The public got a look at the 2015 Wyoming Street and Utility Project during the City Council’s Jan. 20 meeting.
Two areas of the city are included in the project. The first part of the project is east of Forest Boulevard and west of Fenwick, north of 263rd Street. It includes 264th and 266th through 270th streets; Felton, Fenwick, Finley, Flintwood, Forli, Foxboro, Freisland and Railroad avenues; Flintwood Circle, Flintwood Lane and Freeport Court.
The second area is also east of Forest Boulevard, but south of Wyoming Trail. Streets included in this area are 261st, 263rd, 264th, Flint Trail, Flint Court, Galen Drive, Freeport Avenue and Glen Oak Drive.
City Engineer Mark Erichson presented the feasibility report for the project. He touched on the planned improvements for this year, identified the specific streets due for repairs, described planned utility upgrades and improvements, gave a schedule for the projects and estimated project costs. Council members unanimously accepted the 2015 Street Feasibility report.
Within each area, the proposed improvements include full pavement reclamation and paving of rural streets. Sanitary sewer repairs will be made based on televised reports. Some fire hydrants will be replaced, and others will be added. Drainage improvements will also be made. The lift station on Railroad Avenue will be upgraded.
The project includes a total of 4.1 miles of streets in the first area and 1.74 miles in the second.
Street improvement costs are estimated at $3.32 million, sanitary sewer improvements at $574,000, water main improvements at $311,700 and storm water improvements at $280,100 for a total project cost of $5.1 million. Funding for the project will come from a general obligation bond and assessments for the surface improvements, as well as funding from various utility funds for the utility improvements.
City Administrator Craig Mattson indicated that the term of the assessments will likely be determined by the revenue bond buyer. Since the amounts are relatively small, term of the assessments will likely be five to seven years.
A public information meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11, and an improvement hearing scheduled for Feb. 17. Erichson anticipates approval of plans and authorization to advertise for bids by March. Bids will be received in April, with a contract awarded by April 21. Construction will begin in the spring, and most work will be complete by the fall of this year. The project will likely be completed in the spring of 2016.
Before Erichson’s presentation, the council wrestled with a final assessment policy for the project area. Discussions about this have also taken place during work sessions. The biggest issue regarded how many taxable units various property types should be counted as.
Councilwoman Linda Yeager favored dropping the commercial properties down to 1.25 taxable units. Councilwoman Lisa Iverson believed 1.5 units for business was fair but was concerned about impact on multi-unit properties. She suggested dropping this from a maximum of 2.5 units down to 1.5.
For Joe Zerwas, the compromises have been made. As originally proposed, a 16-unit apartment would have been designated at maximum a 4-unit building, and it has now been dropped to 2.5 units. He believed that was enough compromise.
As proposed, a single-family home is considered one unit and commercial properties are considered 1.5 units. Multi-family units are assessed as a maximum of 2.5 units, a detached town home as one unit, a duplex or town home as 0.5 and an individual apartment as 0.25.
The council authorized the amendment of the city’s assessment policy to reflect the changes in the unit values on a 3-2 vote; Iverson and Yeager voted against.
From the assessment policy approved at the meeting, the total number of assessable units in the project area is 359.5. The special assessment to affected property owners is set at the minimum of 20 percent.
In other news
Since 1972, the city storm water fee has been $8 a year. Cities of comparable size pay in the range of $28 a quarter, according to city staff. The utility is supposed to cover the cost of repair and maintenance in the system, but Mattson said the utility is underfunded to keep up with ongoing costs. The fee may be revisited soon. Currently, the fund has about $101,000.
Aurora Distributed Solar, LLC proposed to build an up-to 100 megawatt distributed solar project at up to 24 locations throughout Minnesota. One is proposed for Chisago County. The Public Utilities Commission has scheduled several public hearings about the site permit applications. The first one, and the one closest to Wyoming, is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 9 at the Chisago City Community Center, 10825 Lake Blvd. in Chisago City.
The council also learned that three of five asbestos abatement bids for the building cleanup at 26795 Forest Blvd. have been received. They range between $9,000 and $13,000. The city has been granted the order to begin property cleanup at the site. Abatement must be completed, the building razed, and cost summary presented to the court for approval. A court hearing for final amount of assessment to the property owner has been scheduled for April 2.