CROOKSTON CITY COUNCIL APPROVES PLANS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRAL PARK CAMPGROUND AND REDESIGNED BATHHOUSE

The Crookston City Council met on Monday evening for a regular meeting inside the City Hall Council Chambers.

REGULAR AGENDA

The council first approved rescinding a previous enabling resolution for the Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) and replaced it with a new one to create the CHEDA board to a seven-member commission, with two of them being members of the City Council for six-year terms with the other five being citizens of Crookston. The council approved the modification.

Crookston Central Park Campground and Redesigned Bathhouse Construction

The council approved a resolution to approve the plans and specifications for the construction of the Crookston Central Park Campground and Redesigned Bathhouse. “In 2018, we came in with a Red River Corridor, and we got a grant for a campground. So, we’re looking at making two bids for a 17-campground campsite with seven drive-thrus so that people can make a big camper with a loop in the road. Then the other bid we’re looking at is for a 29-site campground and then with some space for tenting as well,” Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg explained. “The bathhouse was originally designed as a storm shelter, but the last bid that came through was about double the price of what material and labor costs were. We then found out that our City Hall qualifies for a storm shelter, and we are within the correct distance from Central Park to get here, so we are going to plan for a non-shelter building. We went over the plans for those today with the council, which has four bathrooms, all ADA compliant, with a storage shed in the back. It’s very open and has good parking and stuff for anyone that wants to use it.”
City Clerk Ashley Rystad has now opened bids for the campground and bathhouse’s construction, with a bid opening scheduled for March 30 at 2:00 p.m. The council approved the plans. The blueprints of the campground and redesigned bathhouse can be seen below-

REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATION

City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds reported he had met with Jason Carlson about moving into the Fournet building, and Tri-Valley was beginning to move into it. He had also met with Community Development Director Kari Kirschbaum to discuss erosion happening near Crescent Avenue. He had also presented the multiuse pathways along Barrette, Central, and Fisher Ave. for the Transportation Alternative Program grant in McIntosh. He shared his optimism for the grant. He also shared that the Open House for the Child Care Center in Washington Elementary School is on February 28, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and she was hoping to open the Center on March 6 with 14 children already registered to join.

Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg reported that he had contacted Wir3d Electric to install a new software system and SCR on their new compressor, which he heard would be added to the Crookston Sports Center this week. They also held their Mite (7-8 year old) Jamboree hockey tournament on Saturday, which had 19 teams come to the Center. They also would host the 15U A Regional Tournament on Friday afternoon, inviting over 12 teams to participate. They would then have their figure skating show the week after before they would begin removing ice and preparing for the spring.

Public Works Director Brandon Carlson reported he had worked with Highland Principal Chris Trostad with a grant by Safe Kids Grand Forks for pedestrian safety in Highland.

Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler reported that they had started two officers since the start of the month, and another had accepted the final job offer, with him starting on March 13. They were still in the background phase of the applicant for the last vacancy they needed to fill and hopefully would have a start date within the next few weeks. They had completed repairing their water main leak and would start moving things back to their original places tomorrow.

Several Council members reported they would be attending the League of Minnesota Advanced Training sessions on Thursday, March 2, to learn how they could be better City Council members.

CONSENT AGENDA

The Consent Agenda included the approval of the City Council minutes from their meeting on February 13 and the approval of the City of Crookston Bills and Disbursements of $556,188.90. The council approved the agenda.

WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE

The Crookston Ways & Means Committee met afterward to hear a presentation by Public Works Director Brandon Carlson with the results he had come up with on the 2023 Street Improvement Assessments. The city will use Polk County’s assessor’s database front and side benefit footage of the properties adjacent to the street being improved upon. For the cul-de-sacs, the assessment will be a flat 30% that will be equally distributed to the abutting properties due to the lot’s irregular shape. Carlson gave an example using the City Engineer’s estimate of $200,000 for an 11-parcel cul-de-sac with each lot being 300×300 feet, where each lot would pay 1/11^th of the $60,000 assessment for $5,455 per parcel with lots at the end of streets paying a reduced rate. The city would follow a three-year Capital Improvement Plan for the improvements for $1,797,161, with the public funding set at 70%.
“We grab about 3.8% of our annual Local Government Aid (LGA) that we set aside every year for our street improvements, and Crookston gets quite a bit of Local Government Assistance because it is based on the age of the homes and a lot of our homes are pretty old, and some are older additions. So, we’ll grab about 3.8% of that. Then the MnDOT State Aid is sent to us to maintain and improve our State Aid roads, which is about 20% of our roads are designated as that. Any time we improve those roads for about 1 million dollars, we get refunded that full $1 million, and that $350,000 gets reimbursed after we send a request. For the water portion of these projects, Alexander Street and Houston Avenue will have their water mains replaced, so the Water Department will fund half of the road reconstruction,” Carlson explained. “They’re also doing some storm replacement when they’re doing the reconstruction too, so $133,340 is coming from the sewer fund to help fund that, and our 227 fund is our reserve from any time we get reimbursed from the MnDOT State Aid for road reconstruction. That’s already supported by local taxes and the general public, so when I say 70%, that’s where we’re coming up with that, and the 30% is evenly distributed by the abutting property owners depending on how much front edge or side their parcel has. So, if they have 200 feet of the front edge and the total road is 1000 feet, they would get 20% of that 30% percent assessment.”
After much discussion, the committee requested for the City Administration to complete an analysis of what the results would be if a 30% levy was placed on each property in which street work would be done on the street that runs across the front footage of their property. The assessment can potentially go lower than 30% of the cost to be discussed at the next meeting for that to be assessed or if there would be a deviation. The committee then began discussing how long the assessment payments could be spread.
“Presently, the policy of the city’s maximum is 10 years, but Minnesota Statute provides that you can spread an assessment for up to 30 years,” “Corky” Reynolds explained. “The Ways & Means Committee asked that the City Administration prepare various analyses of if we spread it over 30 years, what’s the payback and interest rate. So, we need to bring back figures for them to review at the next Council meeting.”
The full Street Assessment presentation can be seen below-

CHEDA Board Member Appointments

The committee also approved the new CHEDA Board members in its new seven-member commission. City Council members Dylane Klatt and Tim Menard are rejoining the board, with their terms scheduled to end in 2026. Corky Reynolds and Kari Kirschbaum had recommended other members, including Annette Thompson, Phil Schramm, Nick Nicholas, Morgan Hibma, and Tom Skjei. The complete list of members and their terms can be seen below-

The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, March 13, at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.