Lake Elmo opts for less-costly street reclamation in 2025 street and utility plan; water main extensions ruled too costly for homeowners

The Lake Elmo City Council voted Feb. 18 to authorize final design for the 2025 Street and Utility Improvements project after staff recommended a street-reclamation approach rather than costly water-main extensions for several northwest neighborhoods.

City engineering staff presented two scope scenarios for affected neighborhoods including 50 Fifth Street North, 50 Ninth Street Court and Irish Court: (1) extend city water main and fully reconstruct affected streets, or (2) reclaim and rebuild the roads without extending water services. Staff said geotechnical results supported reclamation in many locations and that water-main construction would require deeper excavation into poor soils, raising reconstruction costs.

Staff presented estimated homeowner assessments under both scenarios. For 50 Fifth Street North, staff presented estimates showing assessments for water-main extension and associated road rebuilding that together could exceed $90,000 per house. Reclamation-only assessments were substantially lower—on the order of $22,300 for the same segment, according to the presentation. For Irish Court and 50 Ninth Street Court, staff showed similar splits: water-main extension scenarios produced assessments in the tens of thousands per household, while reclamation assessments were under $12,000 in the examples shown.

Residents who spoke at the meeting supported reclaiming the roads and opposed the water-main extension because of the projected cost. Jennifer Anderson, a resident of 9850 Fifth Street North, said her street is “riddled with potholes” and urged the council to proceed with pavement improvements but not to require homeowners to pay for water main extensions. “At this time, however, we are not interested in the option of extending water to our home,” Anderson said.

Catherine Todd, another resident in the same neighborhood, said homeowners had invested in private water treatment and that “there isn't one homeowner that we spoke with that wanted water sent to their home.”

Councilmembers and staff said a prior state grant program had previously helped fund some water main extensions in other places, but staff said that grant funding is exhausted and not available for the current projects. After discussion, the council voted to adopt staff’s recommendation to proceed with preliminary design findings oriented to reclamation and to authorize final design for the 2025 Street and Utility Improvements, with an estimated final-design budget of $121,500 based on the reclamation approach.

Council and staff noted the project remains subject to a future feasibility hearing and additional public notice as required; staff said final feasibility materials would follow and that assessments would be confirmed in that process.