Capital Improvement Plan


Buffalo Oklahoma 2006

 

 

In 2005 Buffalo Oklahoma took advantage of funding (grant) made available through the CDBG to complete their 2006 Capital Improvement Plan.

 

Buffalo, Oklahoma got the grant and appropriated time and effort to assemble the Capital Improvement Plan for Buffalo.

 

Buffalo approved the plan, but…

Here’s some basic information:

The Town of Buffalo Trustees at the time of approval of the plan were: Meryl Keding, Jay Walker, Bob Quinby,  Lewis Carpenter, & Alan Bishop.

Inside Buffalo is confident that these Trustees knew nothing about the real contents of the Plan and, in their defense, we believe no one told them of the need to pass ordinances and put the plan into place.

The evidence shows that the trustees adopted the plan and formed a committee of themselves. They then met days later to discuss applying the first 15 things in the Plan.

It is obvious that they never actually opened the Plan up long enough to read even the first few pages. If they had, they would have seen the parts of the Plan requiring the Board of Trustees to draft and approve ordinances enacting the various suggestions contained within the Plan to facilitate its proper use.

 

In quotes and underlined is what the Plan says.

Dark Orange is Inside Buffalo’s response.

 

 

Section V – c.

“A critical element of the … Capital Improvement Planning Process is the actual adoption of the Capital Improvement Plan…”

Adoption of the Plan “can only occur after the proposed plan is presented to the public at a formal public hearing and made available for citizen review for at least thirty (30) days prior to the public hearing. “

No Comment.

 

Section I. – a:

“Although the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) is prepared for the Buffalo City Council (Town Board) to use each spring in finalizing the Town’s overall budget,...”

NEVER HAPPENED! The plan was never used to finalize any budgets. They spent the funds but only once took the time to use the final product - what the funds had provided, the CIP. The Committee was the Town Board itself and a couple others. They must have looked over the Plan. Clearly not well. At the 2009 February 5th meeting of the Town Board one of the Board members also on the Local Planning Committee was shown an actual copy of the CIP. The Board member didn’t know what it was. One is forced to ask then, how could it have possibly been utilized correctly? The suggested/required ordinances were never ratified and subsequent suggested/required meetings never took place.

 

“…the actual preparation is the job of the Local Planning Advisory Committee.”

NEVER HAPPENED! There was never a BONA FIDE, Local Planning Advisory Committee formed, BY STATUTORY PROCESS which is what the plan said to do. Other Towns and Cities all over Oklahoma like Sallisaw, Eufaula, New Castle etc. utilized their plans by implementing them as O.E.D.A. (Oklahoma Economic Development Authority) suggested in the Plan. Buffalo Trustees, whom we the taxpayers entrust to make decisions regarding the Town’s economic and Capital Improvements may have dropped the ball. Dropped the ball? Who are we kidding? They never had the ball. OK, they formed a committee, not by ordinance, and met once. Laughable.

 

Oklahoma Statutory Process Require its Implementation

 

“After the adoption of the first Capital Improvement Plan, (in accordance with Statutory processes), it becomes the Local Planning Advisory Committee’s task each year (or at least every 3 years) to update the plan in the fall, (after the budget is adopted)…”

No VALID, AUTHENTIC planning committee was ever formed. Well, that may not be totally accurate. The people who put this PLAN together appointed THEMSELVES! They never went to the public and sought out Committee members or persons within the community of Buffalo who understand finance. Did they bother to ask people who understand these things to be on their Committee? Inside Buffalo wonders if any Oklahoma State Bank Board members were ever asked to join the Committee? Were obviously successful business owners, like the owners of the Pharmacy, the Food Store, the Auto Parts Store/Hardware Store, NARD II, DRY Fab, or any Accountants ever asked to be on the Committee?

Towns all over Oklahoma participating in the CIP program with the Department of Commerce advertised that they were looking for resident volunteers to be Committee members. Just tonight, Inside Buffalo visited the website of an Oklahoma Town/City seeking volunteers for their Local Planning Advisory Committee.

http://www.cityofnewcastleok.com/government/Committees_Boards.asp

 

NOT BUFFALO! They appointed the GOOD OLE BOYS!

The 5 Trustees, the Economic Development Director, the Town Manager and the Emergency Management Coordinator appointed themselves.

Some of those Board members are no longer on the Town Board, meaning they’re no longer on the Committee, meaning the Committee as they formed it doesn’t even exist. It doesn’t matter though does it? They never took the legal and proper measures to implement the Committee or Plan.

In August 2005 the group agreed to put the first 15 things on the Plan into place.

The report was put together in 2004 & 2005. To properly implement it, ostensibly, the Planning Advisory Committee should have met either annually as specified within the Plan or at the very, very least, in the fall of 2008 (3 year interval) to update and put the next year’s plan into place.

NEVER HAPPENED!

 

Section I. – c:

“Capital Improvement Planning  is a financial planning technique for developing community facilities,… Programming of capital improvements also helps officials (of the Town of Buffalo) avoid inefficient capital expenditures”

Avoid inefficient capital expenditures? Financial Planning - What’s that?

 

Major Local Issues

 

Section II:

“The major issues in the Town of Buffalo (in 2005) are the need to make street repairs, replace city water lines, replace fire hydrants which are in poor condition, and improve irrigation systems at Doby Springs Golf Course. Defunct equipment… are also key needs which should be addressed, (NOTE THIS:)as well as improving sewer lagoon capacity…”

Improving sewer lagoon capacity? Was that an issue in 2005? No way! The mayor said, in early 2009, that we didn’t have a sewer capacity issue unless DEQ said we did. Attendees at the January 2009 Town Board meeting said that we shouldn’t be concerned about a capacity issue unless there actually was one. The Town of Buffalo manager said there was no problem with sewer lagoon capacity.

Then why does Buffalo’s Capital Improvement Plan say the Town of Buffalo needs to improve sewer lagoon capacity? This is the same plan assembled by Buffalo’s Town Manager. His name is on nearly every page of the plan.

 

Section III. - d:

“Revenue enhancement in Buffalo will primarily be…(utility revenues, sales tax and fines and fees).”

Increased fines for ordinance violations in Buffalo, were enacted on January 07, 2009 thus enhancing the Town’s revenue.  Increases in Utility Rates, voted on in December 2008, also enhances the Town’s revenue.

Additional fines and fees will enhance the Town’s revenue as well. This portion of the Plan is now in place. Of course, it’s not because of the Plan, and has nothing to do with the Plan. Fine increases and utility rate increases were executed because the Town needed more money to fix the waste water treatment facility – that’s the real reason, not the Plan.

 

Section III. – h:

“Preliminary work on the street upgrade projects is already underway, on some streets”

Huh? Say What? Where? Upgrades? On which Streets? The plan calls for 1” asphalt overlay on named streets throughout Buffalo. Anyone know of any streets where this took place? The plan says it’s underway. Taxpayers! Call City Hall and ask, “Where in Buffalo has this been completed, or started?”

 

The goals of the State, in conjunction with the Town of Buffalo are noted at

Section IV – a:

“These goals easily apply to the efforts of the Town of Buffalo. …the Town had not yet begun to formally address… expanding capital investment in the local economy.”

That’s a very accurate comment.

 

The plan goes on to say:

Section IV – b:

“The adoption and CONTINUED USE (emphasis added) of the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) is the Town’s key policy element for promoting economic diversification, increased employment, more efficient use of financial resources to SOLVE INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS (emphasis added) and a better level of living…”

None of this can come true unless the plan is executed and used continually. Meeting one time in 2005 is not CONTINUED USE.

Buffalo has major infrastructure problems. This plan was to be used to address INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS.

 It sounds as if Buffalo can’t promote economic diversification unless the plan is put into operation. Evidently, there will be little increase in employment unless the plan is put into service. They say that financial resources can’t be used efficiently unless the Capital Investment Plan is executed.

 

Section IV – d:

“… It is suggested that a local ordinance addressing the Maintenance of the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) be enacted.”

NOPE, never was enacted properly. No Statutory Process, No ordinances. The Town chose to ignore the suggestions made by O.E.D.A. (Oklahoma Economic Development Authority)

 

Section V. – a:

IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLES

“First, as we have noted, the LPAC (Local Planning Advisory Committee) needs  to have a specific ordinance that specifies when it is to meet.”

NEVER HAPPENED! No ordinance on this suggestion either. No meetings after the first one, no nothing.

 

Section V. – b. – 1:

The public’s health concerns such as water, sewer, sanitation, etc. should take priority over all needs.

So in 2005, Buffalo’s Capital Improvement Plan stated that water, sewer and sanitation should take priority.

Buffalo is now, some 4 years later, pursuing the sewer ponds issue as a priority.

Why is Buffalo NOW taking up this issue as a PRIORITY?

BECAUSE a citizen saw a problem, filed a report with the DEQ and followed up on it.

The public became informed after that because the Buffalo Blog and Inside Buffalo Magazine and website brought it to the residents of Buffalo as a matter requiring their attention!

Now Buffalo has to address the other PRIORITY issue. Water!

Buffalo’s Capital Improvement Plan calls for replacement of a multitude of WATER SUPPLY pipes all over Town.

And people of Buffalo – These are ASBESTOS pipes! Asbestos/Concrete Pipes. 

Buffalo Town employees have been working on these pipes for years. EPA & Federal Law mandates that anyone working on or supervising asbestos/concrete pipes must have taken and passed a 40 hour course to be certified as competent. The opinion of some is that Buffalo is legally unable to work on their own water/sewer pipes if they are of the asbestos/concrete type and would need to job any repairs out to companies certified to deal with asbestos related compounds.

Perhaps the Buffalo Blog has presented something we should be concerned about.

Did you see the Cancer Death rates for Harper County? 

Seen any pipes being replaced lately?

 

More to come soon.

 

READ THE ENTIRE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN HERE:

7.6K file – please be patient while it loads

 

 

Visit the Buffalo Blog and View the Cancer Death Rates Map

 

Here is the information regarding the funding which was available.

 

Capital Improvement Planning

Program Overview/Purpose
The CDBG Capital Improvement Planning (CIP) grant provides funds to help communities update an existing Local Inventory of Governmental Capital Assets and a Local Capital Improvement Plan and Budget.  The CIP process requires communities to create strategic plans for addressing the needs for publicly owned capital assets.  By prioritizing capital budget needs, a community is better prepared to meet the financial requirements for enhancing its local infrastructure and paving the way for future community and economic growth and stability. 

CIP Helps Communities Improve Strategic Planning and Operations

  • Provides an inventory and mapping of community owned assets
  • Establishes a local administrative and policy framework for making responsible capital budgetary decisions
  • Clarifies and projects economic and demographic trends likely to influence the needs for new and expanded local capital facilities
  • Estimates the cost for repairs, replacements and expansions that incorporate mandatory, essential, desirable and deferrable needs
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You may view this exact article here:

http://www.okcommerce.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=301&Itemid=382



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