ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
After multiple years of not having one in place, City of Liberal staff are now beginning work on putting together a seven-year Capital Improvement Plan to help plan for the future.
Having such a plan in place was discussed at a Feb. 6 special meeting of the Liberal City Commission, and City Manager Scarlette Diseker said having such a plan is important to the health of a community, leading to discussions of bringing it back.
“This is something we had in place several years ago, but it went away, so we had the desire to bring it back for several different reasons. One of those reasons is overall proper financial planning – if you have a roadmap for five to seven years, you have a far better idea of how your different projects are going to be paid for, what fund they're coming from, etc., so a big part of the motivation was the financial aspect,” Diseker said. “Another reason is just putting on paper, in black and white, all of the ideas in everyone's heads. I noticed, when I came on board the City of Liberal, we didn't have a grid or roadmap of where we were headed, and it was one of those situations where projects would come up here and there, but there wasn't a document that officially tied everything together. Our Comprehensive Plan is kind of a part of all this, so that's something else that drove the conversation when we started doing all of that work, and we'd also had conversations with the Focus on the Future Committee about how we spend the 1-cent sales tax money. I'm wanting to take all of those different contributions and ideas and put them into one spreadsheet so we can look at it and have more of a solid vision of what Liberal will look like. The financial aspect was definitely a big part of it, but I think it's also important for things to be organized. The city commission doesn't know what all we have on our minds, they're not mind-readers, so we need to put these things on paper and present it to them so there's a more concrete idea of what to do in the future.”
Diseker said she and other City of Liberal staff will be hard at work the next few months putting the plan together.
“Right now, between February to about April/May, is kind of a sweet spot of time for those of us who work in finance. Things get very hectic around May because that's when work on the next year's budget gets started, then in June is when the annual audit is, and everything just gets busier from there,” Diseker said. “So we're really working to get all of this on paper and get everything mapped out in this bit of 'downtime' we have. We want things to be mapped out to where we can get everything to the commission and present it in May or somewhere around there. Around that time is also when the Comprehensive Plan will also be organized and concluded, so we're also keeping that in mind as we work on all of this. I'm feeling really positive about it all. I know when we did have this in place before, the city was in a very good, fiscally sound position, and I think there's concrete correlation between good fiscal health and organization, because those go hand in hand. I'm feeling very positive about all of this, and we've already implemented multiple good written policies and procedures since I got here, though there's still work to be done. Our staff is getting behind this, and there's been a lot of good feedback about everything that's happened so far.”
Another major goal of the plan, Diseker said, is transparency for the community.
“I am big on transparency, and I'm big on listening to the public and implementing what they want to see. This year, we're really hopeful to get the dog park project started, we do already have plans for that and are ready to roll that out,” Diseker said. “We also have chip seal work currently being done throughout the community, and there is also some minor remodeling work that needs done at City Hall such as replacing carpet in some areas and some minor painting/refreshing in order to keep the building nice and maintained. Down the road, there are several projects involving street improvements included, such as on Grant Avenue, Pine Street, Western Avenue, and a parking lot on 3rd Street that needs to be reviewed, among many other projects. There is also some lighting that needs to be addressed throughout the community, such as at the Recreation Center, and flashing lights at school zones, and those also have to do with public safety. We're also looking at replacing some park equipment at playgrounds and other areas, because some of that has gotten to the point where it just can't be used anymore. We're also having some discussions in regards to a potential STAR Bond project, like maybe an indoor pool or indoor athletic complex, but again, those are just ideas that have been discussed, nothing has officially been decided. There's also 1-cent sales tax funds that need to be planned for, as well as general fund dollars, and everything else that needs to be taken into account.”
Diseker added she and staff also want to reassure the public they are being listened to.
“Another reason we want to have this plan is to reiterate to the public how we're committed to doing projects and ideas they've brought before us, or maybe they've noticed some things that need to be addressed,” Diseker said. “When we post information on our social media, there are typically a few comments talking about other projects they would like to see done, such as street improvements, so we're trying to include that among all of this so we can present everything to the public and show we're not ignoring them and giving them an idea of when to expect that project to happen, whether it's later this year or in the next year or two due to whatever circumstances are going on. We want to also reassure the public their money is being spent responsibly and in a forward-thinking manner, and show them we actually have a plan in place to get everything done that's been talked about. Like I said, I am big on transparency, so when we get the Comprehensive Plan finalized, a lot of those items will be rolled into this plan, and I foresee that happening in either the second or third quarter of this year. And things will be much easier after all of that because we'll have the five- to seven-year plan and know where we're headed. We're really hoping it will be well received and the public will feel like we've addressed their concerns.”
After the plan is ultimately finalized, Diseker said she hopes people in the community will read through it and educate themselves.
“I'm very big about educating the public, and there are a lot of things about how a city operates financially the public is unaware of, and even I was unaware of some of those policies when I started with the City of Liberal a couple years ago,” Diseker said. “We also frequently see comments on our social media along the lines of 'Why are you spending money on working on X project and not Y project?' But with certain projects, those have to come from very specific funds, and those funds can be used for absolutely nothing else and not criss-crossed into another fund, so there are a lot of restrictions we have to keep in mind. I'm not here to be difficult or condescending, I want to educate people and let them know how things work. We serve the community, and they deserve to know what's going on and how things actually operate. Our staff is also really great at sharing information online and encouraging public engagement, we absolutely do not want to be closed off from the people we're working for, and we do read all of the comments.”
Overall, Diseker said, the plan is another step toward helping Liberal look toward the future.
“I'm hoping for a better financial plan for the future. If we want to spend money on X project, we need to know how it's being funded and whether or not we need to review revenues in order to make it happen, among other questions,” Diseker said. “Having this plan will help put us on a better path forward, because everyone wants to see Liberal to be fiscally responsible and for their tax dollars to be allocated in a manner that benefits the community as a whole with no wasteful spending. When there's a plan in place to help with that, and when everyone is engaged in that process, everyone is then on the same page and knows how/when everything is going. Another big goal of this is communication to both the public and the commission so we have that consistency across the board and have something to refer back to when needed. If I had something like this from the past couple years to look back on, it would definitely be helpful in patching up some of the holes and figuring out how certain things came to be, and a lot of that has to do with working in finance for so long. I really appreciate public input, and I've engaged with several people in the community who have emailed me or scheduled a meeting with me. My schedule is pretty packed most days, but I try to make time for everyone who has concerns or wants to visit about one thing or another, and I plan on remaining that way. Making ourselves available to the public is crucial, and we want the people to be happy with what we're doing. We won't be able to get every idea done all at once, but this will give us a map to go forward, and hopefully it'll reach other groups and other leadership in the city.”
