The City of Newport’s new Public Service Building is garnering a lot of interest.

Andy Hoffman of Hoffmann and Uhlhorn Construction, general contractors for the project, reported to the City Council at a busy meeting Nov. 19 with discussion ranging from city operations to closing and staffing city hall for the rest of the year and helping local businesses harmed by COVID-19.

Here’s a city recap of the meeting by Pauline Schottmuller.

New Public Service Building Update: Andy Hoffman, of H& U, the general contractor reported to council that the opening of the bids for contracts is being delayed by one week. There is a lot of interest in this project with more than 19 contractors expressing a desire to bid for the work. There were requests for more information, some design clarifications that needed to be done and some last minute documents sent out. Bids will now be opened November 24th at 2pm. 23 contracts are being bid. H& U will have a tally of all the bids done by Wednesday. Interviews with the bidders will be conducted to ascertain that the bid submitted is complete and the numbers are firm. H& U will then present a list of winning contractors to the council at their December 3rd meeting for approval. Groundbreaking is planned for the first Monday in April with a completion in the spring of 2022.

Jason Aarsvold of Ehlers, Newport’s financial advisors, reported that the 30 day reverse referendum period is over. (When a city approves a bond issue there is a 30 day waiting period to allow residents to present a petition in opposition to the bonding proposal. No one in Newport did this.) It takes 60-90 days to get from “go” to receiving the money so he anticipates a “go” date some time in February or March. The city can wait until then to reimburse itself for the money spent on the 12th St. and !2th Ave. project.

Dan stated that this will be good timing as the city should know more about any impacts to Local Government Aid. Since the legislature takes into consideration the amount of money a city has in its savings when determining the level of state aid, it would be better to not have that bond money yet.

Council member Bill Sumner asked about interest rates? Jason replied that interest rates continue to be at historic lows and he doesn’t foresee this changing by February/ March. Ehlers has planned for 1.8% for the 20 year public service building bond and 1.71% for the 15 year bond to reimburse the city coffers for the street projects. These rates have a 0.3% cushion built in so the actual interest rate may be lower.

Sheriff’s Report: Sgt. Bill Harrell reminded people that it is the season for porch pirates so be aware and have packages delivered only when someone is home. He also reminded people that the winter parking restrictions are now in force. There is no parking on the street from 2am to 7am or any time there is a snowfall of 2 inches or more. Citations will be written.

Fire Chief’s Report: Chief Steve Wiley again announced the annual Steve Cozad Memorial Newport Fire Food and Toy Drive December 6th from 10am to 1pm at the Newport Center. There is a barrel for dropoff at the Newport Drug Store. Checks to “Friends in Need food shelf” as well as cash donations will be accepted. Steve also cautioned people who warm up their cars in attached garages. A car running inside a garage can raise the level of Carbon monoxide in the house and set off the CO detectors.

Engineer’s Report: 10th Ave. Stormwater improvement project: Jon Herdegen reporte the contractor, Fitzgerald Excavating, has finished all the piping and drain tile. They are now cleaning up the site and opening up 10th Ave. November 2nd was the substantial completion date in the contract. It is now 17 days past that. The company has requested a 2 week extension, citing inclement weather and illness of the owner requiring treatment at Mayo. They did hire a second crew to speed up completion of the project. In response to a question from Mayor-elect Laurie Elliot, Jon explained that the 17 days are calendar days which includes weekends and includes Veteran’s Day. Most contractors work on Veteran’s Day and can work on weekends. Fitzgerald started late and didn’t maximize their time.

It is staff’s opinion that only 7 days were affected by weather severe enough to impact work on the project. Illness is usually not considered a reason to grant an extension. The contract calls for a $5000 penalty for the 10 days of delays. This penalty, if council approves, will be deducted from the final payment. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald is requesting a partial payment of $39,935.20. Council approved both the $5000 penalty and the partial payment.

12th street improvement project: (see first photo) The final layer of asphalt was done November 17th. Restoration work is being done. Not all the final grading will be completed this year. Steeper grades and sensitive areas are being targeted right now and the rest will be done next year. Jon again acknowledged all the frustrations felt by residents in this area. A-1 Excavating is requesting partial payment #5 for $425,993.15. Council approved this payment.

Jon presented a summary of the assessment roll for this project. Less curb was taken out and less rock than predicted was run into. This has lessened the cost of the project which translates into a lower assessment for affected homeowners. Instead of $4400, they will now be assessed $4132. A letter explaining this will be sent out to the homeowners. The assessment roll needs to be sent to the county for certification by Nov. 30th.

Lastly, Jon reported on the 3M drinking water project. Cost estimates of the various capital improvement projects are being done. They looked at the water rate study. There will be targeted discussions with each city in early December with things wrapping up in April. The second interconnect Newport wants with Cottage Grove has not been added to the project list yet.

Council member Kevin Chapdelaine felt that the water rate study was not that helpful. He agreed with Jon that it was a one page cheat sheet showing what each city will be charging residents for water over the next 5 years. “We are not doing as badly as we thought.” He is glad to hear that the county will be looking for “buy in” from the cities. It is cities and townships that supply drinking water, not the county, so they need to come back to the cities. Kevin stressed the importance of the interconnect with Cottage Grove. The approved interconnect with Woodbury will help if only part of Newport’s water supply goes down. The second interconnect needs to be there in case our entire water supply is interrupted.

Laurie asked about the amount of the settlement money. $700 million in available funds after legal fees and expedited projects are paid for. There is another $40 million in a separate fund and a 2017 decree about money that Kevin had some doubts about. Jon assured Laurie all the money will be spent on projects and “long term O & M “. ( I’m not sure what that is but I’m guessing long term monitoring of the PFAS). Dan asked about the funds set aside for river recreation projects. Jon felt that will be a 2021 Sumer conversation. He is working on conceptual plans for a fishing pier at the Cedar Lane levee property. Dan wants to get back in touch with the Mdewakanton Tribe about moving the Red Rock to the levee park.

Attorney’s Report: none Administrator’s Report: city planner, Sherri Buss, presented the request for a minor subdivision by Dave Johnson. ( see second photo) He wants to split the property at 766 19th St. into 2 buildable lots. There is a house and garage on one half. He will be moving a house onto the other half. The planning commission reviewed the request and held the public hearing. They felt the request met all the ordinance requirements. There were no public comments. So the PC recommended the minor subdivision be approved. Mr. Johnson will pay $3400 into the Park Dedication fund. Council approved the lot split 5-0.

COVID policy discussion: city administrator, Deb Hill, noted the escalating infection numbers in the county and Governor Walz’s new restrictions on bars, restaurants, fitness centers and entertainment venues. She wants to close city hall until the end of the year. Employees will work from home. This is a slow time of year, anyway. People can call for an appointment if they need to see staff in person.

This set off a lively discussion by council. Council member Tom Ingemann spoke against the closing and wondered what other cities were doing. Deb cited a number of cities that were closing. Laurie wanted someone available at city hall. She recognizes that staff thinks remote work is satisfactory but residents do not. Kevin agreed that he heard enough during campaigning that people were not happy when city hall was closed from March to June. Everyone is on the payroll and one person can work a 10 hour day at city hall one day/week. If someone comes to the door and is not wearing a mask, “don’t open the door.” Dan cited how out of control the virus is and that the city needs to take appropriate action to mitigate the spread and to be respectful of staff and our first responders. First the council voted 4-1 (Tom dissenting) to close city hall and then they voted 4-1 (Bill dissenting) to have one staff/day at city hall from 8am to 6pm, Monday-Friday.

Dan then proposed using some of the Cares funds the city received from the Federal Government to make grants to the Newport businesses affected by the recent state closure orders. He felt that the city looked greedy using all the funds for city expenses and he did not want to lose another Newport business. The city needs to do what it can to support our businesses. Right now that money has been earmarked for sheriff and fire department expenses. Every emergency run is considered a Covid run (editorial comment: since the Covid status of an ill person cannot always be definitely known, the safest practice is then to presume the person is sick with Covid and act accordingly) Deb spoke against this as the city will be audited in the use of the Cares Funds and these grants might not be an allowed use. Very few Newport businesses applied for the funds handled by the county. The county program ended Nov. 15th per Federal guidelines. Laurie wondered what requirements the city would need to meet in order to manage a grant program? Kevin noted that he agreed with the sentiment behind Dan’s request but the “devil is in the details.” City attorney Fritz Knaack spoke out strongly against the idea. He doubted the city had the authority to make these grants with the Cares Fund money as that was for city related Covid expenses. Sherri noted an article she read recently that Hennepin County is targeting relief to businesses right now. In the end, it was decided that staff will explore all options to see what is possible for Newport to do.

Public Works Report: Bruce Hanson had nothing to report. In answer to a question from Bill, he reported that yes, the damaged trees by the NE ped bridge were hit by a car. (See third photo) Mayor and council reports: Bill attended the planning commission meeting. Laurie announced that the Parks Baord will not be meeting in November and December as their meeting dates conflict with the Holidays.