Infrastructure assessment in Veliko Turnovo
The partnership between Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria, and Golden, Colorado, was initiated in November 2000 during Phase III of the Bulgarian Technical Twinning Program. At the time of its inception, the City of Veliko Turnovo was suffering the side effects of a nationwide economic downturn. Though the city possessed municipal property available for private development, it was challenged to redevelop these areas and capitalize on these assets. The development and the maintenance of urban infrastructure represented another significant challenge for the municipality. In its partnership with Golden, Colorado, the two municipalities worked to develop a Strategic Plan for the allocation of municipal property and created an Asset and Financial Management Plan of Public Infrastructure. These projects increased the capacity of Veliko Turnovo to prepare for and manage long-term infrastructure needs.
As a result of their successful efforts and the great potential for replication of these projects, the partnership between Veliko Turnovo and Golden was selected to participate in Phase IV of the Bulgaria Resource Cities Program. Based on a needs assessment and diagnostic of several Bulgarian cities, ICMA/FLGR selected the City of Plovdiv, Bulgaria to participate in the replication of the Insfrastructure Management Project. As identified during a self-assessment, though Plovdiv possessed a diversified industry and a well-trained workforce, it recognized the need to improve municipal infrastructure and to better make use of the city’s resources.
In January 2003, Dan Hartman, Director of Public Works in Golden, Colorado, together with his counterparts from the Municipality of Veliko Turnovo, conducted a thorough training on the development of an Asset and Infrastructure Management Plan for 25 representatives from the six districts of Plovdiv. As a result of the training, the Plovdiv participants were prepared to replicate the project. The three parties--Golden, Veliko Turnovo, and Plovdiv--also assessed the specifics of the replication in Plovdiv and decided on the division of responsibilities and assignments. The Plovdiv team, in consultation with Veliko Turnovo, completed the inventory of streets and sidewalks in the town, thus providing up-to-date information on pavement conditions and the need for repairs in priority order. Digital mapping is now completed and has been linked to the Excel inventory sheet in order to illustrate current pavement conditions. A public hearing on the financial plan before general public, municipal council, media, and professional organizations took place in April 2004 and based on City Council approval of the financial plan, the municipal staff of Plovdiv started preparations for a BGN 30 million bonds issue. It will ensure funding for the implementation of the financial plan, thus aiming at cost effective improvement of the streets in the City of Plovdiv.
Continuing to build on the successes from its previous technical cooperation, the Veliko Turnovo – Golden partnership created and signed an Action Plan for the development of a Storm Water and Ground Water Management Plan for Veliko Turnovo. This project addressed the priority of protecting the infrastructure from surface and subsurface water sources. Veliko Turnovo has completed the conceptual design for allocation of floodwater basins, developed a preliminary drainage plan for the selected basins in order to protect infrastructure, and developed a draft irrigation plan for utilization of the ground water collected by the dewatering system.
The Bulgaria Best Practices Symposium was held in June 2004 in Varna, Bulgaria. The partners presented case studies to colleagues and guests, which highlighted their work in both cities. The team received the ‘Best Project’ award for their work in asset and financial management.