•City to start work on plan to use  local sales tax to fund street repair

By Tim Douglass

tdouglass@pctribune.com

Glenwood City Commissioners heard a comprehensive report by Widseth Engineer Blain Green on the condition of city streets.  

He summarized the repair and repaving needs for all city streets. The report did not include state or county roads within the city since they are not maintained solely by the city.

Green gave a report last year on street condition and rated each street according to its current condition from “nearly new” to minor or major overlay to needing a total reclamation. He encouraged commissioners to plan street projects by doing streets before they deteriorate into a total reclaim because its more cost effective.

At last week’s meeting, Green also provided a recommendation of which streets to include if the city was going to bond and do more streets than what the budgeted $200,000 to $300,000 each year would allow.  That schedule makes it difficult for the city to do enough street repair to save streets before they deteriorate to the point that they are beyond a simple repaving and sometimes doubles the cost of repair. 

He provided three bonding options ranging from $1.5 million to $3.5 million and what that money could accommodate in street work throughout the city in one to two seasons.  

“With inflation and spending $200,000 to $300,000 per year on road repair, we are doing less and less.  Each year we take another step backward,” Glenwood City Administrator told commissioners after Green‘s presentation.  

He floated the idea of the city bonding and doing some extensive street work and paying for it with a local sales and use tax.  Iverson said that is a way to take the burden off of property taxpayers, but stated that the city would have to develop a plan and then take it to the Minnesota Legislature before letting local residents vote on the issue.  

Many cities are doing that, he said, and right now the legislature has a moratorium on sales tax proposals for cities.  Glenwood did pass a local sales tax increase a few years ago with two-thirds of the city voters saying yes to the ballot question.

Iverson said he wanted to start working on a street project plan now so that the city could be ready when the state lifts the moratorium on local sales tax proposals.

He also pointed out that the city’s stormwater fund is not adequate to take care of water issues and holding ponds in some areas of the city.  He pointed to Park Road where there is no storm water convenience and said there is a need for that when the road is redone.

Commissioner Neil Haynes moved to accept and acknowledge the engineer’s presentation on current and future public infrastructure within the city.  Commissioner Todd Gylsen seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.

In other action, 

the commission:

•Approved a preliminary Management Plan for Prairie and Oak Savanna at Barsness Park.  The preliminary plan was written by Mike How, a resource planner with support from Ann Grandy, Sonya Gylsen, Ralph Hanson and David Jungst.  The plan which is an addendum to the current management plan for the overall management of Barsness Park.  Commissioners accepted the plan and directed staff to seek a professional plan from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  That plan can begin once it is approved under the “Prairie Stewardship plan development,” Iverson told the commissioners.

“It’s a win-win for us,” Iverson said.  There is a lot of multi-use in the park and we want all groups to be on the same page so we aren’t conflicting with native plants and other activities in the park,” Iverson added.  “With the effort of the Buckthorn Brigade volunteers, this has come to the forefront and we want a professional to go through the plan so we have a solid document that protects certain areas and keeps all park usage in sync,” Iverson explained.

The commission unanimously approved participation in the DNR “Scientific and Natural Areas” program.

• Approved an event permit for Glenwood Lakes Area Welcome Center to host a “Kids Day”  from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 1.

•Approved Street Closure permit for a NAPA Central Event on August 7 which will temporarily close 1st Street NW to 1st Ave. NW leaving room for Subway drive-through.

•Approved an event permit for Glacial Ridge Health System (GRHS) to conducted a 5K Scrub Run from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on June 8.

• Approved an event permit for March 30 for the Glenwood Lakes Area Welcome Center to conduct an Easter Egg Hunt from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Barsness Park.

•Added a Sales and Use tax increase proposal and an infrastructure finance bonding proposal to the “Uncompleted Project Status Report.”  The city also directed staff to add work on “Annexation Agreements” to that report.  Iverson stated that the city may need to set up an Annexation committee in the future.