Tigard engineering team outlines 2025 capital improvement plan; warns federal funding pause could threaten projects

City Engineer Joe Wisniewski presented a quarterly update on the City of Tigard’s capital improvement plan (CIP) during the Jan. 27 council meeting, reviewing a portfolio of roughly 50 projects in fiscal year 2025 across parks, transportation, water, sanitary sewer, stormwater and facilities.

Wisniewski told council three of the four segments of the Fanno Creek Trail Connections project are substantially complete and the remaining Durham segment at Cook Park should be wrapped up in spring. He described Reservoir 18 and its pump station as operational and near final closeout after a large alternative-delivery construction effort.

“Many of the projects have Federal funding on it,” Wisniewski said during the meeting. “If this does stand, those projects could come to an immediate halt,” referencing an early notice that federal distributions were paused and then a rapid update from state partners that processing had resumed. He urged the council that the situation remains fluid and that the city is monitoring federal and state grant flows closely.

On transportation, Wisniewski highlighted pavement management and pedestrian/cyclist-connection programs, the Hall Boulevard/Fafell Street signal design, and the North Dakota Street bridge project — the latter described as having a significant funding shortfall despite the city’s pursuit of ODOT local-bridge funds and other regional grants. He noted the Tigard Street bridge project is fully funded and moving to final design.

Water-system work included the near-complete Reservoir 18, a multi-phase Red Creek waterline relocation, and a pause for further evaluation of the pipeline renewal program: the department is piloting new leak-detection and sensor technologies and may change the approach to replacing miles of main line. Wisniewski said the water-meter modernization and pipeline programs are being retooled to use pilot results and new technology.

Sanitary sewer, stormwater and facilities highlights included an emergency pipe-bursting repair performed quickly under the city’s major-maintenance program, the Kruger Creek stabilization approaching closeout, and ongoing design work for other stream-stabilization projects. Facilities work includes a planned HVAC and chiller replacement for the Tigard Library; staff said a short shutdown of library operations may be required for installation.

Assistant City Manager Emily Trich told council the city is implementing a new software solution to improve CIP transparency and tracking. “By next year, you will actually have a dynamic dashboard available to you as well as to the public, that will give you status of CIP project spend, and also, a status of project delivery,” she said. The software will integrate with existing financial systems and is expected to provide more up-to-date project status to council and the public.

Council members asked for clearer context in the CIP materials about why budgets have changed over time and suggested including historical notes on scope changes or reasons for cost increases. Several councilors praised the team’s use of new technologies for leak detection and water-asset management.

What happens next: staff will continue system planning, refine 30% designs for major grant applications (for example on 72nd Avenue), seek additional grant funding for the North Dakota Street bridge, and begin configuring the public-facing CIP dashboard. Wisniewski and the finance team said they will alert council quickly if federal funding changes affect project delivery.

Sources quoted: Joe Wisniewski, City Engineer; Emily Trich, Assistant City Manager.