The State legislature wrapped up its session this week in St. Paul and thanks to the efforts of Senator Grant Hauschild, Representative Roger Skraba and others, the city of Silver Bay will be receiving around $21 million in grant funding. These funds will help finance city improvement projects including the city wide street project, the East Lakeview Drive / Black Beach projects, as well as utility improvement work and other projects that are planned for the city.
Mayor Wade LeBlanc took a few minutes at Monday night’s meeting to speak about the work that has helped secure these needed funds for the city. He recognized the fact that some residents have felt that progress on city improvements is moving too slowly, particularly regarding the condition of city streets and he acknowledged that street improvement is a priority for the city. “We hear people. Bear with us and we’ll get it done. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes and when we do drive on a new street, hopefully people will appreciate it.” Both LeBlanc and City Administrator Lana Fralich have made a number of trips to the Twin Cities to talk with legislators about plans to address the city’s infrastructure needs. The grant funding that has been awarded to the city gives testimony to those efforts.
Bolton and Menk will be working with city officials to conduct a lead service line inventory of residents’ homes. Silver Bay home owners will be receiving a postcard in the mail asking them to take a photograph of where their water service line enters their home. Additionally, each homeowner will be asked to fill out an online form in preparation for upcoming service line replacement work. Due to the availability of federal and state funding, lead service line replacement is available to the resident or homeowner at no cost. Though the replacement work will be an ongoing project over the next few years, a prompt response by area residents to the postcard notification will help expedite the work.
In an effort to cover all households, Bolton and Menk will send representatives, with proper identification, to area homes that do not respond to the postcard requests or that need assistance gathering the requested information. The use of lead pipes in home construction was banned in 1985 so homes built after that will not need to take part in the inventory. Further information on service line replacement can be obtained on the Minnesota Department of Health web site under Lead Service Line Replacement Program Facts.
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/lslrprogram.html
There was discussion at Monday night’s meeting about adjustments that need to be made to the Boathouse Bay development. Like all projects, Boathouse Bay has struggled with rising costs in labor and materials. In spite of efforts by David Drown and the developer John Anderson to come up with a viable funding package, the rising costs have created a funding gap. In order to continue moving the project forward, Drown and Johnson put forth a proposal to move $350,000, earmarked for erosion control and pond construction work, out of a contract proposal with Northland Construction. Johnson is licensed and experienced in erosion control and can use his own resources to do that work. Northland has agreed to this and Drown and Johnson have talked with Lake County about these alterations and believe the county will support this shift in the plan. An additional change involves the transfer of $200,000 in Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation (IRRR) grant money that was originally earmarked for the city and having those funds be available for private utility work. IRRR allows for funds to be shifted in this manner. Drown stated that the bank proposed that the dollar amount of the TIF bond be increased to cover the $200,000 shortfall for city utility work. In essence, this means that the repayment period on the TIF bond would be extended from about 8 years to possibly 10 years. Bank personnel are looking at this proposal and have yet to make a decision on accepting it. Drown said that the project continues to be a positive development for the city and is awaiting a green light from the bank. No action by the Council was needed as yet regarding the proposed changes.
In other news, Larry Carter is retiring after 22 ½ years of service to the city. Sean Bergman will be resigning as a full time police officer but will continue serving as a part time member of the force. The Council approved a special meeting with the Public Utilities Commission on the water treatment facility, to be held on May 30th at 1:00.
The next Silver Bay Council meeting will be held on June 3rd at 7:00.
