Council moves

to create

new utility

Street lighting would be under new utility

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- In an attempt to spread the impact of major cuts in local government aid in the 2004 budget, New Ulm's city manager Tuesday asked the City Council to approve creation of a street light utility that would put the maintenance of the city's street lighting program under New Ulm Public Utilities' jurisdiction.

City Manager Brian Gramentz said the move would save the city about $107,000 in annual power costs, plus from $25,000 to $50,000 a year in replacement costs.

The proposal caught the fancy of Councilor Clark Tuttle who said he was in favor of "shifting as much as we can onto the PUC." However, he said he was concerned that the Public Utilities Commission might charge their customers too much in recouping its costs.

Gramentz said the council could dissolve the utility just as easily as it could set one up if it became concerned about what customers were being charged.

Utilities Director Gary Gleisner said the street lighting charge would be listed separately on customers' bills, and Gramentz said it would appear as a separate division in the NUPU's financial accounting.

"Then, if you didn't like what you saw, the council certainly could take back control of the street lighting," he noted.

The council then moved to send the proposal to the PUC for its input before giving its approval to a resolution creating such a utility.

Runway grant

The council learned, too, that the city is getting more money for runway repair and environmental assessment for the proposed runway extension than first thought.

A grant of $146,800 was announced several weeks ago, but because of "recalculations," Gramentz explained, the city would be getting up to $155,700 from the Federal Aviation Administration to fund 90 percent of the project's eligible costs.

M.R. Paving & Excavating, Inc., of New Ulm, was awarded the runway rehabilitation and crack repair contract with a bid of $23,467 which was $2,829 below engineer's estimate. M.R. Paving was the sole bidder on the project.

Oak Street

Also, the council decided to move quickly on right-of-way acquisition for the proposed Oak Street alignment which has been designated as Alignment No. 3.

The council gave the city manager the go-ahead to begin the process of acquiring the necessary easements for extending Oak Street from North Garden Street through to the North Highland Avenue extension.

Bike trail

The council set Thursday, Oct. 2, at 10 a.m. as the date and time for receiving and opening bids for New Ulm Recreational Trail -- Phase 1. The segment, which is expected to cost $727,000, covers four-plus miles from KC Road to 20th South Street.

"This will serve as a bike trailer, even if the other segments aren't built?" Council President Dan Beranek asked.

"That's right," City Engineer Steve Koehler responded. "This is the portion that will serve as New Ulm's segment of the proposed regional trail."

Gramentz asked Koehler to relate how much time it took for the city to get federal approval.

"We sent the application in in August 2002, and just got it back. It's a heck of a way to operate."

Other action

The council also:

* Approved the low bid of Laraway Roofing, Inc., of $35,800 to replace 4,000 square feet of roofing over the racquetball courts in Vogel Arena.

* Held hearings and approved three final plats for North Ridge, Orchard Hill First and Valley Heights Third Additions.

* Approved on-sale intoxicating liquor and Sunday liquor licenses for the new Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar at 410 20th South Street although Applebee's had several liquor citations in Minnesota.

"I guess we've approved licenses in cases where the citations haven't been in New Ulm," Beranek said.

* Adjourned to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 9 for its preliminary budget meeting to consider a resolution accepting the preliminary 2004 budget for the city and setting the maximum property tax levy for 2004.