t. Lebanon has separate budgets for day-to-day operations and for one-time equipment purchases or major infrastructure improvements.

The Manager’s Recommended Budget is submitted to the commission for approval each November for funding the subsequent year’s operations. The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), covers a five-year horizon and is updated yearly, to accurately reflect any changes in need and priority.

Projects that qualify for inclusion in the CIP are those that take more than a year to complete, such as the $11.625 million for street reconstruction, spread out equally over five years. One-time equipment purchases, like the $610,000 fire department pumper truck, are also covered by the CIP. Upgrades to municipal facilities, such as the $357,500 for Americans with Disabilities Act improvements to North Meadowcroft, are another category of CIP items. Finally, the municipal manager has discretion, with concurrence from the finance director, to add projects to the CIP.

The CIP was submitted to the commission for approval in August. A public hearing is planned for Tuesday, October 12, and a vote for adoption on Tuesday, December 14. You can view the proposed plan at the Mt. Lebanon Public library and the Mt. Lebanon Municipal building, and is online at www.mtlebanon.org, under “Official Documents.” An interactive version of the document is available at the OpenLebo portal on the municipal website.

Department heads and staff office chiefs submit a prioritized list of projects they would like to see included in the CIP. A total of 17 items are marked for inclusion in next year’s portion of the five-year plan. The $10.67 million cost of the projects are offset by a variety of funding sources, including a bond issue, grant proceeds, money from the sewer utilities fund and sale of equipment, for a net tax cost of $2.54 million.

Some of the projects submitted for inclusion in the CIP are:

Vibrant Uptown, Phase II, $100,000 Continuation of the Washington Road streetscape project, with the addition of public art enhancements and connecting Parse Way with the T station on Shady Drive East.

Street Reconstruction, $2,325,500 Offset by $725,000 from the sewer utilities fund, for a total net cost of $1.6 million.

Sanitary Sewer Improvements, $3.85 million Offset completely by the sewer utilities fund.

Pickleball Courts, $51,000 Reconfiguration of two tennis courts at North Meadowcroft Park.

Thornwood Drive Stream Restoration, $230,000 Street runoff and damage from increasingly severe rainstorms has resulted in serious erosion of stream banks along Thornwood Drive. Stabilization of about 700 feet of stream banks will be funded with proceeds from a bond issue, and will count toward Mt. Lebanon’s sediment reduction requirement which is mandated by the state’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System plan.

New Public Works Vehicles, $704,560 Cost of the purchase of two dump trucks, a street line painter, hydraulic excavator and the lease of a wheel loader is offset by the sewer utilities fund and the sale of equipment, for a net tax cost of $340,860.

Recreation Center Roof Replacement, $1.285 million Funded completely through a bond issue

Golf Course Cart Path Improvement, $101,090 Phase II of a project that began last year, the project calls for the installation and extension of cart paths on holes 2,3, 7 and 8.

Tennis Court Reconstruction, Phase II, $255,570 Offset by a $115,000 contribution from Indoor Tennis of Mt. Lebanon, for a total tax cost of $140,570.

Fire Department Pumper Truck Replacement, $610,000 Offset by sale of the old pumper for $50,000, for a net tax cost of $560,000.