Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore last week gave an update on various city issues, including future infrastructure projects, American Rescue Plan money expenditures and more at a business luncheon put on by the Greater Kokomo Chamber of Commerce.

Here are the highlights:

Infrastructure

The city tackled three major infrastructure projects this year: the Center Road, Markland Avenue and Park Avenue reconstructions, the latter of which is still ongoing.

Moore said the city has a handful of major infrastructure projects planned for 2023-24. They include:

• Road reconstruction of East Hoffer Street between Indiana 931 and South Locke Street. Moore did not go into details about the project but did say the plan was to make that stretch of road more “user friendly.”
• Reconstruct the intersection of West Jefferson Street and North Washington Street to re-install dedicated left turn lanes on West Jefferson Street. Dedicated left turns on Jefferson used to exist, but they were removed due to the previous city administration’s focus on road diets to slow down vehicles and encourage more and safer pedestrian traffic. The result of that change has been more on-street parking spaces but more backups on Jefferson Street as cars now have to wait behind left-turning vehicles. Moore said the city has received “a lot of calls” of backups at the intersection.
• Widen South Webster Street south of West Alto Road by narrowing the islands and installing curbs on the islands. Moore said this change, too, was the result of “a lot of feedback, comments and concerns” from the community.

American Rescue Plan

The city received more than $19 million as part of the American Rescue Plan. So far, Moore said, the city has spent or allocated almost $11 million of that, including $1,056,314 to quality of life projects, $1,197,636 to quality of place projects and $8,734,543 to infrastructure.

Expenditures have included donating money to Ivy Tech Kokomo’s 4.0 Lab, giving a grant to Family Service Association’s Hard-to-Home program, installing overhead netting at Championship Park, upgrading the restrooms at Highland Park so they can be open yearlong, to build a pump track and install restrooms at Northwest Park in what is now the press box and turning what used to be a gravel lot near Kokomo Municipal Stadium into a concrete parking lot.

The city has also allocated ARP money to finish road reconstruction projects on Center Road and Markland Avenue. Moore said inflation “has kicked us in the teeth a few times” so money was needed to finish those projects. ARP money will also be going to a storm sewer improvement project on East Boulevard Street near the Kokomo Casting Plant to help mitigate flooding there during heavy rainfall.

Fiscal health

Even with inflation, bolstering staffing at the fire and police departments and the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Kokomo still has a healthy cash balance.

The city projects it will end 2022 with roughly $26 million as a cash balance. The city’s year-end cash balance has remained stable in the recent years, hovering around $20 million.

“We’re remaining fiscally responsible to build up those cash balances we need to assist when necessary and allow us to provide a high level of government services everyone expects and deserves,” Moore said.