Minn. Capital Investment Committee hears a slate of local bonding requests for water, public safety, roads and housing

The Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee convened on March 31 for a multi-hour hearing in St. Paul that featured more than a dozen local governments seeking state bonding for infrastructure projects ranging from drinking-water treatment plants to public safety buildings, roads and housing infrastructure.

The hearing began with a presentation from Silver Lake, which said it needs funding to address elevated iron and manganese in its well water and to replace a century-old water tower. "Our water treatment is terrible, really bad," Mayor Bruce Beboe said, showing committee members samples he said were taken from a hydrant. City testifiers said lab results show iron at about 0.9 mg/L (the secondary standard cited in testimony is 0.3 mg/L) and manganese around 0.13 mg/L (MPCA/SWD reference given in testimony: 0.05 mg/L). Silver Lake asked the committee for funding to cover an unfunded portion of a larger infrastructure package.

Committee members then heard requests from small and mid-sized cities across Minnesota. Cohasset (Itasca County) asked for bonding to repair a water tower and to begin…