Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

A proposed Radford public safety building would replace what's left of a building that was built in 1890. A fire in 1950 turned the four-story building into a two-story building. A study conducted nearly 20 years ago declared the facility inadequate for the police department's needs.

RADFORD -- "We're not tax-and-spend liberals," Councilman Bruce Brown declared Monday. "We're trying to make decisions for the betterment of the city."

Right now, Radford City Council is trying to decide about three expensive projects: a new water tank and water lines; improvements and a new intersection for Second Avenue; and turning a former box factory into a new public safety building.

In total, that's $14.3 million the city is poised to spend on capital projects -- not counting new school debt it's already committed to pay.

"We're to the go/no-go point on all three of these projects," City Manager Tony Cox told council Monday.

He presented council with an eight-page memo that laid out the costs of each project, the effect that would have of real estate taxes and some options that could marginally cut costs.

They could help push the city's real estate tax rate past $1 per $100 of value by 2112. That would still be lower than Roanoke County's current rate of $1.09.

Two of the projects are testaments to council's historical reluctance to spend. The improvements to Second Avenue have been discussed since 1969.

The public safety building will replace what's left of a building that was built in 1890. A fire in 1950 turned the four-story building into a two-story building. A study conducted nearly 20 years ago declared the facility inadequate for the police department's needs.

That reluctance has kept Radford's real estate taxes lower than most other New River Valley and Roanoke Valley localities, but it has had other consequences, too.

In 1999, the estimated cost of the Second Avenue improvements was $2 million. Now it's $5.6 million. According to the city's capital improvement plan, in February the estimated combined cost of Second Avenue and the public safety building was about $7.2 million. Now the public safety building alone is projected to cost $6.2 million.

In June, the estimate for both projects was $8.5 million. Now it's $11.8 million.

The water tank project is estimated at $3.5 million.

Cox's current cost estimates don't take into account any additional cuts in state funding, though council expects those to come. Cox's estimates also don't consider the effect of losing a major utility customer. Intermet, the city's largest user of water and electricity customer, has filed for bankruptcy.

In June, Charles Bassett, president of Bassett Financial Management, told council that having debt more than 10 percent of the city's expenditures is "generally considered a mild warning sign." Going over 12 percent is "of concern," he said.

Even without these projects, the city is expected to exceed those limits. With those projects, Bassett said, the city's debt ratio would rise to 16.9 percent in 2010. It wouldn't fall below 10 percent until 2018.

When Bassett said that, the projects' combined cost was $3.5 million less than it is now.

On Monday, council members seemed to agree the water tank project needs to go ahead. That would, according to Cox's estimates, increase water and sewer bills by about 5 percent.

The water tank will serve undeveloped land more than current customers, Cox said. No developers would commit to moving ahead if the tank is built, he said, but they have cited lack of infrastructure as one reason they haven't built already.

Council is eager to complete those projects, though studies across the country have consistently shown that residential development costs more in services than it generates in taxes.

Council seemed to agree that the public safety building needs to go ahead -- though the scope of the project may be reduced. The plan includes moving other city offices, including some that are in rented space now, into the refurbished factory. Council wants to consider a renovation that would accommodate only the police department.

The Second Avenue improvements became the only point of contention on the list.

"That would be the one giving me the most indigestion, to some degree," Brown said.

Mayor Tom Starnes had reservations about the road work, too, though he acknowledged it's probably the most dangerous road in the city. And it's getting worse, Councilman Dick Harshberger added.

Councilman Bob Nicholson leaned toward doing the roadwork.

"If we don't do it now, when do we do it?" he said.

Council has other capital projects to consider, too.

Delaying any of the three projects now could mean delaying it until after a new McHarg Elementary School is built.

"I think you need to decide what you're going to do and get on with it or put it on the shelf," Starnes said. "Either one or the other."

That's what council is scheduled to do Nov. 24.