Page Title

PHASE TWO ON VICTORIA’S AGENDA

RECONSTRUCTING MORE DOWNTOWN STREETS

May11th

On May 11th, Council voted 3-2 to look at a new addition to the agenda that evening, without prior review, to discuss it without being forced to act on it. Tim Amundsen and Jim Paulsen voted to leave it off the agenda.

After discussion of that item, Council voted 5-0 to move forward in advertising for bids without waiting two weeks for the next council meeting.

The item centered on Phase II of downtown improvements that include the street reconstruction of ...

*Quamoclit from Hwy 5 north to Stieger Lake Lane

*Stieger Lake Lane from 50 feet west of Quamoclit to 200 feet east of Quamoclit (along the proposed Lakefront/Hartman development)

*Tower Boulevard extension from the existing alley east to Quamoclit Street.

As City Engineer Cara Geheren explained, Phase II includes ...

*A right turn lane off Hwy 5 at the Quamoclit/KleinBank intersection, as recommended by MnDOT

*Ten (10) on-street parking spaces along Stieger Lake lane

*Bumping out the curb line on Victoria Drive (downtown) to provide a right turn lane into the Fresh Seasons parking lot.

It did not include amenities such as pavers, sidewalk, lighting, and boulevard trees, which could occur at a future date.

The engineer said total project cost (without the amenities) would be $660,000 with $560,000 of that amount deemed assessable; some of the costs such as sanitary sewer and turn lanes are not assessable.

Of the $560,000 amount, she said, using the 75% to 25% split of costs between property assessments and city contribution (same split used for Phase I), $420,000 would be assessed to affected properties while the city’s outright contribution would be $140,000.

Affected property owners include the City of Victoria (parking lots), Lakefront (Hartman), Victoria Bar and Grill, Braunworth’s, KleinBank, Fresh Seasons, and the Rich Gannon building. (The Victoria House was included in Phase One.)

“But the city owns a lot of the property being assessed and the city agreed to be responsible for future Gannon assessments under the Phase I agreement,” said Cara, “so the city’s net share becomes $326,400.” She added that some of that amount is sewer and water costs which could be bonded. Rich Gannon owns the brick building (former beer distributorship on Quamoclit) next to Fresh Seasons Market.

The engineer continued, “We’ve been having individual meetings with the property owners and will continue to do so. Now we have final numbers to share with them.”

Stating what the Council could approve that evening, “Tonight you’d be calling a public hearing and authorizing advertising for bids with a bid opening on June 4th. Realistically, they should get through the work in six weeks, but there are a lot of underground utilities so it will be a challenging project, and also to maintain access to the businesses.”

Commented Councilmember Kim Roden, “It’s going to require some surefootedness and creativity because of the scheduled Volksfest. I’m nervous about delaying the advertising for bids for two weeks. I’d be comfortable moving forward.”

“I don’t think it’s ready,” said Councilmember Paulsen, “and I don’t understand the costs. I want to consider whether Council wants to assess 75% or 100%. It’s real money. I want to get on board with this piece but there are lots and lots of questions and I don’t like this cramming down our throats.”

Declared Mayor Mary Thun, “I think it’s important to clarify. We were delivered this report on Friday. I suggested to Don [Uram] that we discuss this tonight. It’s not a matter of staff cramming this down our throats. The majority of the Council made the decision to discuss this tonight. The motion would only be to continue the process.”

Said Councilmember Tim Amundsen, “I applaud Cara to be able to do this on the fly but we need to have spreadsheets.”

Councilmember Paulsen made the motions to move forward to have more detailed discussion, to hold a public improvement hearing on Monday, June 8th, to approve constructions plans and specifications and order advertisement for bids for the Downtown Phase II Improvements. The motions passed 5-0.

May 26th

City Engineer Cara Geheren presented additional information at the May 26th council meeting, detailing the difference in numbers if the property owners paid 75% or 100% of assessable costs. In the first case, the city’s share would amount to $327,000. In the second case, the city’s share amounts to $271,000. In both scenarios, the city retains the assessments on its own properties.

“What is the city’s source of funding?” asked Councilmember Paulsen.

Click here to continue City Scoop.