Blaine orders street rehabilitation on Lakes Parkway; most costs to be paid with state aid and assessments

The Blaine City Council on Feb. 19 ordered final design and preparation of plans for a 2025 street rehabilitation project that includes an overlay on Lakes Parkway and pavement work on three sections of Baltimore/Davenport.

Director of Engineering Dan Schulander told council the project estimate is approximately $2.7 million; roughly $110,000 of that sum would be assessed to benefiting properties. The remaining cost is proposed to be paid from the city’s pavement management program and municipal state aid funds; some utility-related items (sanitary sewer castings and gate-valve adjustments) will be paid from public-utility funds.

Schulander said the assessment policy provides a five-year payback term for mill-and-overlay work and a 15-year term for full replacement or reconstruction assessments. The council was told a neighborhood open house on Feb. 6 had no property owners in attendance.

After the public hearing — during which a townhome resident asked why only some units on Vermillion were assessed — the council approved the resolution ordering the work and later authorized a design contract with SEH for final design and construction services. The SEH contract was presented at $270,000 with a 10 percent contingency that would bring the engineering authorization to roughly $297,000; council voted to authorize the city manager and mayor to execute the contract and to allow the director of engineering to sign change orders up to the authorized budget.

Resident concerns: Rose Bloss, a Lakes townhome owner at 11770 Vermillion, asked why units on her side of Lakes Parkway were being assessed while other townhome units were not. Schulander explained the assessment follows frontage and direct access to Lakes Parkway; units with alternate access were not proposed to be assessed. He said proposed assessments for the townhome units were approximately $200 per unit, payable over five years.

Why it matters: The project will repave a section of Lakes Parkway and reconstruct other segments that city staff said have reached the city’s pavement replacement threshold. The assessments, while modest for some properties, triggered questions from residents about the methodology; staff offered to meet individually with residents for more detail.

Votes and contracts: Council conducted and closed the public hearing on the feasibility report, approved the resolution to order the improvements, and later authorized a design contract with SEH not to exceed the proposed amount plus contingency.

Quotation: “The project as proposed … is necessary, cost-effective and would result in a benefit to the properties,” Director Dan Schulander said during his presentation.

Provenance: Public hearing, staff presentation, resident comment, and council action are recorded in the Feb. 19 meeting transcript.