Henning to seek grant for road repairs in Industrial Park
News | Published on October 16, 2026 at 11:12am EDT | Author: Kendall Koenen
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
While it may be a long shot, the Henning City Council is hoping the third time’s the charm in receiving a grant to improve the road through the Industrial Park.
During its regularly scheduled meeting last Monday night, the Henning City Council approved submitting a grant application to the State of Minnesota’s LRIP program for road improvements. A similar application for state funding through the LRIP program was denied in both 2024 and 2025.
There is no cost to apply for the funding, which would provide a grant for 100 percent of the construction portion of the project, which is estimated to be $1.5 million. The only cost to the city would be the professional costs of about $390,000 should the council move forward with the project.
Sam Rupert, of Apex Engineering, said the state has cut the available funds for the LRIP program by about 80 percent so there will be less money available this time around, but informed the council there would not be a cost associated with throwing its name into the hat to see if funding could be available this time around. He also told the council that approximately 40-50 percent of the funding must be dedicated to tribal lands in 2027.
Rupert told the council that even if it is approved for funding it does not need to move forward with the project should the city determine it cannot afford the professional fees associated with the project.
The council also received an update on the water treatment facility rehabilitation project and repairs associated with a water main break that occurred on Marshall Ave. as part of that project. Originally the city council agreed to pay for up to a third of the cost of the repair, or up to $25,000, but additional information has come to light that indicates the reason for the water main break was not related to the work being done at the water treatment facility.
Since the reason didn’t have anything to do with the water treatment facility project, the contractor requested that the city pay the full cost of the repair, or $43,000.
Rupert said even with the cost of the repair the city will have enough room in the project budget to make the repair, while also receiving a grant for 80 percent of the cost of the repair since it will be rolled into the overall cost of the water treatment facility rehabilitation project.
The council agreed to fund the entire cost of the water main repair and lump the financing into the overall water treatment facility rehabilitation project.
As far as the current utility and surface improvement project, Rupert said construction has begun on Jensen St., Milne Ave. and Balmoral Ave. and it is anticipated that construction on these roads will be completed this fall. The remainder of the expansive project will take place in 2027.
The council also heard that the low bid of approximately $270,000 was received for the lead line replacement project in Henning. The cost of the project will be covered by a grant and no city cost will be associated with the project.
In other news
• Approved a resolution to accept a grant from the Minnesota Department of Interior for a new fire skid unit for the Henning Fire Department. The total grant will be for $21,315 and does not require a local match. The new fire apparatus will go into the back of a pickup.
• Approved a request from the Henning Haunted House to close a portion of 2nd St. and Fergus Ave. during the annual haunted house.
• Approved a request to submit an application for up to $300,000 in grant funding to install a cultural based interpretive walk that could eventually coincide with a walking path through Henning. Councilwoman Jessica Strege said a number of other groups like the White Earth Nation and the school would need to sign off on the grant application, as well as the city council.
• Heard from several residents about the Feral cat issue in the City of Henning and asked the council to find ways to cut down on the Feral cat population. The council said live traps are available if residents need to use them for trapping Feral cats that are causing destruction to private property.
• Heard from ambulance director Brittany Greenwood who stated there have been 321 calls for service so far this year for the ambulance service. She said the ambulance service is also working on a minimum pay per call charge of $200 for respondents to ambulance calls. The EMT that responds to the call would receive a minimum of $125 for the call, while the driver would receive a minimum of $75 per call. The hope was to get away from on-call pay that currently pays just $1.50 as the ambulance service looks into transitioning into more of a fire call system that is currently being used in Grant County. As part of that system the call for service would go out to all people who are willing to respond to calls and those who are able to respond to the call can do so, rather than having designated people on call 24/7.
• Heard an update on a potential extension to the water contract with the City of Ottertail. Henning Mayor Jesse Hermanson said the two communities met on October 1 and made significant progress toward an extension of the long-standing practice of Henning providing water to the City of Ottertail for a fee. Hermanson said the hope was to finalize the contract by the October 19 Henning City Council meeting.
• Heard from two residents during the public comment portion of the meeting who encouraged the council to make additional spending cuts, as opposed to raising taxes/rates, as well as another resident about potential sentiment building up in the faucet at their home.