What is a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)?
A Capital Improvement Plan, or “CIP” for short, is when a local
government body (like the Town of Blue River) sits down and takes a look
at the next 5 to 10 years to identify what capital projects need to be
constructed, when they need to be constructed, and how they will be
funded. Once finished, the Plan will identify several needed projects as
well as a schedule and planned funding source to complete them.
Basically, a CIP is a sort of “To‐Do List” of projects for the Town to
complete over the next 5‐10 years. The steps taken to create the Plan are
explained in Stepping Through the CIP.
What is considered a capital improvement? What is not
considered?
A capital improvement project is a project that helps repair or improve
Town infrastructure (roads, town buildings, parks, trails, etc.). Expanding
or repairing existing infrastructure, or replacing or constructing brand
new infrastructure, is considered in a CIP.
Items not considered in a CIP include things that involve the standard
operations of the town such as snow plowing or other regular
maintenance items.
What stage is the CIP at currently?
Blue River is currently seeking input from its citizens to Assess Capital
Needs, or in other words, to identify concerns in the Town that could be
addressed with a project within the CIP. A preliminary list of potential
capital projects already identified by the Town is available on the Town
website.
How are projects selected to be included in the CIP?
Blue River has developed a list of 10 criteria that every potential project
identified in Assess Capital Needs will be evaluated on. Each project’s
evaluation will help the Town determine which projects to include in the
Plan. The list of 10 criteria can be found on the Town website.
How much input will I be able to provide for the Plan?
The Town of Blue River is dedicated to including its citizens in the CIP
process as much as is possible. A constant‐contact survey is available on
the Town website. There will also be several public meetings along the
way and a Formal Public Hearing before the Plan is approved. An
appromixate schedule for these events is shown to the right.
When will the CIP be complete?
The schedule is subject to change as progress on the Plan is made, but
the Town’s desire is to achieve Final Approval of CIP in the Fall of 2018
and begin CIP Implementation by 2019.
