Skate

park

bids

accepted

Project cost is $7,000 less

than budgeted

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm City Council Tuesday accepted low bids for constructing the proposed skate park which would put a $97,951 price tag on the project.

Councilor Ron Fleischmann, in making the motion to approve the low bid of $44,885 from TrueRide, Inc., of Duluth for ramps and jumps, kept the door open for additional equipment because the bids and engineering costs totaled $7,000 less than the $105,000 allocated for the project.

"The Youth Skate Association wants to see if they can negotiate obtaining a 'half pipe' from TrueRide with the money left over plus whatever they could raise," said project engineer Duane Hansel of Bolton & Menk, Inc., Sleepy Eye.

Fleischmann said he wanted to give the kids every opportunity to get the additional equipment. After the vote of approval, Council President Dan Beranek told the youth in the audience, "Have fun, but don't break anything."

"That can't be fixed," added Councilor Ruth Ann Webster.

The council also approved the sale of $1.8 million in general obligation bonds to fund 2002 utility, street and alley improvements and $1,025,000 in general obligation improvement refunding bonds, series 2002, for refunding of the 1994 and 1995B general obligation improvement bonds. The motions left the sale date up to City Treasurer Gary Gleisner.

The two bond issues will be sold as a package to obtain the best rate, said Jeanne F. Vanda of Public Financial Management, Des Moines, the city's bonding consultant.

"Because we may be able to get a better rate at a later time, we're asking you to postpone the actual sale and leave it in the hands of the City Treasurer to determine the best time to sell which we expect to be by August, if not earlier," Vanda explained.

At the request of the New Ulm Youth Soccer Association, the council voted to provide water and electricity to a 20-acre parcel of land that the association is leasing from Independent School District 88. The parcel is right next to the site of Martin Luther College's proposed $2 million athletic complex near North Highland Avenue.

Dave Wright, NUYSA representative, told the council: "We've expended over $6,000 in seeding 10 acres on the site, but the problem is that we have no way of getting water on that grass."

However, the city is barred from providing utilities to the site because it is in Milford Township, just outside the city. So, as City Manager Brian Gramentz suggested, the only permanent fix is for the 20 acres to be annexed into the city.

Councilor Clark Tuttle moved to authorize the city manager to make arrangements to get water to the land free of charge through a hose or other above-ground means and advise the school district of the benefits of annexation. The motion also called upon NUYSA to contact the district urging it to ask for annexation of the property.

When Beranek asked Park and Recreation Director Dave Bechtold to assist in making this happen, including the department paying for the water, Bechtold responded, "We certainly will. This is not a new issue, Mr. President; this is just a revisiting of an old issue."

"Because MLC is not ready to start on their athletic complex this year, we'll be able to have fields for our association," Charlie Bornhoft, NUYSA president and Park and Recreation board member, told the council. He said the association will have about 300 youth in its program again this year.

The council held a public hearing and ordered in sidewalk improvements at six locations, south of Center Street, and one on 16th North Street. Landowners will have until Oct. 1, 2002, to install the sidewalks themselves, or the city will do the job next year and assess the cost to the individual properties.

The council re-established all precincts and polling places at their previous locations, despite a federal blunder in counting. "The federal government believes there are 700 people living at Mueller Park when, in fact, they are at Martin Luther College," Beranek explained.

Gleisner said the city has received a "verbal" confirmation that it was a mistake, but "we haven't seen it in writing yet."