As the first full week of early voting continues in the Valley, Glendale residents are being asked to consider four municipal bond questions on their ballots.
Taken together, the projects total just shy of $188 million.
Lisette Camacho, city budget and finance director, said, “What we have is a question on parks and recreation, one for streets, one for landfills and the last one is on flood control.”
Camacho said the total cost for all four projects would represent an increase of about $172 for residential property owners with homes valued at $250,000, assuming a 5% interest rate on all bonds.
Here are the four questions on voters’ ballots:
Question 1: Parks — $87.2 million
This bond would pay for infrastructure improvements, irrigation, structures like ramadas, playground equipment, recreation spaces and remote troubleshooting technology
Jim Burke, director public facilities, recreation and special events, said many parks are 30-50 years old.
Question 2: Streets — $81.5 million
Voter approved bond money from this election would be used to finance reconstruction of major arteries for several years.
Javier Gurrola, transportation principal engineer, said his department is about halfway through paving all 748 miles of streets in the city.
Question 3: Landfill Expansion — $9.9 million
Approval of this bond would be part of a multi-phase project to keep the landfill running for up to 50 years.
Bill Stout, solid waste supervisor, said the projected operation of the current landfill is only expected to run until 2023-2024.
Stout said, “Installation of environmentally-friendly liners to stop any contamination of groundwater” is a major component of the project.
Jon Kawaguchi, landfill inspector, said installation of a high-density polyethylene liner that’s 60 times thicker than a garbage bag, for instance, represents the majority of the cost for this improvement project.
Other monies will be used to excavate the northern expansion area of the landfill.
Question 4: Flood Control — $9.3 million
According to engineers, downtown Glendale and other areas of the city experience flooding in the streets particularly at intersections, even during a typical rainfall event.
Jayme Chapin, land development engineer, said, “We will come in with a storm sewer system that will remove water from the street and what we are trying to do is gradually add to that system. The main objective is to improve roadway travel during rain events.”
