Infrastructure Policies

Goal: Infrastructure
Maintain and maximize the provision of all municipal and support services for the existing and developing community to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens.

Public facilities and infrastructure are an important foundation of quality of life in Sioux Center. Efficient public facilities are vital to most daily activities and require regular maintenance and upgrading both to meet the demands of a growing population and to be sensitive to environmental resources. The quality and availability of these services influence the type, timing, and density of development in the future.

Safeguard public health, well-being, and prosperity by providing and maintaining facilities that enable the community to live in balance with the environment.

Maintain adequate police and fire services, identify, and reserve sites for future public safety services.

Maintain infrastructure at a pace that supports the population growth and at a rate that allows the City to provide sufficient services without a financial burden.

• Leverage Existing Facilities. Where feasible, support development which utilizes existing facilities and which minimizes the need for additional public facilities.
• Upgrade Facilities. Identify areas where community facilities need upgrading, added capacity, or extensions. Priorities should be established according to need and recommendations of the Plan, and provided for as feasible in a new Capital Improvements Program.

Develop a comprehensive approach for stormwater management to increase water "quality" and to reduce storm water runoff

• Stormwater Best Practices. Develop Best Management Practices (BMP) design criteria for how and when to use BMP techniques as a method of managing rainfall at the source.
• Multi-benefits. Construct multiple-benefit "green" detention basins, including wet and dry extended detention basins and stormwater wetlands.

Encourage, facilitate, and target development in existing water and sewer service areas and on vacant and underutilized parcels.

• Target Development. Infrastructure upgrades and new infrastructure should be considered for its impact as a possible catalyst for new development and should in some cases be used as a growth management tool to guide the timing and locations of new development.
• Review Investments. Future growth necessitating investment in capital facilities and services should be reviewed comprehensively and made within a framework that balances and evaluates the costs and relative importance of competing needs.