City Council Special Meeting

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Thursday, February 20, 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. City Administrator Brad Chapulis, Assistant City Administrator Kelly Steele, and Public Works Director Trevor Walter were present. PRESENTATIONS 1. Supplemental Improvement Hearing for the 2025 Commercial FDR Improvements Project Alex Bitter, with Widseth, explained his presentation will cover the project background, public improvement process, identify project areas and proposed improvements, assessment procedure, project costs and assessment calculations, project schedule, and property owner information. Mr. Bitter summarized the city’s pavement management plan was developed to address the ongoing maintenance and funding of the city’s streets. The city will be following the assessment procedure identified in Minnesota Chapter 429. The streets proposed to be improved are Audubon Way and Whispering Woods Lane. Audubon Way was last improved in 2004 and chip sealed in 2017. In 2022 the street had a PASER rating of 6 and 7. A concrete median will be replaced on the north end of Audubon Way. Whispering Woods Lane was last improved in 2022. The street had a PASER rating of a 7 in 2022. The proposed improvements to Audubon Way include reclaiming 9.5” of the roadway, fix joint separation in the sanitary sewer, pump down the stormwater basin, and clean and televise the section of storm sewer that was unable to be cleaned initially. Whispering Woods Lane improvements include reclaiming 8.5” of the roadway. Both roadways will be replaced with 6” of reclaimed base, the curb and gutter will be replaced, existing driveways will be replaced through the existing right-of-way line, new sanitary sewer manhole lids will be installed, castings, rings and catch basins will be replaced, pavement markings replaced, and mailbox supports will be replaced. The previous proposed assessment amount was $.5762 per square foot for properties located on Whispering Woods Lane and Audubon Way. This proposed assessment amount was calculated based on also improving Edgewood Drive, Lake Forest. Since then, Edgewood Drive and Lake Forest have been removed from the project. The updated proposed assessment amount is $.6856 per square foot for Audubon Way. The updated proposed assessment amount is $317.74 per lineal foot for Whispering Woods Lane. 2/20/2025 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 The total estimated project cost is $1,066,589. The total assessable cost is $760,992 and the estimated city cost is $305,596. Assessments will be amortized over a 12-year period. The benefiting commercial properties will be assessed 100% of project costs up to 44’ in roadway width. The city assumes the costs for roadway width over 44’ and non-buildable areas. The remaining project costs are assessed on a square foot and linear front footage basis. The assessment hearing is proposed to be held in June. Access will be maintained to properties during construction. Mr. Bitter further clarified how the special assessments were calculated. OPEN PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Olson opened the public hearing at 6:20 p.m. Mark Sand, Majestic Lakes Property owner, inquired about the process for prepayment of special assessments. Public Works Director Walter explained the assessment hearing is proposed to be held on June 12th. The council meeting following the assessment hearing is when the council will consider adopting the special assessments. Eric Peterson, the general manager for Dutch Cragun’s properties, explained that it appears the city removed some projects which caused the cost to increase 19% because the city is doing less projects. Public Works Director Walter explained the initial improvement hearing was held and the property owners on Lake Forest and Novotny Road stated the streets were in better condition than the other streets in the project. The council discussed the comments and decided to push those streets off for two years. Ben VonBank, 15811 Audubon Way, explained he is the owner of Von Hanson’s inquired about the project schedule. Mr. Bitter explained the project will not start until after the annual races held at BIR in August. There were various comments from the audience regarding the neighboring trail and assessment calculations. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Olson closed the public hearing at 6:49 p.m. NEXT STEPS City Administrator Chapulis explained he will research the trail and will contact the property owners and bring the item to the council for discussion when information is available. ADJOURN MOTION by Council Member Cross, seconded by Council Member Tabatt to adjourn at 6:49 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Approved by: Respectfully submitted, 2/20/2025 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 _____________________________ Mark Cross Kelly Steele Acting Mayor Assistant City Administrator