A decade has passed since the recession began, but the impacts on local municipalities are still being remedied. At the time, the city of Vancouver had to make cuts across the board that included funding for maintenance of streets, sidewalks, medians and parks.
As of 2017, the city is getting back on track.
That’s largely due to new funding resources approved by the city council in 2015, including increases to utility taxes and the new Transportation Benefit District tab fee.
“It really gives us a dedicated funding source going forward,” said Ryan Lopossa, streets and transportation manager.
Part of that funding source has been relatively controversial among Vancouver residents. The TBD fee adds an additional $20 tab fee to vehicle registration costs. That fee will double this summer. But Lopossa said it seems that most see the additional maintenance underway and are coming on board with the higher cost.
For the streets maintenance department, new revenue translates to an additional $3.5 million in pavement work last year.
“That’s given us the chance to take our pavement program and get into the neighborhood streets that we hadn’t been able to in the past,” Lopossa said. The city has been able to repair lesser-used arterials instead of focusing only on the more heavily traveled main roads.
With roads come new curb ramps and sidewalk improvements. In 2017, Vancouver reconfigured 169 ramps to fit Americans with Disability Act standards. There’s 10,374 curb ramps in the city, however, accompanied by 636 miles of existing sidewalk.
“We’ve gone out and inventoried all of the sidewalks and all of the curb ramps in the city so we know: 1) how much we have, 2) what their condition is and which ones need to be replaced or dealt with,” he said.
In recent memory, the city has only been able to make repairs on a complaint-driven basis. New funding and a better financial outlook has allowed the city to hire a sidewalk inspector and take a more proactive approach.
“We now have a lot of this information about where the problem spots are and can start working methodically through the city to contact property owners and identity issues and work with the property owner to find the best way to correct issues,” Lopossa added.
The ground maintenance department is also able to focus on proactive planning instead of a work only-as-needed approach.
“We’re back to maybe a more beautification type of situation,” said Brian Potter, Vancouver’s operations superintendent. “We’re able to respond to the aesthetic of city.”
Medians and right of ways were some of the first priorities to take a back seat during the recession. Vancouver left the spaces ungroomed, addressing a median or right of way only if vegetation became a hazard.
Parks also benefit from the influx of revenue. Potter said irrigation has resumed at all neighborhood parks. Until recently, only parks that hosted a sports field were irrigated.
“They essentially went brown for a number of years,” he added.
Although things are looking up, staffing levels are still not at pre-recession capacity. Grounds maintenance, for example, has added the equivalent of seven full-time employees in the last two years, but that’s only abut half of what was cut.
“We’re still far behind,” Potter said. “What we’re able to do with the additional employees is allow us to perform the services that were cut during the budget reductions but none of these employees allow us to improve our maintenance standard.”
As the city continues to bounce back, Potter hopes to put a focus on improving rather than simply maintaining.
