Winston-Salem is planning on spending more than $74 million in the next year on environmental health projects. What are they?

Here’s a list of some things that are easy to forget about and a huge pain when they’re gone: Being able to expect clean running water when you turn on the tap. Sewers. Tossing out the trash. This year, the city of Winston-Salem plans to invest millions in environmental health projects to ensure that these often forgettable amenities stay that way. On Thursday afternoon, the city’s budget and performance management director Scott Tesh outlined the capital projects that the city needs to take on this year, plus a glance at future projects down the road. A capital project is a long-term investment that focuses on building or maintaining infrastructure.

The city plans to spend more than $92 million on capital projects this fiscal year. Nearly $74.4 million — or around 80 percent — will be spent on environmental health projects. 

Unveiling their plans, Tesh explained that they’re spending $20 million to expand water and sewer service into southeastern Forsyth County. That money came from state lawmakers. So far, the city has identified one project at the Wallburg Road Lift Station, Tesh said. Another $25 million will go toward improvements for main water and sewer lines.

This indicates that the city is “reinvesting” in their water and sewer system annually, Tesh said. 

“We are trying to, to the extent possible, be proactive in replacing some of those pipes so that you don’t have as many emergency repairs,” Tesh said. Additional water and sewer projects will cost nearly $10 million.

Now, while this is a significant expense, it’s a good save for later on down the road — given a predicament that recently emerged. According to reporting by the Winston-Salem Journal, a pipe failure in January allowed 27,000 gallons of untreated wastewater to spurt from Elledge Wastewater Treatment Plant — 5,400 gallons of which flowed into Salem Creek.

Additionally, nearly $5 million will go to stormwater infrastructure improvements, and $14 million will go toward Elledge Basin capacity improvements. City leaders haven’t put as much aside for solid waste disposal projects — $800,000 this year — but they are planning on expanding Hanes Mill Road landfill in future years. 

For the five fiscal years after this one, they’ll spend $301.2 million on environmental projects, which adds up to around $375.6 million in funding that will be spent on these types of projects between now and summer 2030. This amount is folded into the $503.8 million that will be spent on all capital projects over the next six years. However, the city still has $1.29 billion worth of unfunded capital project requests over the next six years hovering over them, and nearly half of that amount — $520 million — is sidewalk construction and repair. Funding for these projects may come in the form of bonds. In one survey — where residents could select multiple projects they would support a tax increase for — 22 percent of residents responded that they desired new sidewalk construction, but the most popular choices were street resurfacing at 49 percent and affordable housing at 46 percent. 

So how does the city decide which unfunded capital projects are a priority for the community?

Tesh explained that after the mayor and city council take a look at priorities, staff compile and review the need for unfunded projects. Then they reach out to the public to show them what their unfunded needs look like and what those projects could look like, Tesh said. After that, those priorities could “potentially” come back to the city council to decide if it’s “prudent” to issue debt for projects.

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