By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Construction workers could soon be making a return to the City of Henning after the city council moved forward with seeking a final design and bids for three separate utility projects totaling over $11.9 million. While a good portion of the projects will be covered by grants, the city council spent time last week weighing whether it can afford to have another summer of construction in the community. 

During a special city council meeting on Wednesday night, which was held just one week after its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Jan. 5, the city council also approved an extension to a master agreement with Apex Engineering. All of the utility projects approved at the meeting received grant and low-interest funding from the PFA and will be put out to bids. If the city council determines the bids are higher than anticipated, or it no longer wishes to proceed with one or more of the projects, it can back out of the projects at that time.  

The largest of the projects is a $9 million utility and surface improvement that will cover portions of School Avenue, Marshall Avenue, Hipple Avenue, Front Street, Jensen Street, Milne Avenue, Minnesota Street and portions of several other streets in town. The PFA approved a grant for $6.57 million of the project with a low-interest loan for $1.62 million. The city will also be on the hook for $810,000 in a loan that is non PFA eligible for the main part of the project for a total of $9 million.

The project includes replacing the existing sanitary sewer, waterman, storm sewer and street surface improvements. 

The city also had the option to add on utility and street improvements for a portion of Balmoral Avenue at a cost of $1.3 million, which is not eligible for grant or PFA low-interest loan funding, but would most likely need to be paid through a bond.

Councilman Scott Hart said he was in favor of including at least the Balmoral Avenue part of the project in the design phase of the project and seeing what the final bids come in at before making a final decision on that part of the project. If the city did not do the Balmoral Avenue portion of the project it would be required to pay $2.4 million for the project, or it could include Balmoral Avenue and replace all of the remaining known old utilities outside of the downtown business district for another $1.3 million. 

Hart also contended extending the utilities on Balmoral Avenue could spark additional residential development in the area that could lead to additional utility customers down the road, all-while receiving $7 million from the state of Minnesota to replace a large portion of its aging utilities. 

“If we did Balmoral there is a possibility for expansion,” he said. “To not take the $7 million, we might not ever get that chance again is my thought.”

Even with the state grant, Henning Mayor Jesse Herman questioned if the city could afford the project due to its rising debt service for the water and sewer funds as the debt service will rise significantly from the project.

Utility Supervisor Ted Strand said much of the infrastructure the city is looking to replace dates back 90-100 years and is beginning to show its age. He said there has been a number of issues with water infiltrating the underground pipes and going into the city’s ponds. If the work is not done with the help of the PFA funding he is concerned the city could have a catastrophic event and need to replace the utilities without the assistance of the PFA. That means the nearly $7 million in state funding Henning would be turning down could fall on the backs of local taxpayers when the repairs are made down the road. 

The council ultimately decided to move forward with getting the project designed and send out to bids for both the main $9 million project with PFA funding, as well as the $1.3 million Balmoral Avenue project that could be taken out of it after the bids are received. Even if the city does not move forward with the Balmoral Avenue project when the bids come in the project will be designed and can be used down the road as well.

The plan is to send the project out to bids in April and begin construction as soon as this summer. According to a time line presented by Apex Engineering last week, the project could also spill into 2027 for surface construction and improvements.

In addition to the big road project, the city council formally approved getting bids for the water tower rehabilitation project at a cost of $650,000 of which $520,000 will be in the form of a grant and $130,000 in the form of a low-interest loan, a master agreement for services with Apex Engineering for another five years and the city’s lead service line replacement project in which the city has received a grant for $967,509 to replace lead and galvanized water lines in the city. Henning has 36 lead or galvanized water lines with another 120 lines currently unknown. The grant will cover the cost of replacing approximately 20-25 service lines with the cost for replacing the remaining lines currently undetermined, but could fall on the city’s shoulders if no future grants are available. 

In other news

• Approved having both the mayor and city clerk sign off on approved city council minutes. 

• Approved a change in procedures to have the city council and mayor receive the opportunity to review the city council packet and agenda 48 hours prior to it being released to the public. 

• Discussed the city council minutes including whether the city should continue to place them in the newspaper in addition to the city website, having more concise minutes with less narrative and concerns over the December city council meeting minutes that were approved at the city’s regular meeting on January 5.

• Approved a building permit for a garage with no living quarters for 119 Balmoral Avenue in Henning. 

• Approved moving attorney work to Krekelberg Law Firm with lead attorney Jeffrey Skonseng for all items except for employment law, which will remain with Swenson Lervick Syverson Trosvig Jacobson Cass Donahue and lead attorney Thomas Jacobson. 

• Approved setting up a WIF account for the water plant project per the PFA requirements. The PFA is requiring the City of Henning to put away a certain percent of its sales each year into an account to be used for future rehab projects and repairs at the water plant.