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After holding a pair of work sessions to review the Capital Investment Plan for the next several years, the Lexington City Council has scheduled a work session on the city’s CIP for FY 25 – FY 29 during its regular business meeting Thursday. The proposed CIP for FY25 includes $9,020,391 in general fund projects and $3,465,000 in utility fund projects.
The biggest project in the FY 25 plan is a $6.2 million renovation to Lexington City Hall. The proposed renovations will include a complete interior demolition in order to “provide for optimal space utilization and flexibility for organizational changes,” the project description within the CIP notes. Other work within the project will include new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, energy efficient windows and basement improvements for storage. The historic exterior of the building will be unchanged through the renovation.
Other projects within the FY 25 CIP include $52,785 on technology upgrades for the police department for upgrades to the parking enforcement camera system and the department’s evidence library server; $74,700 on equipment upgrades for the fire department, including $59,200 for new mechanical rescue struts that can be used to stabilize and lift heavy loads, such as overturned vehicles and partially collapsed structures; $865,000 on improvements to streets, sidewalks and parking areas; $249,141 on improvements for the city pool, regional jail and regional 911 center; $623,000 in upgrades to parks, playgrounds and athletic fields; $25,000 in stormwater improvements; and $930,765 toward construction of an auxiliary gym at Rockbridge County High School. The FY 25 CIP also includes the first phase of water and sewer system improvements in the Jackson Avenue area, totaling $3.3 million.
The CIP for FY 26 includes a new station alert system for the Lexington Fire Department, costing $216,000. The alarm system was installed in 2006 and has not been updated since, and there have been multiple incidents where responses were delayed due to not hearing the alarm, either due to a malfunction within the system or because there are parts of the station that the system doesn’t cover. Other projects scheduled in the FY 26 CIP include retiling the city pool ($35,000) and drainage improvements on Diamond Street (639,600) and White Street ($738,000).
In FY 27, the biggest project in the city’s CIP is the replacement of the Welch Park Road Bridge, which is estimated to cost $1.6 million. There are also several projects scheduled at the high school, and the city’s share of those projects is estimated to be $810,741. Those projects include the construction of a field house with a locker room and remodeling the weight room, expanding the tennis court, the construction of a concession stand and restroom facility for the school’s baseball, softball and tennis fields, and repaving the junior parking lot.
One of the projects included in the CIP for FY 28 may be happening sooner than that. Replacing the backstops for Brewbaker and Fox fields in Brewbaker Park is listed among the projects that year, with an estimated cost of $135,000. Council Member David Sigler, who serves as the council’s representative on the Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization board, noted that the backstops will likely need to be replaced sooner than that due to one of the poles on the backstop at Fox Field having what he described as “some significant failure” due to one of the poles being damaged over the winter. He said that the city’s public works department was looking at doing a temporary fix, but that a permanent fix would be needed soon. He also said that he didn’t anticipate the cost being $135,000 for the project.
In FY 29, another big project for RCHS is included in the CIP, this time for upgrades to the building. Lexington’s share of that project is currently estimated to be $4.3 million.
