Canton commission approves airport master plan work, street sealing contract, utility upgrades and up to $220,000 for sewer dewatering; several routine licenses

Canton City Commissioners approved a package of contracts, service agreements and operational authorizations affecting the airport, streets, utilities and municipal staffing, and approved up to $220,000 to cover anticipated dewatering costs for a sewer installation across county property.

Key approvals recorded in the meeting included acceptance of a KLJ Engineering independent-fee-estimate (IFE) and a professional services agreement for an airport master plan and airport layout plan; KLJ’s Aaron Storm told commissioners the firm is preparing two FAA grant applications to cover most of the planning cost and that the local share is expected to be about 2.5 percent while the FAA share for the current grants is 95 percent.

The commission awarded the 2025 slurry-seal street project to Asphalt Surfacing Technologies of Saint Paul for $137,562.80 on the recommendation of Myron Adams of GSA Engineering. The commission also approved a motion to accept a bid and professional services agreement for an airport layout/master plan and the supporting IFE, with the IFE amount on the agenda listed as $3,500.

Utility and infrastructure actions included approval of a $39,937 proposal to design and build a main lift starter panel to UL 508A standards with NRTL listing and a broader lift-station program to standardize panels across stations. The commission approved a Maple Electric proposal to upgrade the city’s SCADA/state data connection for about $39,077 and to add chlorine and scale alarm signals (transcript shows $6,338 for the chlorine/scale signals; an additional figure appeared in the spoken record that was not clear). Officials said parts for existing equipment are becoming scarce and the SCADA computer is running Windows 7 with no redundancy, prompting the upgrades and standardization work.

On a separate infrastructure item, the commission approved up to $220,000 to cover dewatering costs connected with installing an oversized sewer pipe across county property for the justice center; city staff said extra dewatering is required because the pipe will cross below the water table and a Minnesota contractor that specializes in dewatering was engaged to perform the work.

Other actions taken without extended debate included routine malt beverage license renewals and purchase agreements (state paperwork due May 20), approval of a raffle request from the Canton Chamber, Canton Economic Development Corporation and Canton Inwood Area Health Foundation for a golf-tournament ball-drop raffle (tickets $20; winner announced June 20), and authorization to advertise for open parks maintenance and public works positions. Commissioners also approved a union memorandum of understanding providing a seven-minute grace window for clock-in/out (policy language on counting minutes clarified on the record).

A personnel item recorded in the meeting: Dalton Nelson, the maintenance foreman, received a 90-day review that included a recommendation to increase his wage to $31.17 (grade 12 step 5); the commission recorded a motion not to approve that pay increase during the meeting and that motion carried on the record.

Why it matters: the airport master plan and FAA grants shape long-term airport development and capital needs; the slurry-seal contract sets the city’s 2025 street preservation approach; the SCADA, lift-station and dewatering approvals address near-term reliability risks for water/wastewater systems and could entail multi-hundred-thousand-dollar costs. The vote to authorize up to $220,000 in dewatering costs was highlighted as a direct result of the specified oversizing and the required elevation of the pipe.

Votes at a glance (items recorded in transcript): • Airport master plan/IFE: Accepted; IFE amount on agenda $3,500; staff to submit two FAA grant applications (local share ~2.5%). • 2025 slurry seal: Awarded to Asphalt Surfacing Technologies (Saint Paul) — bid $137,562.80; recommendation by GSA Engineering. • Main lift starter panel: Approved; proposal price $39,937; intent to standardize lift-station panels. • SCADA/state upgrade and chlorine/scale alarms: Approved; SCADA upgrade priced at $39,077; chlorine/scale alarms shown as $6,338 in the transcript (additional spoken figure unclear). • Dewatering authorization: Approved to cover up to $220,000 in dewatering costs for sewer installation across county property. • Malt beverage renewals and purchase agreements: Renewals accepted; state paperwork due May 20. • Raffle request (golf tournament ball drop): Approved; tickets $20; winner announced June 20. • Advertise for parks maintenance and public works positions: Authorized (external posting; internal applicants may apply). • 90-day review (Dalton Nelson): Motion not to approve recommended wage increase to $31.17 — motion carried on the record. • Union MOU (7-minute clock-in window): Approved. • Ordinance first reading to repeal Massage Establishment chapter: Read for first reading (no final vote recorded; first reading only).

The transcript shows routine roll calls for these items; where specific tallies were not read aloud the meeting recorded “Aye” votes in roll call for the commissioners present.