Woodbury council approves 2026 road-rehab project, authorizes $293,280 Bolton & Menk design contract after debate on feasibility reports

The Woodbury City Council on June 25, 2025, approved a resolution to advance the 2026 roadway rehabilitation project and authorized a $293,280 engagement with engineering firm Bolton & Menk for final design, plans and specifications, and necessary easement work.

The vote followed an extended discussion about whether staff should provide updated feasibility reports tied to actual low bids before the council’s assessment hearing. Council member Wilson moved to adopt the 2026 resolution with an amendment requiring an updated feasibility report based on the low bid; that motion received no second. The final motion to adopt resolution 25-132 passed 4–1 (Stafford Aye; Wilson No; Morris Aye; Santini Aye; Mayor Bert Aye).

Why it matters: the council’s action authorizes engineering and project development steps that will lead to formal assessment hearings under state law and advance street, utility and trail work affecting property owners and right-of-way near project corridors.

Council member Wilson pressed for the updated feasibility reports and for the underlying tabulations showing how individual assessments would be calculated. Wilson said she had asked in past years for such material and that an updated report “lays it out very clearly for citizens to be able to look at it and go, I am responsible for 33% of this and 33% of this.”

Chris (city staff) described how the city currently handles feasibility reports and assessment calculations, saying the written preliminary feasibility document is a planning-level item that “outlines the how the assessment policy would work.” He told the council that updated feasibility reports tied to actual bids are not required by Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 429, and that staff now relies on internal spreadsheet tabulations that are prepared after bid awards and are available on request. “What we do now is we have pure spreadsheets. We don't provide an updated preliminary report,” Chris said.

Staff and members cited competing priorities: several council members said the information is available to residents on request and at city hall, while staff raised limits on capacity and the risk of producing interim documents that could become invalid if bids do not result in awards. One council member questioned the staffing burden and the potential for confusion if multiple interim reports circulate.

The council also discussed a specific design choice on Afton Road within the 2026 package. Staff said a section of Afton Road will be narrowed in places to 24 feet to allow a five-foot boulevard and a trail on the north side, reducing impacts to neighboring properties and leaving room for existing overhead power poles. Chris explained the narrower section is a context-sensitive measure to allow pedestrian connectivity while minimizing property impacts and noted that most of Afton Road will remain 28 feet wide. “All we're doing is extending that to Radio Drive … and allowing that trail to continue,” he said.

What was approved: the council ordered the project, approved the preliminary report, authorized preparation of plans and specifications, authorized preparation and acquisition (and, if necessary, condemnation) of easements, and executed a Bolton & Menk letter of engagement for final design in the amount of $293,280.

Next steps: staff will proceed with design and bid solicitation. The council and public will see bid tabulations and assessment calculations as they are prepared; the assessment hearing required under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 429, will provide the formal chance to appeal proposed assessments.

Sources: statements and motions recorded during the Woodbury City Council meeting on June 25, 2025. Direct quotes are attributed to speakers who spoke on the record during the agenda item.