Department: Engineering

What the city did: The Peoria City Council authorized construction contracts with J. Banicki Construction and Valley Rain Construction to make various improvements in the city's P83 entertainment district along 83rd Avenue south of Bell Road.

What it cost: $3.8 million.

Why it was needed: The improvements include a shaded pedestrian crossing over 83rd Avenue between restaurants and a movie theater on one side and the city's spring-training ballpark on the other; directional signs for vehicles and directories for pedestrians; a landscaped median; pylons to identify the P83 district; and improvement to street corners.

Peoria will pay J. Banicki Construction about $1.47 million to construct the pedestrian crossing, signs and P83 pylons. It will pay Valley Rain Construction about $2.4 million for landscaping, irrigation and lighting, and the street corners, which will have planters, landscaping and glass block walls. Construction will begin next month and will be completed by spring training in March, with the majority of the work done by the Super Bowl in February.

(Photo: Stacie Scott/The Republic)

Department: Police

What the city did: The Peoria Police Department bought 54 cameras that patrol and motor officers will wear on their bodies in a pilot program. The cameras and their docking stations cost $18,000, and the city budgeted an additional $16,281 to cover storage for the video captured by the cameras.

What it cost: $34,281.

Why it was needed: The body-worn cameras will allow officers to video record interactions with residents during their shifts and could help with investigations. The department has bought the cameras but officers must train on how to use them before they will begin using them. Police officials expect officers will start using them in everyday operations before the end of the year.

(Photo: AP)

Department: Fire

What the city did: Approved funding to put 15 firefighters stationed at Peoria's fire station at Lake Pleasant through 80 hours of specialty water-rescue training.

What it cost: $84,920.

Why it was needed: Lake Pleasant, which covers about 18 square miles, lies within Peoria's boundaries, and the Peoria Fire Department has seen an increase in calls for service there over the years. Firefighters in the program will receive training in surface-water rescue, boat-based surface rescue operations, shore-based surface operations and night operations. They also will train with night-vision goggles and a specialized thermal-imaging camera that can detect the heat signature of a person up to 500 yards away.

Training will begin this month with advanced swimming training in a pool. However, the bulk of the training will take place from January to March.

(Photo: stock image)

Department: Public Works

What the city did: The City Council set aside funds to purchase and install a new exhaust system for the bay that houses the firetrucks and other vehicles at the fire station near Thunderbird Road and 83rd Avenue.

What it cost: $70,000.

Why it was needed: The exhaust system diverts the carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide generated by the firetrucks out of the bay. The new equipment will replace the current system that no longer works and will bring the fire station into compliance with federal regulations set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The new system, which is expected to be installed in October, will turn on every time the fire station's bay doors are opened. It will have a timer and sensor to ensure all the gas fumes are cleared from inside the bay before turning off.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Office of Communications

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Community Services

What the city did: Allocated funds to open the 22nd location for its AM/PM Recreation Program at Sunset Heights Elementary School, a school that the Peoria Unified School District is opening this year.

What it cost: $44,000.

Why it's needed: The AM/PM program, co-sponsored with the Peoria school district, offers students in kindergarten through eighth grade a place to go where they can participate in a well-rounded program in a secure environment before and after school. There are locations at all of the district's elementary schools in Peoria.

The money will pay for seasonal staff, food and recreation supplies, and it is entirely offset with revenue from the program. The program offers parents customized payment options so they pay only for the days and times that their children participate.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Economic Development Services

What the city did: The City Council created a contract position for a building inspector. The position will be funded for one year.

What it cost: $83,200.

Why it's needed: Peoria has seen a significant increase in development in recent years, which has made it more difficult for city staff to keep up with the requests for same-day building inspections, Economic Development Services Director Scott Whyte said.

The growing demand has led to an increase in inspections pushed to the next day because of workload the past two years. The delay can cause problems for developers' schedules, and Whyte said the city is "sensitive to that."

Staff analyzed the development projections and concluded the high demand will continue. The additional building inspector will work on an as-needed basis to meet the inspection demand and address the delay issues.

(Photo: morgueFile)

Department: Engineering

What the city did: The City Council approved a contract with Phoenix-based B&F Contracting Inc. to replace waterlines in the Peacock Village neighborhood near Bell Road and 91st Avenue.

What it cost: $1.7 million.

Why it was needed: The Peacock Village subdivision, which was built in the early 1980s, has experienced a high number of waterline breaks. The project will include Meadow Drive, Greenbrian Drive, St.John Road, Grovers Avenue and Athens Street between 87th and 89th avenues.

The construction company will replace 9,000 feet, or about 1.7 miles, of waterline in the neighborhood. The project also will include replacing fire hydrants in the area and individual service lines to each home. Once the waterline work is done, crews will resurface the streets.

Construction is scheduled to begin in August and is expected to be completed in February.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Public Works Utilities

What the city did: City Council approved a contract with Tempe-based J. Banicki Construction Inc. to repair 75th Avenue between Peoria Avenue and Thunderbird Road.

What it cost: $1.28 million.

Why it was needed: The stretch of road has several large cracks and damaged asphalt. The street improvements will include making repairs to solidify the road base, milling away the top layers of the damaged pavement and installing a new asphalt surface. The improvements are intended to create a smoother riding surface, reduce maintenance costs and increase the life of the pavement.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Municipal Court

What the city did: The City Council authorized a fixed-term judicial assistant position. The position will last for one year.

What it cost: $55,209.

Why it was needed: The municipal court has a backlog of cases that require purging under state law, so the full-time judicial assistant will help with the case cleanup and ensure the court is meeting its requirements. The assistant also will help with collecting fines, fees and restitution.

The money for the position will come from the city's Municipal Allocation Fund, which is funded by a surcharge on every fine the court collects. The court must submit an application to the Arizona Supreme Court for how it plans to spend the money. The Supreme Court then must approve it, which it did in May.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Public Works Utilities

What the city did: The City Council increased the commercial solid-waste fund to pay for additional landfill and fleet-maintenance services. The additional money came from a contingency fund.

What it cost: $65,000.

Why it was needed: Landfill fees, particularly tipping fees, have risen the past few years and raised disposal costs for the city. The Commercial Solid Waste Division takes an average of 20,700 tons of material annually to the landfill. The average tipping fees, also known as gate fees, have increased from $24.56 per ton to $26.56 per ton, which equals an additional $41,000 per year. The fiscal 2015 budget included additional funding to compensate for the increase, but the department needed more money to cover the costs for fiscal 2014.

Additionally, one of the trucks the city uses to haul roll-off containers needed repairs that cost about $25,000.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: City Attorney

What the city did: The City Council approved the transfer of reserve funds to the City Attorney Office's budget for bodily-injury claim settlements.

What it cost: $300,000.

Why it was needed: The attorney office's budget for bodily-injury claim settlements is $500,000, but the department will exceed that in fiscal 2014. While the city settled several bodily-injury claims, it will surpass its budget largely because of one case.

That case involved a Peoria police officer who was responding to an emergency call in August 2011. The officer's vehicle collided with Christina Youatt's vehicle on 83rd Avenue just north of Bell Road as she turned out of a private parking lot, Assistant City Attorney Mike Wawro said. The city recently reached a settlement with Youatt for $375,000. The original notice of claim against the city was $750,000.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Police

What the city did: Approved an agreement with the Arizona Department of Transportation to electronically send crash data from the Police Department's existing records system to ADOT.

What it cost: $50,000.

Why it was needed: Arizona is implementing an electronic system to send traffic-accident data to ADOT as part of an overall crash-data improvement program. The statewide effort is funded by the Federal Highway Administration through the Highway Safety Improvement Program. The state will reimburse the Police Department for eligible costs incurred, up to $50,000, from developing and implementing the electronic system. Transmitting the crash data electronically will make the process more efficient and save staff time, printing costs and postage costs.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Engineering

What the city did: The City Council approved a job order contract with Valley Rain Construction Co. to build the Skunk Creek Trailhead at 83rd Avenue that will provide access to the regional trail system along New River.

What it cost: $1,512,536.

Why it was needed: Peoria and the Flood Control District of Maricopa County reached an agreement in 2009 to improve a flood-channel maintenance-access point at Skunk Creek and 83rd Avenue. The improvements will convert it to an equestrian-friendly trailhead where residents safely can park and access the trail system.

Construction is set to begin this month and officials expect to finish it in late summer.

(Photo: The Republic)

Department: Fire Department

What Peoria did: Bought a Ford F-250 crew cab 4x4 truck for $52,000 to replace the backup battalion-chief vehicle. The agency also bought a Ford F-550 crew cab 4x4 truck for $81,000 to replace a brush truck.

What it cost: $133,000.

Why it was needed: The department's backup battalion-chief response vehicle, which is used when maintenance is being done to the primary response vehicle, was old and needed to be replaced. The chassis, or supporting frame, for the brush truck at the fire station at Lake Pleasant also needed to be replaced. Firefighters who work at the Lake Pleasant station use the vehicles to respond to emergencies in the area.

(Photo: Ford)

Department: Public Works Utilities

What the city did: The City Council authorized using reserve funds and cash transfers to help pay for more on-demand taxi service to supplement the city's transit program. Peoria plans to seek reimbursement from the Valley Metro Regional Public Transit Authority for riders' trips that qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What it costs: $50,000.

Why it's needed: Peoria's transit division provides paratransit service through the Dial-a-Ride program, which uses a mix of city-owned buses, which are funded through federal grants, and on-demand taxi service. The service is provided through the Regional Public Transit Authority's existing contract with Total Transit.

This year's budget includes almost $150,000 to cover outside taxi services, but demand for the service has increased and costs are projected to exceed that amount. The ridership has increased steadily over the last few years, but this year, staff needed a midyear budget adjustment to meet current demand.

(Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic)

Department: City Attorney's Office

What the city did: The Peoria City Council approved funds for the City Attorney's Office to hire outside legal counsel to assist as Peoria spearheads pre-development and development of the planned Vistancia commercial core.

What it costs: $100,000.

Why it's needed: The Vistancia commercial core is planned for about 500 acres of land between Vistancia Boulevard and Lone Mountain Parkway, along Loop 303 and the future extension of El Mirage Road. City leaders envision the area as an employment corridor. Because the project is so large, there could be several transactions that require legal counsel and the city will need outside help to keep up with the workload, City Attorney Steve Kemp said.

"A project of this size, of this many acres, they're envisioning a number of different developments, it becomes a very, very complex project," Kemp said. "This project is more work than I have lawyers to do."

(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Department: Information Technology

What the city did: The department gets an annual budget to replace aging computers citywide, which is $190,000 in fiscal 2014, and the city approved additional funding to accelerate the replacement of computers that run Windows XP.

What it costs: $125,000.

Why it's needed: Microsoft is set to discontinue support for Windows XP in April, so all the computers in the city that run on the operating system and cannot be upgraded to Windows 7 because of the age and specifications of the hardware must be replaced.

(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Department: Engineering

What the city did: Approved a contract with Nesbitt Construction, Inc. for street and drainage improvements along 91st Avenue between Butler Drive and Mountain View Road.

What it costs: $5.8 million.

Why it's needed: The improvements will widen the road to two lanes and add bike lanes in both directions, as well as raised landscaped medians, curb gutters and sidewalks. The project also will place a new traffic signal at the intersection of 91st Avenue and Butler, add reclaimed water irrigation to all new landscaping, add two new sections of storm drains and replace a section of water line.

Construction should be completed sometime this winter, ahead of the Super Bowl in Glendale in 2015, said Dan Nissen, the assistant city engineer.

(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Department: Public Works Utilities

What the city did: The City Council authorized a budget adjustment from the water contingency fund to replace 4,860 linear feet of existing water main, fire hydrant and service waterlines in the area of 71st Avenue and Cherry Hills Drive, south of Cactus Road.

What it cost: $1,057,846.

Why it was needed: An unusually high number of waterlines have broken recently in the area of 71st Avenue and Cactus Road, city officials said. The city originally installed the waterlines, which are PVC pipe, in the 1980s. The waterline breaks damage the streets and adjoining properties, and they disrupt service to residents.

City officials believe the water-main breaks are because of the inferior pipeline materials and installation practices at the time they were installed. The city will replace the PVC pipes with ductile iron pipeline, which is more durable.

(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Department: Engineering

What the city did: Approved a construction contract with Hunter Contracting Co. to build Camino a Lago Neighborhood Park near 98th Avenue and Lake Pleasant Parkway.

What it cost: $2.34 million.

Why the city did it: The neighborhood park, which has been planned since 2005, will bring recreational amenities to the Camina a Lago community, including playgrounds, picnic ramadas, a restroom, lighted tennis and basketball courts, grass fields, a butterfly garden and a misting play area.

The 6-acre park will be adjacent to Sunrise Mountain Library and the Peoria Unified School District's planned K-8 Sunset Heights Elementary School. The city has an agreement with the district to use about 4 acres of the school's multipurpose fields for the park.

Construction is scheduled to begin in early May and should be completed by early November.

(Photo: Pat Shannahan/The Republic)

Department: Economic Development Services

What the city did: The City Council approved a contract for New Jersey-based Wadley-Donovan GrowthTech, an economic development consulting firm, to complete the second phase of the city's economic development implementation strategy.

What it cost: $98,554.

Why it was needed: The implementation strategy is the city's plan for accomplishing its economic development goals, which include attracting high-wage companies and universities, and redeveloping existing areas, such as the city's Old Town.

Through the first phase of its plan, Peoria attracted Trine University and international manufacturers Maxwell Technologies and GEPACK. The city also revitalized two strip malls in Old Town, began infrastructure improvements and efforts to attract business to the Vistancia Commercial Core, and launched two programs to streamline the permitting process.

With the next phase, the city aims to attract more high-wage companies; fill existing vacant retail, office and industrial space; redevelop underutilized space; and revitalize certain areas in the city.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Department: Planning and Community Development

What the city did: The Peoria City Council OK'd spending to hire a consultant to help city staff develop uniform standards for signs in its P83 entertainment district.

What it cost: $60,000.

Why it was needed: Peoria envisions its P83 district, which is bounded by Loop 101, Bell Road, Skunk Creek and 73rd Avenue and includes the city's spring-training complex, as a destination entertainment location with residential, restaurants, shops and arts and entertainment venues.

The sign standards for the area are regulated by a mix of zoning rules. The consultant will get input from city leaders, businesses and residents and help city staff develop a uniform zoning standard that will apply to the entire district. They will include major sign types, such as pylon and building signs, and a sign-design theme manual to keep signs consistent.

Department: Community Services

What the city did: Included money in its budget for the Peoria Lil' Learners Program, the city's all-day preschool program for children ages 31/2 to 5 years who haven't started kindergarten.

What it cost: $432,563.

Why it was needed: Children in the program participate in various activities, including story time, music and creative-movement activities and field trips designed to help develop their motor skills, learn how to socialize and learn in a school-like environment.

The year-round program costs families $90 for part-time attendance and $125 for full -time. Parents can register their children any time during the year, but the city currently has a waiting list.

Department: Engineering

What the city did: The Peoria City Council approved spending money the city received through an energy-saving incentive program from Arizona Public Service to replace the air-conditioning system and lighting fixtures at the Peoria Sports Complex.

What it cost: $332,000.

Why it was needed: The air-conditioning unit, which was installed in 1992 when the complex first was built, is outdated and no longer functions properly. It cannot be repaired because parts aren't available anymore.

Additionally, the lights outside of the complex need to be replaced after two decades of UV exposure. They will be replaced with energy-efficient LED lights that will save energy and save the city money in electricity costs.

(Photo: David Wallace/The Republic

Department: Community Services

What the city did: The Peoria City Council approved more spending to complete improvements to its spring-training ballpark after the costs surpassed the allocated funding. The additional money comes from admission surcharge fees and other spring-training revenue.

What it cost: $265,000.

Why it was needed: The stadium improvements were part of a new 20-year lease agreement the city signed with the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres. The upgrades include new stadium seating, shade structures, new social areas including an outfield pavilion, a new souvenir shop, a customer-service kiosk, repairs to the sound system and a face-lift to the exterior.

(Photo: The Republic)

Department: Community Services

What the city did: The Peoria City Council allocated money for multiple repair projects at Rio Vista Community Park and the Rio Vista Recreation Center.

What it cost: $134,000.

Why it was needed: The projects include concrete, fencing and sand for volleyball courts at the park; new carpeting and blinds in the Lakeview Room at the recreation center; and replacing fitness equipment in the recreation center. The renovations are part of the city's upkeep of the 8-year-old park and 7-year-old recreation center.

(Photo: The Republic)