Harrisonburg City Council spends $4.76M on Roads, Sidewalks, Employee Bonuses, Northend Greenway, Bluestone Trail, Smithland Soccer Complex

Did you miss it?  The Harrisonburg City Council spent $4.76 million last night.  These funds were "reserve suplus funds" --- which are undesignated funds that have built up over time --- not a surplus in a single year's budget.

How did the City Council decide to spend the funds?

• $1,000,000 towards the expansion of Reservoir Street
• $950,000 towards Chicago Ave / Mt. Clinton Pike improvements.
• $750,000 towards the improvement of Carlton Street.
• $750,000 towards December bonuses for city employees.
• $600,000 towards the Northend Greenway, a bicycle and pedestrian path between Park View and downtown Harrisonburg.
• $443,000 towards Bluestone Trail, a path to connect Purcell Park and Ramblewood Park.
• $200,000 towards grading two soccer fields at Smithland Soccer Complex.
• $100,000 towards a city compensation study
  

I'll check the official City Council minutes for confirmation of the above list, as there are some discrepancies between the Daily News Record article (today) and the City Council agenda attachment (yesterday).
 
So What?  Why does this matter?  Wasn't it just extra funds that had to be spent?  Why should we care where the funds went? 

I believe these expenditures reveal the priorities of the City of Harrisonburg --- road improvements, sidewalks, bicycle and pedestrian trails, employee retention, parks, soccer fields.  Personally, I think these are great priorities for the City of Harrisonburg to be focusing on to make it a safer, more enjoyable place to live.