East Grand Forks city leaders will ask Minnesota legislators for about $20 million when they meet in St. Paul in early March.
Local officials are seeking $9.5 million each for a new sewage treatment system and $10 million for a wellness center, although the latter is for a few years out. They also will request $250,000 for an additional 15 campsites in the Red River State Recreation Area campgrounds in their March 4-5 meetings at the Capitol.
Mayor Lynn Stauss said the city’s priority is the sewage treatment lagoon system, which is approaching 90 percent of its capacity. If the system reaches 95 percent, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will not allow any commercial or residential development in the city.
Tweten said a new treatment system will mean “we will have the capabilities of handling an expansion of business of food processing. This is a plan and a program for the future.”
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The treatment system, expected to be completed no later than 2018 if work starts this year, could cost as much as $19 million. The balance of the cost likely would come from fees to local property owners, spread over 20 years.
Chairman optimistic
State Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer, said the treatment system has the best chance for immediate state help among the three project requests.
“A lot of cities have infrastructure that’s old and needs to be fixed,” said Stumpf, a DFL leader who is the chairman of the Senate’s bonding committee. “But, East Grand Forks has been talking wastewater treatment for several years and now has its plans firmed up.
David Murphy, East Grand Forks city administrator, said he’s confident the sewage treatment system will be highly regarded by state government “because we’ve done our homework with what our needs are and we’ve demonstrated our need. I think our project will score higher on a priority list because of fewer unanswered questions.”
Tweten said the project is necessary for growth.
“The big thing is if we have expansion of a business or add more food processing, we’ll have the capabilities of handling it,” he said. “This is a plan and a program for the future.”
Others less certain
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Because of the large number of local governments seeking state help for infrastructure, Stumpf said it will be more difficult to sell a wellness center/swimming pool. Stauss said he would likely need East Grand Forks public schools and Northland Community and Technical College as partners to strengthen such of a bid.
However, Stauss said he’s optimistic about the campground expansion because the additional 15 campsites will help the state as well as the city.
“More campsites will bring more tourists, which will help our stores and also add to the sales tax,” Stauss said. “The state will get their money back in sales taxes.”
Tweten said the city showed its commitment to the campgrounds several years ago when it committed $400,000 to campsite expansion.
“We feel it’s the state’s turn,” Tweten said.
