treatment capacity from ~1 million gallons per day (MGD) to 2.5 MGD. We will also be expanding our water treatment plant from 6 million gallons per day (MGD) to 12 MGD. This construction timeline will also take about 30 months and was awarded in Q4 of 2023. This expansion will allow us to meet the maximum water demands during the summer from current residents, as well as plan for future growth. We can expect continued requirements for water restrictions in 2024 during peak summer irrigation periods. The treatment plant projects are made possible by a combination of new growth paying plant investment fees toward the system and current development paying regular user rates because new State and Federal rules and regulations require us to make improvements to these facilities. Property tax or sales tax dollars do not go towards funding these improvements based on the water and wastewater fund classifications.
Last, but not least is a focus on our facilities. In 2024, the Town will expand its existing police department. The primary need is for evidence space, but it will also provide additional space as our department continues to grow with the Community. In 7-10 years, this facility will serve as our substation and a new police department headquarters will be constructed, again to meet the needs of the Community. Also planned for design in 2024 and possibly construction, is a new facility to accommodate both planning and engineering. This will create a one-stop shop for property owners wanting to build an addition to their existing structure, apply for a sign permit for a new business, or to meet the needs of new development.
While this is just a small look at some of the projects and plans you can expect in 2024, we want to continue hearing from you. We welcome your ideas at any time so that we can better plan, meet your needs as a community, and provide you with the services you deserve. Overall, the Town is in a healthy financial position. The Town Council and the organization are committed to ensuring our financial position is secured, today and into the future. Please feel free to contact me as I welcome the opportunity to hear about the great ideas the Town should consider in the future. Your partnership is important as we continue to build an amazing community!
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