Residents get first look at 2025 street project

Residents of Montgomery were able to get a first look at the 2025 Street and Utilities Improvement Project (SUIP). The project will be a full overhaul of the public utilities, street, curb, gutter and sidewalks within the right of way.

City Engineer Jason Femrite, of Bolten & Menk, Inc., gave a presentation on the preliminary engineering report for the project at the Aug. 19 public hearing within the city council meeting.

The 2025 SUIP will cover the area from Lexington Avenue NW to just south of Vine Avenue between County Ditch 22 and 4th Street West. A total of 11 residents of the neighborhood showed up to see the proposed plan and ask questions.

Femrite said that the televised recording of the sanitary sewer in that area showed numerous breaks, root intrusions, and other issues within. The city has also had to do a large amount of patching and over-patching in this area just to maintain it so city snow plows don’t plow up the road and vehicles can travel on it safely.

“The project will have tile under the streets to drain the area underneath the street into the sewer. Along with that, there will be t-box connections near the right of way to connect sump pumps to,” Femrite said. This should help eliminate water running over sidewalks and streets as well as remove the concern of frozen hoses.

Mayor Thomas Eisert said, “Private utilities will not be a part of the project, but they will be notified.” Femrite agreed with that statement saying that Bolten & Menk would be talking to and working with any private utilities. “Some of them might decide to work on their utilities at the same time we are working on the project and some may not,” said Femrite. Examples of private utilities would include things like internet, electrical or telephone services. Particularly, Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative was mentioned by Femrite and said they would be keeping in closer contact with them throughout the project.

All streets will be upgraded to a minimum of a 7-ton vehicle rating, with the possibility of a couple streets that might end up with a 10-ton vehicle rating. “We build to suite the need. There are some streets that receive some commercial traffic and might require a higher rating. We will have to take a look at that,” said Femrite.

Trees in the right of way will be removed. Femrite and Mayor Eisert both said that it has been the city’s policy on these improvement projects that any trees within the right of way will be removed during the project and not replaced, citing issues with the root systems affecting the sidewalks, street, and utilities. The right of way is 60 feet or 30 feet from the center of the street on either side, and, for some of the alley work being done, the right away is 16 feet or eight feet from the center of the alley on either side. All streets will be 32 or 34 feet in width from gutter to gutter.

Council Member Zach Matson said that the larger plan of connecting city sidewalks together was included as part of the planning for this project. Not all streets will receive sidewalks, and those that do receive sidewalks will be more congruent with one another. One area where there will likely be a new sidewalk is along Boulevard Avenue NW on the south side of the street, pending further review to see if there is sufficient room for one. Femrite says there is added demand in that area due to Casey’s convenience store being there.

Project costs

Property owner and resident Jerry McCue had concerns about how his four-plex property would be taxed, whether as four residential units or as a commercial property. The city was uncertain at the time of how that would be taxed but said that they would take a closer look at it and get back to him.

Single family preliminary assessment value for the property owners in the area are estimated at $8,349.04 each, along with a water service assessment of $1,541.36, and a Sanitary service assessment of $1,284.47. That is a total preliminary assessment for each dwelling of $11,174.85.

Industrial properties are assessed $133.58 per linear foot plus the water and sanitary service assessments noted above. So, for McCue, this could be a large sum difference in how the property is assessed.

Mayor Thomas Eisert addressed preemptively the concern about how property owners might be charged if they lived on a corner. He assured residents that if you lived on a corner, you are not assessed the full value for each facing street but rather half of the full value on each street that the property runs along.

The project would be placed on a 15 year bond that can either be paid off in full by owners, can be put on taxes, or paid over the length of the bond, according to City Administrator Brian Heck. Femrite said that the assessment comes from current costs and is adjusted for about 8% inflation from the 2023 SUIP project.

Total estimated cost for the construction is $4,915,290.00 with an added cost of $836,000.00 in design, administration, legal, testing and engineering, for a total estimate of $5,751,290.00.

This project is a part of a larger plan by the city to maintain and fix infrastructure in a timely manner. The 2025 SUIP was originally planned to happen at the same time as the 2023 SUIP but the city rescheduled it as to not conflict with the Highway 13 reconstruction by the state.

Future

City council approved the ordering of plans and specifications for the 2025 SUIP following the public hearing and presentation by Femrite.

An informal open house will be held again in October where more detailed plans will be available for residents to look at and ask specific questions about their properties. The exact date and time for this is to be determined yet. Bids will be opened for contractors by March 14, 2025. A final assessment hearing will be held April 21, 2025, and another open house will be held ahead of construction where residents can meet with the chosen contractor, city officials and members of the engineering firm.

The project should start in May 2025 with substantial completion by November 2025, and final completion in June 2026.

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