wheels in motion to get Cambridge back to
level ground.
“It took us probably 70 years to get into this
jackpot of a problem, and we’ve been able to
get it turned around in a forecasted 20 years,”
he said. “It may take 20 to 25 years to turn
your city around, but there is the hope you
can do it. It can be done.”
Many in Elliott’s line of work face a perpetual
challenge of an overflowing to-do list
alongside a forever tightening budget. Some
cities, though, have managed to do enough
planning in advance to get themselves ahead
of the infrastructure curve. And in still others,
the blueprint laid out has been outstanding in
some elements, and less so in others.
In Walla Walla, Wash., for example, public
works director Ki Bealey is ahead of the
curve on drinking water treatment and
wastewater processing, but behind the 8-
ball onwater lines and roads.
“The infrastructure on the front end and
the back is really quite impressive,” he
said. “It’s in between that it’s pretty darn
rotten. A lot of failing water lines and
failing sewer lines and failing streets.”
To handle the challenges, the city
implemented an initiative that’ll ramp up
water and sewer rates to help tackle the
most immediate issues. Those funds,
which will ultimately yield $4 million to
$4.5million per year, are the spur for much
of the existing renewal work being done
within the network of streets, water and
sewers.
Meanwhile, Bealey and his staff are
creating a matrix – factoring road
condition, daily traffic rates and other
infrastructure elements – to prioritize a
top 25 list of projects to handle. Thematrix
and the monetary benefit from the rate
hikes should combine in 2016 to allow the
city to begin handling issues on a
proactive, rather than reactive, basis.
“We’re really trying to get ourselves
prepared for that,” Bealey said. “Thus far,
we have just kind of been doing the best
we can to prioritize those projects,”
Bealey said. “Once we have (the matrix
and the full funding), we’ll really be able to
prioritize the projects in a very
quantifiable approach.”
| BusinessWorld | 59
June-July 2014
