Each year, one neighborhood will receive Neighborhood Connection Program funding.

When Neighborhood Connection Program funds become available for your neighborhood, a postcard from the City is mailed to you with instructions on how to submit your project ideas. Once the project proposals are received, staff will begin researching them and a list of projects will be narrowed in preparation for the voting ballot.

Staff will work with your neighborhood association to develop project scopes, provide cost estimates, and write project descriptions for the ballot. Requests are sorted and placed into four categories:

1. Immediates: can be done with existing services, such as enforcing speed limits, investigating code compliance issues, setting up block watch groups, and researching neighborhood traffic control problems.
2. Referrals: are referred to larger City programs or are the responsibility of another jurisdiction, such as metro bus service requests, sidewalks, park acquisition, and developing ball fields.
3. Neighborhood Match: are forwarded to the neighborhood associations as they are better addressed through partnerships between the City and neighborhoods; such as re-vegetation of City right-of-way, spring clean up days, and neighborhood kiosks.
4. Small Capital Projects: are the projects to be prioritized by voting and funded through the Neighborhood Connection Program funds; such as benches along arterials, crosswalk improvements, trail enhancements, landscaping neighborhood entrances, street lights, and playground equipment in parks.

• Consistent with the City plans and standards
• Within purview of the City’s authority
• Generally accepted by those directly affected by them
• Located on public property or on property designated for public use
• Benefit the general public
• Maintained by neighborhood volunteers
• Within the scope of the funding available for each neighborhood.

Residents vote to determine the priorities for the Neighborhood Connection Program funding. Each household enters its first, second and third priority (from the Potential Projects list) on the ballot. The project selections do not have to total the neighborhood’s allocation. Each household simply chooses the three projects it feels will benefit their neighborhood the most.

The ballot limits only one vote for any particular project (subsequent votes for the same project will not be counted). All residents participating in the program receive an action plan in the mail listing the results of the voting.

Voting Instructions:

• One ballot per household.
• List your top three projects in order of importance.
• The total of your choices can exceed neighborhood’s allocation.
• Cast only one vote per project.
• Be sure your address is listed; it is required to validate your vote.
• Insert completed ballot into the postage-paid envelope.
• Mail no later than deadline listed on the ballot.

• Each priority 1 vote is worth 3 points
• Each priority 2 vote is worth 2 points
• Each priority 3 vote is worth 1 point

The points are totaled for each project. Absent unforeseen circumstances, the project with the most points is funded. If the top priority project costs less than the neighborhood’s allocation, additional projects may also be funded. If there is a tie, the City will work with the neighborhood to determine options. For example, the money can be split or both projects could be scaled back to reduce costs.

In all cases, the City will work closely with your neighborhood during the decision making processes.

Stay involved in your neighborhood association to remain part of the planning and implementation of your neighborhood’s funded projects. Each project is unique, requiring different input from the community. The goal is to complete each project as soon as possible or before the next three-year cycle begins again in that area.