HOUGHTON — City Manager Eric Waara presented a list of 2017 projects to the City Council on Wednesday to be funded by the next budget.

He concluded his presentation with a tease that something else is coming.

Some of the listed items were paid for partly or fully out of the city’s fund balance, such as the city’s Lakeshore Drive project or sewer work on Ridge Road.

Waara said having available funds accords the city the flexibility to respond to opportunities for projects such as the Lakeshore Drive project.

“That came in essentially out of the blue,” he said. “An e-mail came across that gave everybody a month to put an application in, and we were able to pounce on that.”

Other opportunities coming up include work on College Avenue, which could involve USDA Rural Development and Michigan Department of Transportation funds.

Councilman Mike Needham said he favored identifying projects, then making budget adjustments during the year if favorable opportunities to fund projects arise.

“The years I’ve been here, I’ve witnessed the advantage of being able to be flexible and move on things as they come up,” he said.

Contracted services was up slightly, to include lights in Portage Cove, which has been an item in the city’s capital improvement plan for several years.

“We can’t afford to light the whole place in one year,” he said. “So we’ll get started and we’ll get the trunkline built and expand it year after year.”

Sidewalks and curbs increased expenditures by about $25,000, much of which is for the addition of sidewalks on Portage Street.

Tree trimming and replacement more than doubled from last year, another area where Waara said the city is restoring some services that had been reduced in earlier austerity measures.

“For a lot of years, we did not do a lot of trimming trees around town, and it was starting to show,” he said.

Funds for the beach and RV Park went up by $30,000, including work such as planting grass on the hill by Chutes & Ladders. Rates in the RV park were raised $5 a night; occupancy rates were 98 percent over two-and-a-half months last year.

On Dee Stadium, the city is looking at a general man-hour reduction during the hockey season through more increased efficiency, but DPW will do some improvements on areas such as bathrooms.

The city will make its final payment on its 1997 VA bond interest redemption at the Dee in 2018, Waara said, which could translate to $300,000 in debt service capacity.

Waara said he had focused on other areas of the city with more immediate needs upon becoming the city manager. But he’s making the Dee more of a priority, spurred in part by talk of the Houghton County Arena’s roof.

“A lot of other things, while they’re still on my plate, the ducks are walking in the right direction, here’s one other thing,” he said. “We’re working on something. Stay tuned. There’s more to come.”