Commissioners OK road upgrade

Change allows Springfield

to build bike trail

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Brown County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday to upgrade 2,800 feet of CSAH 5 for a bike trail that could be built southeast of Springfield by the end of 2005.

Springfield requested the county look at the possibility of placing the bike trail off the road shoulder but within the CSAH 5 right-of-way. The request requires widening 950 feet of the west road shoulder and surfacing 2,800 feet of it.

That segment of CSAH 5 is scheduled for regrading and shoulder widening in 2010 and 2011. Commitment to the project would be contingent on Springfield getting a DNR grant that would require trail work to be done by Dec. 31, 2005.

Springfield's share of the trail cost is estimated at $125,000. The DNR would contribute $100,000 with grant approval. The cost of county in-kind services is estimated to be $65,000 plus $6,000 for additional right-of-way.

Brown County Commissioner Charles Guggisberg asked Springfield City Manager Mac Tillberg if he considered seeking federal funds for the trail project.

Tilberg said trying to get federal money was a "long, hard process and long, hard wait" that required federal highway standards that would drive up costs sharply.

Guggisberg asked if the county could drop out of the process. Tilberg said it could.

Brown County Highway Engineer Wayne Stevens explained that the county could get a "nice" bike trail most of which would be funded by Springfield and the DNR.

Guggisberg said he thought the county should support the project but if "push comes to shove" regarding budget issues, it could be omitted. The vote followed Guggisberg's motion, seconded by Donald Wellner.

The board unanimously approved:

* referring Stevens drafting a policy for the board to consider regarding emergency township bridge repairs until the Feb. 3, 2004 meeting.

* using concrete instead of timber to rebuild railroad crossings this summer on Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern railway lines that run through CSAHs 3, 7, 8 and 27, motion by James Berg, seconded by Wellner.

Stevens asked commissioners to upgrade the CSAH 12 railroad crossing to a signal system with gates. The highway, just west of New Ulm, will be used as detour for for U.S. Highway 14 in 2004 and 2005. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has agreed to pay $10,000 towards the county cost.

Total cost of the crossing projects using concrete was estimated at $150,000 compared to $44,000 using timber. Concrete was estimated to last at least three times as long as timber.

"In the long run, we'll be way ahead," (using concrete) commissioner Wellner said.

Stevens said the crossing work should be done by this June.

* an agreement with the DM&E railway to use CSAH 12 as a detour for TH 14 in 2004 and 2005, motion by Guggisberg, seconded by Berg. The State of Minnesota and railroad agreed that a signal system with gates is needed on CSAH 12 during the detour. The state plans to install a used system at its own expense.

Surface work costs for the railroad crossing improvement include $18,183 for the county, $10,000 for the state and $29,912 for the railroad. State signal work is estimated to cost $37,137.

* accepting and filing the 2003 Year End (cash basis, unaudited) Budget Report reflecting expenditures of $22,028,457.27 which are 99 percent of budget. Revenues of $22,851,851.62 were 103 percent of budget including property tax collections through Dec. 31, 2003.

Total revenues were higher than budget since about $570,000 because counties are required to pay contractors for project finals and bridge bonding funds before seeking State reimbursement. This caused payment and reimbursement to fall in different years, County Administrator Chuck Enter noted in a memo.