Capital Investment Committee hears wave of water, sewer and levee funding requests from cities across Minnesota

Capital Investment Committee members heard testimony on March 6, 2025, in St. Paul on more than a dozen bonding requests for water and wastewater projects, levee repairs and related infrastructure across Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area. Representative members and mayors from towns including Duluth, Albert Lea, Carver, Bloomington and several smaller cities described aging systems, regulatory pressure and public‑health concerns and asked the committee for state assistance.

The requests matter because many of the projects are large, urgent and tied to public‑safety or regulatory deadlines. Some communities said local tax bases and utility rates cannot cover the full cost. Committee members were repeatedly told that without state help projects would be delayed, utility rates would rise steeply or communities would remain at risk from floods, water contamination or capacity shortfalls.

The largest single requests include a Duluth regional water plant modernization (House File 972) that the city says carries a $42.4 million price tag with a proposed $21.2 million state share; Albert Lea’s multi‑phase wastewater upgrade (Representative Bennett) with a top ask of $37 million to complete remaining phases; and a $110 million North Sunborough regional sanitary project (House File 644) that supporters said needs half state funding to proceed. Other significant requests include $13 million for Bloomington’s North Central sanitary sewer project (House File 1280) and $14.1 million for Eagle Lake (House File 1045), with the state asked to cover roughly half of those…