St. Joseph council adopts final assessments for 2024 street improvements, awards Knife River contract after contested hearing

The St. Joseph City Council on Aug. 5 adopted final special assessments for the city’s 2024 Street Improvements, excluding properties tied to the Elm Street East extension, and awarded the construction contract to Knife River Corp.

The decision followed a public improvement hearing in which city staff and consultants presented project locations, bid results and the assessment methodology. SEH consultant Bryce Johnson told the council the construction total for the project is "$786,900" and the grand total including design, borings, legal and administrative costs is "$1,075,900." He explained that a third‑party appraiser calculates a maximum market benefit for each parcel and that the city uses that figure to cap assessments (for example, a $10,000 per‑lot cap for many single‑family residential lots).

Why it mattered: The council had two separate votes after closing the hearing — whether to adopt the assessment roll…