The overhaul of West St. Paul's blighted, heavily-trafficked South Robert Street has raised taxes, preoccupied business owners, dominated City Council discussions and forced a mayor out of office.
Despite the controversy, the largest public works project in the city's history is on the brink of moving forward, following a monthlong delay as officials tried to figure out how to cut down its cost.
Faced with a tight deadline to bid the project and a threat of losing millions in federal funding, City Council members will hold one more meeting Monday to answer the public's questions before voting on how to proceed.
"We're going to lose $8 million of grant money if we don't move," City Council member Dick Vitelli said. "We can't kick this can down the road."
Mayor-Elect David Meisinger, who campaigned on a platform of being "100 percent opposed" to the project, said Monday's meeting will provide the public with nothing more than a chance to vent before city officials decide to move forward as planned.
Meisinger unseated John Zanmiller, who supports road reconstruction and beautification, and will take over the position in January when the city plans to seek bids, for a second time, on the first phase of roadway construction.
This part of the renovation, which includes replacing pavement, fixing storm sewers, adding medians and new lighting and traffic signals, was anticipated to cost around $20.7 million. When the city opened up the project for bids in October it received two offers. The lowest was $28.5 million.
That price tag sent council members back to the drawing board. Dave Hutton, a senior associate at SRF Consulting Group, presented several options this week to cut costs. They included thinner pavement and eliminating some of the storm sewer and water main work.
The city should decide what repairs to make and open the project for bidding in January, when companies have all their personnel in the office, Hutton said. That is when West St. Paul is likely to get the most offers. And if the city wants to keep the federal funding it must cut a check to a company in May, he said.
Officials have yet to vote on whether to scale back their investment. But Council Member Jenny Halverson harkened back to last year, when they talked about repairing the potholed road as a "legacy decision."
"We were going to be spending these millions of dollars on this road that's so important to West St Paul because it was an investment in West St. Paul. And now we're talking about it as more of a patch," she said.
She asked whether the city could file for an extension on use of the $8 million. City staff warned that would be a gamble. "Yeah, there's a risk that you lose the money," Halverson said. "But there's a risk that you get it wrong — and is that a risk you're willing to take?"
Waiting for change
The full Robert Street plan was recently estimated to cost $32.5 million, including a second phase of landscaping.
Zanmiller has said the improvements will make Robert Street more safe, accessible and walkable, and will increase drivers on the road from 26,000 a day to 35,000. He suggested Monday that the city assess fees on Robert Street property owners, who he said will benefit from the project.
"I just see a fundamental flaw in not making some assessment to the adjacent properties," he said. And it is unfair to force property owners along other streets to help pay for the council's policy decisions and then "give Robert Street property owners a pass."
The idea left Steve Shaller on edge.
"It's just bad faith negotiating," said Shaller, who runs Southview Square shopping center on South Robert Street. The road needs improvement, he said, but he does not support many of the City Council members' ideas, like the addition of a tree every 50 feet, which he said would block the public's view of the mall.
"Their living isn't at stake here," he said.
Meisinger said he hopes officials do move forward with an assessment, but his reasoning was far different from Zanmiller's.
City policy says that if 51 percent of property owners opt out of an assessment, the project would be canceled, Meisinger said.
'Just chaos'
The diverging opinions of the two mayors hung over this week's City Council meeting. Meisinger watched from the back of the room as officials considered options for rebidding the road project.
"I'm embarrassed," he said. "It's just chaos. They don't have a plan. The plan is to do the same thing over and see if they get a different result. I think that's the definition of insanity."
Meisinger, who beat Zanmiller with slightly more than 52 percent of the votes, said he opposes the beautification plans, such as the proposal to plant trees along the corridor. That spikes the initial project cost, would obstruct views of the businesses and lead to more maintenance once roots come up, he said.
"The overall price tag is just too much and it's a tax burden," Meisinger said. "The road does not attract business. How much money West St. Paul residents have in their pockets to go spend at a business is what attracts them to this town."
West St. Paul isn't a wealthy community: It has the 10th lowest median household income among metro cities and townships, and is anticipating an 8.6 percent increase in its tax levy next year, nearly two and a half times the median levy increase of metro area cities.
The Robert Street project accounted for about 3.5 percent of the levy increase, said finance director Joan Carlson. And although the project's future is uncertain, she anticipates it will lead to more tax increases in coming years.
It's not just the city that is waiting to see how a new mayor plays out. As Dakota County commissioners discussed options for transit along Robert Street, including a streetcar or bus rapid transit line, a commissioner asked how the mayoral change would affect future projects.
"We don't know yet," said Commissioner Kathleen Gaylord, whose district includes West St. Paul. The county needs to watch how the situation develops before making a decision on transit in the area, she said.
"We're getting a little ahead of the things that need to be in place to make a good decision," she said.
A couple of West St. Paul council members shared that view as the group discussed how future transit projects would impact the road. Vitelli called the streetcar a pipe dream and said it is not figuring into his decisionmaking on the road's design.
The legislative climate could push such plans back years, Council Member Dave Wright said, and the city should not base decisions on something they assume will happen in 10 or 15 years.
"Build the road," he said. "Do it right. Get it done the way it's supposed to."
Jessie Van Berkel • 952-746-3280
