Janesville council discusses streets, parks budget, library

Despite inflation and rising personnel costs, Janesville’s Parks and Streets budgets are set to actually decrease in the coming year, as the city is starting to catch up on street repairs, enabling it to shift funding toward other priorities.

Pending council approval, Public Works Director Joe Ziemke said that he’s hoping to invest in a new payloader and also in a variety of personal protective equipment, such as rain gear, rubber boots, and safety gear such as hard hats and glasses.

In addition, the city will turn its attention to alleyways, which thus far have largely been left as is while the city has focused on catching up on road maintenance needs. In the coming year, residents can expect to see a number of alleyways getting fixed up and paved.

Much of the budget will remain similar, but the city is also planning to increase funding to remove ash trees infected by the emerald ash borer. Meanwhile, the city’s budget for street lighting costs rose due to a rise in the price of electricity.

On the parks side of the equation, the city is taking on a third full time employee which will increase its expenses. However, more of the budget will come out of the city’s 101 parks fund rather than general fund reserves, including partial funding for a UTV.

Councilors were more concerned about the cost of potential investments in fixing up the library. A historic landmark within the city, Janesville’s Library is showing its age and could use tens of thousands of dollars worth of window replacements and other repairs.

Due to its place on the historic register, the city has received significant funding to help maintain and fix up the building. That said, Ziemke expressed concern that what’s in the budget for upkeep this year just might not be enough.

“At initial look, it’s pretty light,” Ziemke said. “If you had any major incidents down there, such as the furnace goes down, it would be pretty substantial.”

Mayor Andrew Arnoldt expressed a willingness to invest in a larger library budget, even if that goes against the city’s goal of reducing the levy increase from its current preliminary levels hovering around 20%.

Along with other councilors, Arnoldt said that he’s heard from community members who are concerned about the current state of the library. He suggested that it might be a wise idea for the library to regularly visit the council to provide updates on its needs.

“We don’t have to earmark the exact thing we’re going to do with it, but I think we need to have the funds available for that, given the condition of that building,” Arnoldt said.