City to spend extra $100,000 on Artstone field

Field's price tag hits $1.3 million

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The City Council on Thursday authorized extra work to stabilize an eroding slope at Artstone baseball field, which according to engineering estimates will add some $100,000 to the project's cost.

The council met at 4 p.m. Thursday, in place of a regular meeting Tuesday, July 4.

The additional appropriation comes on top of an extra $98,000 directed to the project in May, and it brings the price tag of the new field, scheduled to open by 2001, to approximately $1.3 million.

The field is funded with a $500,000 private donation, with public funds bridging the gap.

Hill erosion first occurred in late April, during excavation to build the footing of a retaining wall. The problem was caused by a shifting shale deposit found under fill previously placed at the site, an engineers' investigation found.

While the portion of the slope that initially failed has been stabilized, nearby slope sections have continued to fail, City Engineer Steve Koehler told the council on Thursday.

Koehler said this was due to "a combination of unusual soil characteristics and aggravating weather conditions."

Soil experts hired by the city determined that the shale which lies under a layer of uncompacted fill ­ apparently deposited on the slope when neighboring Johnson football field was built in the 1930s ­ "becomes extremely unstable" when exposed to moisture "migrating" along the clay layer from under Johnson football field, said Koehler. This problem has been aggravated by "frequent and sometimes intense rainfall" since the start of construction, he said.

Koehler insisted that engineers hired to do soil testing before the project started did their work properly and could not have anticipated the problem. Soil boring, done by a Mankato engineering firm, was "a snapshot in time" and could not have helped predict the effects of an unusually wet spring, he stressed.

Unanimously approving the extra spending, councilors stressed that it is justified by investment in the field so far.

"[The project] is too far gone. .., there is no turning around on it," said Council President Dan Beranek.

"I guess in a sense we are lucky the damage has occurred now, rather than when the field is completed," said Councilor Clark Tuttle.

City officials also stressed that the cost increases will not reflect on real estate taxes.

The extra costs will be paid with money generated by tax-increment-financing (TIF) projects, said City Manager Richard Salvati. This money is in a special fund, Salvati said. Artstone is the only city project that qualifies for its use, after a change in state law in 1999, he also said.

* In another matter, the council took no action on a report from the New Ulm Economic Development Authority about a plan to convert the former St. Mary's school into 26 "general occupancy" apartments.

Councilors, who cited issues such as the project's conforming to city objectives, agreed to come back to the matter, after the EDA additionally discusses the plans with developers next week.

The project calls for some $275,000 in city support, $200,000 in tax increment financing and a $75,000 loan.

The total project cost is approximately $3 million.

* The council agreed to lease two rooms at the Family Recreation Center to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, for use as a driver exam station every Thursday. The rooms will be leased at a special, lower-than-usual rate of $50 a day, to accommodate cuts in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety budget.

* Raised the salary of the city police commander, from $46,592 to $49,150, to bring it closer to salaries paid in comparable-sized cities. The commander's salary will be reviewed again at year-end.

* At a special 2 p.m. meeting, the council heard a report on a $500,000 Minnesota Department of Transportation plan to improve Highway 14 from 20th South to 7th North streets in 2002, and a $4 million plan to upgrade Highway 14 from 7th North to North Highland in 2004.