Preview: City Council to Prioritize Projects for 2012-13

The Belmont City Council will meet Tuesday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. at in City Hall Chambers, One Twin Pines Lane.

Prior to tonight's meeting, the five council members were presented with a list of potential items for FY 2013 Citywide Priorities.

It is expected that the council will identify their top priorities for the next one or two years, as well as to determine if there are any new priorities or any that should be combined and/or eliminated.

The staff report issued to the council included a reminder that it is important that the city’s vision statement, priority setting process and city budget are more connected than they have been in the past.

The report also included a list of priorities that were accomplished in FY 2011-12:

• Creation of a new Belmont Fire Department  
• Completion of the new 101 Bike Bridge
• New Semi-Circular Driveway Ordinance
• Updated Residential Design Guidelines
• Adoption of a new Tree Ordinances

According to the staff report, there are a few areas that may be considered as priorities for 2012-13:

• Develop city's climate action plan
• Waterdog Lake Acquisition
• Strategy for future of Barrett Community Center
• Successor agency start-up
• Housing program assessment and deployment
• Update city's web presence

Once the Council has completed the Priority Setting Process, city staff will utilize develop the budget for the next fiscal year based on those priorities.

During the Budget Process the departments will identify the projects/initiatives that they will be able to accomplish, given the capacity of staff, and any potential additional needs will be identified.