Council Approves Spending Plan, “Wish List”

The Metro Council approved $560 million worth of construction projects last night.

Council members approved the capital spending plan which will fund road projects, the riverfront redevelopment and new school buildings. Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling says the city will get started on them as soon as possible.

“We’ll start the planning process for the various projects—hiring architects, engineers, and the like on the various projects.”

Metro will issue bonds in the future to pay off the projects. This is a separate pool of money than is used to fund Metro department’s operating budgets—most of which are being cut this year.

Council members also approved the so-called “wish list” of capital projects, after adding forty new items to it, mostly in road construction. Any project that receives money has to be a part of the wish list first.

This year, the Mayor’s office removed about $360 million worth of projects from the “wish list” that were to be funded through 2014. They presented a revised list that includes many of the old items like $55 million for a baseball stadium downtown or on the east bank. It contains some new ones too: $300,000 of improvements to the Frist Center, $5 million for the Nashville Zoo, and numerous sidewalk and road projects.

Most of the amendments to the Mayor’s proposed wish list are road, traffic or sidewalk projects. Councilman Duane Dominy added two of the most expensive items–$18.5 million for road widening along Antioch Pike and $20.5 million to widen Una-Antioch Pike. Council Lady Vivian Wilhoite amended the wish list with two of the least expensive items: a $200 advertisement rack for “Food Commodity Waiting Station”, and a $1,000 television for the same agency.

The Metro Health Department runs the Commodity and Supplemental Food program which offers nutritional education and food, similar to that of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.