Delay caused by recent relevation concerning MnDOT requirement regarding utilities

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A long awaited road and utility project through the heart of downtown Henning has been put on hold—at least for another year.

During a special city council meeting on Wednesday night, the Henning City Council approved a request to delay the Highway 108 project through Henning until at least 2025. 

Utility Supervisor Ted Strand said MnDOT informed him that all of the city utilities, as well as those owned by Arvig and Quest, would need to follow new guidelines regarding separation from one underground utility to the next. That means the city and utility companies could be required to bury their utilities at a depth of 15 feet in order to get enough separation from one another. He said he was not notified of the utility separation until right before Christmas and the work had to be completed by April. 

Strand said the cost of moving the utilities would not be known until it is put out for bids and the equipment and supplies are purchased. However, he estimated the cost could be in excess of $350,000 for the supplies alone, which didn’t include the cost of actually moving the utilities. The cost of moving the utilities was not figured into the original cost of the project and would be Henning’s responsibility. 

Henning Police Chief Mike Helle said even if the city could get the work done, which would be difficult due to the frost in the ground, it may not be able to get the parts to make the necessary changes MnDOT is now requiring by summer. Delaying the project a year would be the best way to ensure the equipment is received in time to complete the work.

In an effort to have MnDOT reconsider the change in utility seperation given the short notice, the City of Henning has had a series of meetings with the state organization, but to no avail. Recently, the city contacted state senator Jordan Rasmusson and state representative Tom Murphy to express their concern with several MnDOT requirements as part of the Highway 108 project. 

“The state is starting to work a little bit better with us,” said Henning Mayor Robert Johnson. “(Jordan Rasmusson) is on our side and he said if we have any more difficulties with this to reach out to him.”

Since contacting the state legislators, Johnson said the city had one of its most positive meetings with MnDOT representatives who admitted they made a mistake and should have informed the city about the need to change the separation of utilities when the project was first discussed approximately five years ago. During the meeting with MnDOT and state officials last Tuesday, Johnson said even the state of Minnesota thought moving the project back a year would be in the best interest of both the city and state. He said MnDOT officials also expressed an interest to work more closely with the City of Henning moving forward.

“Between materials and just getting it done and knowing now the state said we will have more meetings like we did yesterday, I feel a lot better and more comfortable if we table this,” said Johnson. “Even the state said for them it would help them out if we would wait for another year.”

Bob Schliemann, of Apex Engineering, said there may be grant funding or low interest loans available to help with the city’s cost of moving the utilities. He also reminded the city of a new requirement from MnDOT that will force Henning to pay for all of the cost of its project prior to the start of construction. That means the City of Henning will be forced to take out a loan to cover the cost of the project until its state funding and grants come available near the end of the project. 

During Tuesday’s meeting with the state, Schliemann said the state said it will likely open bids in September, but would not require the city to make its payment to the state until April 2025 when construction gets underway. That will allow the city to save on interest payments for approximately six months. 

In the past, MnDOT did not require city’s to front the cost of the project, which was also a recent change to the downtown Henning project.