Blaine council approves preliminary plat, street work contracts and $600,000 property purchase

Blaine City Council on April 21 approved a preliminary plat for the Lexington Crossing development, accepted bids and authorized contracts for pavement markings and a major neighborhood street reconstruction, and approved a $600,000 purchase agreement for one remaining property in the 105th redevelopment area.

The council unanimously approved a resolution granting preliminary plat approval to create two outlots and dedicate right-of-way for a planned Lexington Avenue extension called Lexington Crossing. Assistant Community Development staff said the same plat was approved in 2022 but had expired; the renewed proposal would create Outlot A (8.83 acres) and Outlot B (25.83 acres) in a B-5 zoning district. Planning Commission held a public hearing with no comments and recommended approval.

The council also accepted a low bid of $107,000 from Sirlines a lot for 2025 pavement markings across various streets and approved a 5% contingency that raises the project budget to about $112,000. City engineering staff said the 2025 street maintenance budget included $100,000 for markings and recommended reallocating roughly $12,000 from other contractual accounts within street maintenance to cover the difference.

For a larger capital project, the council accepted Douglas Kerr Underground as the low bidder for the 2025 Southwest Street reconstruction project. The low bid was about $3,000,000; council approved a 10% contingency that would set the project budget at roughly $3,300,000. Staff said funding for the project is expected to come from a combination of pavement management funds, public utility funds and special assessments and that the city had budgeted about $3.99 million across 2024–25 (roughly $390,000 in 2024 and $3.6 million in 2025) to cover the work.

Finally, the council approved a purchase agreement to acquire 217106 Lane (within the 105th redevelopment district) for $600,000. Staff said the $600,000 price aligned with a closed-session authorization and that the seller accepted that offer the week before the meeting; the city hopes to close within 30 days. Staff noted the city had set aside $3,000,000 of TIF proceeds to complete the last acquisitions in the district and that two prior acquisitions had nearly exhausted that amount. City staff said they would identify a funding source for the additional $600,000 and would return to council if a formal transfer or additional action is required.

All votes on the listed items passed after standard motions and seconds.