The Year 2022 will be more about making decisions than about big projects for the City of Yuma.
Facing tight financing for the General Fund, city administration and city council will be looking at ways to cut back services, with those taking affect in 2023, City Manager Scott Moore said.
The city also will be making a decision on what to do about the Yuma Ambulance Service. Two options are being explored — creating an ambulance “authority” or an ambulance “district.” The ambulance service has been absorbed into the city’s General Fund, but Moore said something needs to be done to generate revenue.
Moore said he is not sure which direction the city, and possibly neighboring entities, might go, but a decision will have to be made in 2022 for 2023.
The city has $874,000 in American Rescue Funds it has until April 2024 to spend. Moore said the council will be deciding in 2022 on how to spend those funds, some of which might be spent in 2022.
As for the General Fund revenue, Moore said the council might decide on putting a sales tax question before the voters in November.
Speaking of elections, there will be a council election in April. There are four seats up for election. The seats are currently held by Daniel Ebersole, Terri Frame, Marc Shay and Marylu Smith-Dischner. Council elections will be moving to November beginning in 2025, so three seats will carry terms to that election, while the fourth is for a two-year term. The final April council election will be in 2024.
The City of Yuma still will have some projects taking place in 2022.
Coating and painting the water tower at the north end of town will be done.
Water main and sewer main replacements will continue this year.
The water main project will consist of crossing under the railroad tracks with a 12-inch line, tying in the new main line on S. Main with the new one on N. Main. Currently, there is a four-inch line feeding the new 12-inchers.
Sewer line replacement will cover two blocks in the alley between S. Main and Ash St.
Moore said this year is the time the city finally will be able to make changes to its fuse system so not as many customers are impacted by outages. He said it is a project that has been three years in the making.
The city also has a big-ticket Total Dissolved Solids project that needs to be done at the wastewater treatment plant. Moore said the city is not certain yet if it will do the project this year, but the city will have to get it done sometime in the coming years to get into compliance with regulations.
There will not be any chip sealing of city streets in 2022.
