City Council Special Meeting

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM Baxter City Hall, 13190 Memorywood Drive, Baxter, MN “A Growing Community” CALL TO ORDER Mayor Olson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor Darrel Olson and Council Members Connie Lyscio, Zach Tabatt, Patrick Sundberg and Mark Cross were present. Assistant City Administrator Kelly Steele and Assistant City Engineer Trevor Thompson were present. PRESENTATIONS 1. Improvement Hearing for the 2025 Design Road & TH 371 Stormwater Improvements Project Alex Bitter, with Widseth, presented the improvement hearing. This improvement project was originally scheduled for 2021 but was postponed to work with MnDOT on drainage issues. The city will be following Minnesota Chapter 429 for assessment procedures. Design Road was originally constructed in 1981. In 2002 a mill and inlay was performed on the roadway. In 2022 the roadway had a PASER rating of a 4. In 2011 MnDOT added impervious coverage that caused major flooding in the TH 371 corridor, especially during heavy rain events. Storm water drainage that flows under Fleet Farm is overloaded. The proposed improvements include a 10-ton design, 6” bituminous pavement, 6” aggregate base, and a 36” face to face roadway width. This will be a reduction to the roadway width and will align with Universal Road. There will be sanitary sewer and watermain adjustments. A 60” storm sewer pipe will be extended to the west boulevard of TH 371. Benefitting commercial properties will be assessed 100% of project costs up to 44’ in roadway width. The city will assume roadway width costs in excess of 44’ and underground improvements. The remaining project costs will be assessed on a front foot basis. The total estimated project cost is $4,197,698. Total MnDOT project funding is $3,025,000. The total assessable costs are $438,565. The city costs are $734,133. For estimation purposes, the assessment interest rate is 7%. The actual interest rate will be known this fall after the city sells bonds. Assessment swill be amortized over 12 years for commercial full depth reclamation. Mr. Bitter summarized the project schedule. Access will be maintained to the properties during construction and a temporary water system will be utilized as some businesses in the project boundary require water service. The council did not have any questions for Mr. Bitter. 2/13/2025 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 OPEN PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Olson opened the public hearing at 6:15 p.m. Brent Gunsbury, Pillsbury Forest Ventures, explained he supports the project and that he would like the selected contractor to be careful with private investments such as flag poles, signs, and irrigation lines. Mr. Gunsbury inquired if dewatering would be needed for the project and if so, who would pay for it. Mr. Bitter explained dewatering would be required and since it is needed for the underground improvements, the cost for dewatering is directly related to MnDOT, so they will be paying for the expense. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING MOTION by Council Member Cross, seconded by Council Member Sundberg to close the public hearing at 6:19 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. NEXT STEPS None. ADJOURN MOTION by Council Member Lyscio, seconded by Council Member Cross to adjourn at 6:19 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Approved by: Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ Darrel Olson Kelly Steele Mayor Assistant City Administrator