My objection to the special assessment against my property on Virginia Place in Albert Lea in the amount of $8,194.59 is due to an incomplete reconstruction that failed to address the severe sag in the main sanitary sewer line that has a manhole on Virginia Place that continues to sit full of sewage and has threatened residents with damaging sewer backups on the south end of Virginia Place for decades.

My property recently had a sewer backup that resulted in $10,000 worth of damage and destroyed personal property.

The incomplete reconstruction also failed to address the Virginia Place storm sewer lift station that has needed the capacity increased since 1978 to mitigate the damages caused by flooding that happens several times every year on the south end of Virginia Place.

I submitted a proposal in 2015 called the Sixth Street Plan, and the city engineer said my plan would cost approximately $2.1 million to upgrade the Virginia Place storm sewer lift station. He has been telling the Albert Lea City Council for years that his plan would cost $20 million.

Both the sanitary and storm sewer systems require improvements of at least $2.45 million, and both systems continue to threaten residents on the south end. If they were ever repaired it would require completely tearing up the street again. This is unacceptable, and it’s obvious that the most important improvements that needed to be done on this street will never get done.

The only benefit to my property is not having to deal with potholes. The year 1963 was the last time the street in front of my house got a new asphalt overlay.

The high cost of the special assessment by far exceeds any benefit to me or my property. I would have to call it an unconstitutional taking.

This situation couldn’t be more depressing, and I fully blame Jahnke.

Troy Christensen

Albert Lea