The City of Battle Ground will fund dozens of new capital projects and is poised to add several new full-time employees with its $82.3 million budget for 2025.
The 2025 budget, approved unanimously on Monday, Dec. 2, focuses on funding key capital projects, new staff positions and essential infrastructure improvements to support the city’s growth and development.
Capital projects
The largest portion of the budget, $22,581,704 (27.4%), is allocated for capital projects. The following projects are earmarked for construction this year pending approval of additional funding sources, including some state grants:
• Capital projects fund — $10,076,900
Transportation projects
• Upgrade Northwest Fifth Street from North Parkway Avenue to state Route 503.
Funding: Connect Washington program grant
• Improve Southeast Grace Avenue between East Main Street and Southeast Rasmussen Boulevard
Funding: Concurrency mitigation and transportation impact fees
• Reconstruct Southwest Eaton Boulevard between Southwest 20th Avenue and SR 503; install a signal at Southwest 20th Avenue
Funding: Federal Highway Planning and Construction program grant
• Install a walking path along Southwest 20th Avenue adjacent to the Remy property
Funding: Concurrency mitigation fees
• Add turn lanes to mitigate a concurrency failure at the intersection of SR 503 and Northwest Onsdorff
Funding: Concurrency mitigation fees
• Acquire right-of-way and construct Southeast Clark Avenue near Southeast Fourth Street. This project aligns with the Vancouver Housing Authority Association’s apartment complex development
Funding: Community Development Block Grant
• Install a compact roundabout and rectangular rapid flashing beacons to address safety concerns at Northwest 20th Avenue and Northwest Ninth Street
Funding: City Safety Program
• Realign the left-turn pocket on West Main Street
Funding: State Connecting Washington grant
• Enhance signal infrastructure at Parkway and Main Street
Funding: Transportation impact fees and the city’s general fund
• Improve signals throughout Battle Ground
Funding: City general fund
• Construct sidewalks along a portion of First Street
Funding: Community Development Block Grant
• Install sidewalks along North Parkway Avenue
Funding: Community Development Block Grant
General facilities projects
• Replace and repair the HVAC system at the community center
Funding: Real Estate Excise Tax
• Update aging infrastructure at the public works operations center
Funding: Real Estate Excise Tax
Parks projects
• Add new playground and fitness equipment to Florence Robinson Park
• Construct basketball and pickleball courts at Kiwanis Park
Funding: Park impact fees (carryover from 2024)
• Replace and add bathrooms at Kiwanis Park and skate park
Funding: Park impact fees
City-funded projects outside of the capital projects fund
Sewer projects
• Upgrade the Northeast 92nd Avenue lift station
Budget: $2 million
Water projects
• Construct a 1.46-million-gallon water reservoir
Budget: $6 million
• Design a transmission line for Paradise Point
Budget: $500,000
• Design improvements for Well 12
Budget: $300,000
• Design an upgrade for the Clark Public Utilities intertie
Budget: $300,000
Storm drainage projects
• Construct a storm drainage facility at the railroad ditch
Budget: $400,000
• Implement a bypass system at Jewel Creek
Budget: $150,000
• Retrofit storm drainage infrastructure in Old Town
Budget: $100,000
For Mayor Troy McCoy, a priority will be funding the reconstruction of Southeast Grace Avenue, between East Main Street and Southeast Rasmussen Boulevard. The road will have a through lane in each direction, a center turn lane, bike lanes, planter strips and sidewalks. Additionally, the intersection on Grace and Main will be shifted east and altered with signaling, as it is currently a three-way stop. Grace Avenue will be re-aligned to a four-way intersection complete with traffic signals, aligning Southeast Grace Avenue and Northeast Grace Avenue.
“It’s just kind of a strange intersection,” McCoy said. “Those of us that are local [and] have been here for decades are well aware. We do our best to avoid it really, but it can be problematic for traffic flow. Converting Grace’s three-way into a four-way and completely rerouting that whole intersection, I believe it will be transformational for traffic in that part of the city.”
However, the funding process is taking its time. The project total amount will require $3 million from state grants. McCoy expected the project to have been funded in 2024.
He said the delay with state and federal funding is due to a slow environmental review process through National Fisheries regulations, as tire preservatives could harm Coho salmon near Grace Avenue. However, McCoy is doubtful of any environmental harm.
“I’ve often threatened to get out my salmon rod and fish that ditch and see what I’ll find. I think I’ll come up short,” he remarked. “The ruling basically is that any water that flows to a salmon-bearing stream has to go underneath this regulation, and they didn’t even really have a process or the people in place to process all these. So it’s just been slow as molasses, and it’s very frustrating for everybody. It’s very frustrating for somebody who is trying to watch out for the taxpayers because every year we wait, it just gets more expensive. Nothing’s getting cheaper.”
The 2025 budget will also allocate $16,012,524 for salaries and benefits for all city staff. The city will be taking on three new roles and converting two to full-time.
A police support specialist will be hired effective January. This position will assist with body camera management, following the Battle Ground Police Department’s implementation of body cameras on Oct. 7.
A court coordinator with a $77,000 salary will also be hired. This position will be shared with Ridgefield and La Center, which also utilize Battle Ground’s courtroom for Community Court, with each city covering their respective costs. Currently, Battle Ground manages 71% of the court case filings for the courtroom.
A portion of the court coordinator’s salary may also be funded through opioid settlement funds. These funds stem from a settlement between Washington state and companies accused of contributing to the opioid crisis. Like many other local governments, Battle Ground signed onto the settlement.
The city also approved hiring a geographic information system (GIS) specialist, responsible for mapping work project locations. Previously managed through contracted GIS services with Clark County, this position will now be a dedicated role within the city. McCoy noted this role is crucial for streamlining the process for project grant applications.
“The GIS specialist we have to hire because the county was doing that for us, and they no longer are. So that was forced on us a bit. [We’re] grateful the county did that,” McCoy said.
Additionally, two temporary positions — a civil engineer ($121,000 salary) and an engineering technician ($93,000 salary) — were made permanent. These positions were previously set to expire in October 2025.
