There are some areas of needed infrastructure improvement that I believe are obvious to most of the citizens of Ranlo. The water and sewer infrastructure that supports large areas of our town are getting on in age and as a result require more and more maintenance. There are roads in need of repair. You only need to look at the amount of times our Public Works department has been recognized for the long hours and hard work they put in to fix water main breaks and the like.
Ranlo is in a difficult position when it comes to funding infrastructure improvements due to the decisions and lack of audits performed by previous commissioners. As noted in the Revised FY 22 Budget Message “the State and Local Government Finance
Division and the Local Government Commission has flagged the Town and included Ranlo on their Unit Assistance
List. The consequence of this inclusion is that the Town must submit the fiscal year 2022 draft budget to the
Department of the State Treasurer for approval and review prior to the adoption of the budget ordinance. Being on
the Unit Assistance List also limits the ability of the Town to borrow money, to invest in infrastructure, and can
potentially impact the Town’s municipal bond rating in a negative way.”
I commend the current Commissioners and Town Manager for taking the initial steps needed to start fixing the infrastructure issues that have a negative impact on the people of Ranlo. Going back and correcting the missing audits from past years to bring the audits current puts Ranlo in a position of being able to make decisions based on financial facts.
To address the infrastructure issues going forward, there’s a clear need for multiple projects that will need completion. Water lines and meters need to be updated in multiple areas. In regards to roads Boulder Court is in bad shape. I’m not an expert in water lines or road repair but I do have professional experience managing projects with large scopes and budgets in the millions of dollars in addition to my formal education in business.
One of the key things I’ve learned through managing those projects is how to stop them from running over budget both in terms of time and money. There are generally two related factors that cause a project not to meet its goals. The project isn’t limited before work starts with a clear definition of when the work is considered complete. The other factor is allowing changes to what is considered completion after work has started. As a Commissioner I can make sure that there is agreement among the experts doing the actual work on what needs to be done. I can also ensure that the projects don’t expand beyond their original stated goals by insisting on regular reviews of progress and checkpoints towards completion.