Wright City government’s $5.2 million 2019 budget includes significant investment in new employee positions, as the city prepares to bring on more police officers and administrative staff.The Wright City Board of Aldermen approved the 2019 budget last month.The city plans to add three new patrol officers, an assistant treasurer and an assistant parks director, said City Clerk and Treasurer Karen Girondo. The new position of city administrator was also added to the budget this year, and has already been filled by former alderman Jim Schuchmann.Of the three new full-time police officers, one is being shifted from part-time to full-time, and two will be new hires, Girondo said. Budget documents show the accompanying salaries will add $280,000 to the city’s budget, bringing the total for police salaries up to $764,000.Funding for full-time administrative salaries was increased this year to $169,000, up from about $44,000 in 2019. The lion’s share of that increase, $90,000, has been dedicated to the city administrator as the new top job in the staff.Budget allocation for the city’s finance department jumped from $34,000 to about $98,000.Street, park projectsWright City has several capital improvement projects on its to-do list for 2019. Chief among them are major street repairs that were promised when the city sold its water and sewer utilities in 2018. The city had hired a surveying company to assess which streets were most in need of improvements.“We’re waiting on the final results,” said Girondo. City leaders likely will select the top two street projects to begin in 2019, and work through the list over time, she said. An additional $150,000 is set aside for minor street repairs.One other project has a budget at the $1 million mark, replacing the city’s public works shed.Multiple improvements are in the works for Wright City’s parks. The planning stage for Wright City’s future park on Westwoods Road has begun. The city has $150,000 budgeted for engineering and planning services, which likely will take up most of 2019, Girondo said.At Diekroeger and Ruge parks, the city plans to spend $30,000 for playground equipment and $320,000 on upgrading restroom facilities.City staff also plan to finish renovation of government offices in 2019. Administrative offices were moved to a new building on Westwoods Road last year, leaving room for the old offices to be renovated as extra space for the police department.There is $500,000 in the city budget set aside for the police department renovation.Much of the work to be done will be paid for with funding from the sale of Wright City’s public water and sewer systems in 2018. With voter approval, the city sold its utilities to Public Water Supply District 2 for $10.5 million.“When the city said it was going to sell the water and sewer, it told people it was going to use that money to upgrade the streets and provide another park. That’s what this budget includes,” Girondo said.WRIGHT CITY HALLRecord photo