The Crookston Ways and Means Committee held a special meeting on Wednesday in the council chambers at City Hall.
The first topic of discussion was capital improvement projects (CIPs). Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler and Finance Director Jon Roscoe have been working with department heads to obtain a comprehensive list of CIPs for their departments, ranked from highest to lowest priority. In total, there were $3,720,000 in CIP requests across 13 departments. Some of the larger requests are $187,000 in fire department requests, which included $95,000 for their fire truck fund and $90,000 for a new garage bay door; $168,000 in police department requests, including $80,000 for two investigation squad cars, $30,000 for the parking lot retaining wall, and $20,000 for new service pistols; $302,000 in parks and recreation requests, including $65,000 for lawnmower leases, new lights for the tennis and basketball courts at Ray Ecklund Park, and $3,00 for the cooling system fund; $200,000 in Valley Technology Park requests, including $180,000 for a new roof; and $2,641,000 in public works requests, including $190,000 for a new plow/dump truck, $20,000 in reserve funding for street lights, $300,000 for watermain repairs, $270,000 for lead line service replacement, which will be covered by a grant, $300,000 for a well field water supply study, and $375,000 for a rate study and the creation of the MS4 program.
| Department | Amount |
| Airport | $36,000.00 |
| City Administration | $5,000.00 |
| City Hall | $75,000.00 |
| Emergency Management | $12,500.00 |
| Fire Department | $187,000.00 |
| Finance Department | $0.00 |
| Information Technology | $87,712.00 |
| Library | $6,000.00 |
| Police Department | $168,000.00 |
| Parks and Recreation (Vehicles/Equipment) | $84,000.00 |
| Parks and Recreation (Ray Ecklund Park) | $210,000.00 |
| Parks and Recreation (Crookston Sports Center) | $8,000.00 |
| Public Works (Street) | $1,373,000.00 |
| Public Works (Water) | $673,000.00 |
| Public Works (Wastewater) | $595,000.00 |
| Valley Technology Park | $200,000.00 |
| Total | $3,720,212.00 |
Selzler reminded the council that these numbers are PRELIMINARY and are subject to change upon further review by city administration and department heads. In 2026, about $1,500,000 worth of CIPs were funded. Selzler wanted to ensure the council and the public were informed of the numbers before anything was defined in the 2027 preliminary budget. “Each year, we present all the capital improvement requests from each department throughout the city in order of priority or importance,” said Selzler. “We understand it’s just reality that we certainly won’t be able to fund all of those, but we certainly want council to see the requests and the need that each department does have, whether that’s next year or a future purchase or a reserve fund to try to get to there. It’s always good to have that transparency, let them see it, let the public see that, and what we’re working toward.”
The final topic was the allocation of grants to non-profit organizations. The council heard presentations from seven groups during the August 17 meeting seeking $182,000 in funding. After reviewing the proposals, the council was split on which groups to fund. Council member Dylane Klatt suggested setting a $100,000 cap on grant allocations and asked that the council reach a consensus on which organizations to fund. After some discussion, the preliminary choices were the Crookston Area Seniors Association/Golden Link, Crookston Aquatic Boosters/Ox Cart Days, and Tri-Valley Opportunity Council. Selzler understands that the council has tough decisions to make when considering these requests, but with limited funding available, some groups may not receive support. Selzler said, “This is a hard one, I know, for the council. Each one of these organizations that put in a request are certainly worthy. They all have a specific niche and service that they provide in the community, which is all very important. Unfortunately, there was $182,000 in total requests. We’re just unfortunate that we can’t fund all of that.”
Selzler appreciated the department heads who attended the meeting and answered some tough questions, and acknowledged that there are still significant steps to be taken at the September 21 regular and September 28 special city council meetings before a preliminary levy is submitted by the September 30 deadline. “Like most or all cities around the state, we’ve been working on this hard since June. At first, were just trying to get the numbers. Now it’s a little more difficult as we’re coming down more to the deadline for the preliminary, going back, and trying to refine some of these budgets. Obviously, making some cuts that are going to need to happen.”
The Crookston City Council will meet on Monday, September 21, at 5:30 in the council chambers at City Hall, and the Ways and Means Committee meeting will take place immediately following the city council meeting.
