City seeking public input on CIP Update

Currently in the process of updating its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the City of Three Forks is asking for assistance from residents in filling out a survey for advice on selecting and prioritizing the municipalities most essential needs.

The survey, which can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ThreeForksCIP, will be available to fill out until March 31. A hard copy of the survey can also be filled out at City Hall at 206 S. Main Street.

According to City Officials, the CIP is a budgeting and financial tool that the City Council will use for maintaining and improving “capital facilities” such as streets, water systems, sewer, stormwater, buildings, parks and trails, and equipment.

City Clerk Crystal Turners said the City wants the citizens take on what they feel is needed in the community.

Turner outlined the process of updating the CIP. Turner said the process began with the Update of the Growth Policy (GP), which is a guide that tells the City how and where they want to grow, followed by amending zoning districts as needed and amending zoning regulations based on how a municipality plans to grow in the next five to 20 years.

In September 2022, the City Council officially passed an amended GP. According to Turner, the last time they had officially rewritten a GP was in 2006. They did an informal update around 2011 and started the process of a complete rewrite in 2019 but were set back until last year because of COVID. She added the City applied and received a grant to help pay for the GP because they knew it would be comprehensive.

With the new policy in place, Turner said the next step in the process is to update the CIP, which she described as the community’s glorified “Christmas List.” For example, Tuner used the community wanting a splash park, a new senior center, a bigger school, a community event center, a new fire hall, or additional paved roads.

Turner said not everything on the CIP list would be the city’s responsibility, but it would help if the school district wanted to apply for a grant and “new high school separate from the others” was on the City’s CIP list.

“It would support that community need for them. Same thing with the Senior Center, for instance,” she said.

In Step Two, Turner said they are getting employee feedback on needs for all city departments and reaching out to the public for what they believe Three Forks needs. She added they also applied for and have received grants to help them do a comprehensive rewrite of the CIP and Impact Fees.

Following the CIP, the City of Three Forks will update its Impact Fee Schedule. Turner said these are the fees that, once justified, can be paid for by new development. Turner said new subdivisions might be required to pave roads or pay an appropriate share of what it would cost to build new roads and install new fire hydrants. She added new homes might be required to pay water/sewer impact fees for new requirements the City may have to adhere to based on growth.