Mayor reveals Capital Budget for 2013

BUFFALO, N.Y.(WIVB) - In the future, neighbors in Buffalo will see upgrades done to areas like city parks and Coca-Cola Field as part of Mayor Byron Brown's Capital Budget for 2013.

Mayor Brown unveiled the $21 million plan on Friday.  It contains funding for a variety of projects like parks improvements and arts and cultural organizations.

The Buffalo Zoo will get another $550,000 for the polar bear exhibit.  Without it, the bears - one of the zoo's biggest attractions - might not return.

“With the City of Buffalo's commitment that we heard today we're now at around $12,750,000 towards our $18 million goal,” said Donna Fernandes, Buffalo Zoo President.

“There are only 31 zoos in the United States that have polar bears. So we're so glad for the support in going forward” said Dorothy Ferguson, Buffalo Zoo’s Board Chairman.

Mayor Brown proposed giving $6 million to city-wide infrastructure replacement projects. He said it’s critical to do so, “The better our infrastructure is maintained, there is a direct correlation to private sector investment, business and residential investment. So we're making a substantial investment in infrastructure.”

The spending plan also includes money for community centers, demolitions, libraries and much more. The Citizens Planning Commission evaluated more than $97 million in requests before they chose the projects for the year.

City officials said the decision process was difficult.

“It’s a tough decision at times but these are sound decision that we make on the engineering end and we feel it's very acceptable that we work within it,” said Steven Stepniak, Buffalo’s Public Work’s Commissioner.

Now that the spending budget has been proposed, the city's common council will review it where they have until December 15th to approve it.

Here’s a list of the projects in the spending plan:

Citywide Infrastructure – Replacement
Demolitions of Buildings/Structures
City-Wide Parks Improvements (including Broderick/LaSalle Parks)
Municipal Building Improvements (including JFK and Pratt Willert)
Fire and Snow Fighting Apparatus
Hatch Restaurant Additions/Alterations
Ellicott Street Improvements at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
Arts and Cultural Organizations
Downtown Ball Park (Coca-Cola Field) Upgrade
City-wide Tree Removal/Planting
Arctic Edge (Polar Bear) Exhibit
City-wide Street Lighting
City-wide Libraries
Johnnie B. Wiley Lighting Improvements
Allen Street – Streetscape
MLK Casino – Exterior Renovations