One out of four of the Albert Lea and Freeborn County bonding requests was included in Gov. Mark Dayton’s $1.4 billion list of public construction projects released Friday.

Dayton’s $1.4 billion bonding proposal included projects for what he deemed a growing amount of needed upgrades and new buildings across Minnesota. The projects range from the small, such as $350,000 to repair memorials around the Capitol grounds, to the large, such as $90 million to preserve subsidized housing and expand those options.

The area project included in the proposal is for about $3 million in funding to extend sanitary sewer and water to the Stables area north of Albert Lea because of failing septic systems for residents living there. The Stables area includes 60 homes.

District 27A Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, said she is happy the governor included the project in his water quality and infrastructure plan.

“Wastewater treatment and drinking water infrastructure are vital to cities throughout the state like Albert Lea and are expensive to build, upgrade and operate,” Bennett said. “This type of project is a good example of an essential priority that impacts both the local and state levels.”

Albert Lea Mayor Vern Rasmussen Jr. said he is excited about the joint effort the city and county have to take care of some of the water issues in this area.

Looking at Dayton’s whole proposal, Bennett said she was disappointed that outside of two bridges in St. Paul and Minneapolis, there was no funding in Dayton’s proposal for roads and bridges in the suburbs or in rural Minnesota. She said she is also concerned with the price tag for the governor’s plan, which includes things such as snow-making machines and ski lifts.

“Bonding should be for meat and potatoes essential projects — not desserts,” she said. “I do not believe we should be leveraging our children’s financial future for things like snow-making machines. Not only that, it takes away from money that should be going to more essential projects.”

District 27A Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, said he thought the governor’s proposal was “a good starting point,” though it may be a little high. A bonding bill will likely be closer to $1 billion, he said.

A member of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, he said he looks forward to returning to the Capitol in March and working on the Senate’s plans.

He discussed funding for business development and public infrastructure grants and money for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development that may also have some effect locally. He said he will work diligently to promote local projects.

 

What didn’t make the governor’s proposal?

Area bonding requests for Albert Lea’s Riverland Community College campus, the Blazing Star Landing and the Bent Tree Trail were not included in Dayton’s list.

Freeborn County Administrator John Kluever said he was disappointed the county’s $1.5 million bonding request for the design of the Bent Tree Trail was not included, but he recognizes the bonding process takes several steps and that the governor’s proposal is only the first step.

The 12-mile, multi-use trail would span from Madison Avenue in Albert Lea to near Hartland and would connect to the bike lane on Front Street that connects to the Blazing Star Trail.

The funding would be for a bridge on the west side of Albert Lea, other bridge rehabilitation, site grading and plan design. It is along the route of a former Union Pacific Railroad line that the county purchased last March for $1.1 million.

Albert Lea officials are asking for $15 million for the redevelopment of the Blazing Star Landing. The land has sat unused since a fire at the site of the Farmland Foods plant in 2001 and the owners opted not to rebuild.

Of the $15 million, $3.5 million would be used to move Front Street north to make way for lakefront development, and $11.5 million would be for the construction of a 115,000-square-foot community center, along with additional work north of the railroad. Both phases are expected to cost $44.6 million

Rasmussen said he and other city officials will continue to work with Sparks and Bennett to get the projects in both the House and Senate bonding proposals.

“I’m highly disappointed that the governor continues to not see projects in our area as an important part of the bonding process,” Rasmussen said. “But I have confidence with our legislators to work with their parties to get it through.”

He said he and other officials plan to travel up to the Capitol in March with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. While they are there, they hope to talk with other legislators about the local projects.

Riverland Community College had requested about $7.5 million in bonding dollars to go toward renovating outdated space so that the truck driving and collision programs can be relocated from Austin to Albert Lea. It is the college’s goal to integrate the programs into shared spaces with auto service and diesel programs.

Funding would also go to support demolition of the vacant Gateway Building at the college and for 8,734 square feet of new construction.

Riverland President Adenuga Atewologun said of the $154 million for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities included in the governor’s proposal, $80 million is included for asset preservation and the remaining $74 million is for MNSCU’s priority list.

He said the governor’s proposal included funding for the top 10 projects on the priority list. The Riverland project in Albert Lea presently ranks No. 18.

Atewologun said he is hopeful local legislators can convince the governor to expand that funding.

“The work is still being done,” he said. “Hopefully the legislators and the governor can put in more money sufficient to cover more on the priority list.”

Money from the asset preservation portion of the proposal would cover work on Riverland’s Austin campus.

Bennett said she said she looks forward to the next steps that will take place before a bonding bill is approved.

“The House and Senate Capital Investment committees visited Albert Lea and many other parts of the state over the summer to get a firsthand look at many of the bonding requests throughout the state,” she said. “The firsthand knowledge will be as important as those committees move through the vetting process.”