Each year as the City of Selma prepares its budget, it comes up with a list of potential projects.

Each department submits its own list with its own needs. The Planning and Development Department has the most interesting list because the results will be most immediately visible.

Others, such as public works, may have less visible results of capital equipment. Public Works needs equipment more than a nice, new building.

Funding is available for many of them, especially the most important — the Riverfront Amphitheater. For the other funding may be unsure or not completely decided.

Undoubtedly all of the projects would improve the city, even the ones without financial requirements. Some examples include a tourist bike path, a park behind the Cahaba facade, a policy for payday loans and renovation of the Songs of Selma Park.

Simply cleaning up many of Selma’s city streets can have a large influence on the first impressions visitors have of our city. Cleaning up the city streets and adding new innovative ideas will only have an even greater effect on first impressions.

Selma has a significant tourism market, so it is amazing more community effort is not put on the basics and fundamentals, such a clean streets and litter control.

We hope the city can include as many of their projects within the 2015 budget, but we also must remember that the flashy projects, the pet projects of some, might not be the most important.

While some of these projects could ultimately have a huge impact on Selma, they will not have a long-lasting impact if the infrastructure is not there to support it.

We urge city officials to build this city on a foundation of rock, not sand.