City Manager Arndt outlines housing, infrastructure and economic wins in State of the City
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Summary
City Manager Arndt highlighted a supportive-housing groundbreaking, a new housing land trust, transit ridership gains, a reverse-osmosis pilot for the water plant, airport funding wins and multiple infrastructure projects in his annual report to the Mankato City Council.
City Manager Arndt presented the 2025 State of the City to the Mankato City Council, summarizing accomplishments and setting priorities for 2026 across housing, infrastructure, public safety and economic development.
Housing topped the presentation: Arndt said the city will break ground the next day on a supportive-housing project developed with Partners in Housing and Blue Earth County, and that the city created a housing land trust to help manage affordability. He told the council the city helped secure more than $7 million in funding from Minnesota Housing for the Poplar Apartments cleanup and stabilization and said joint city-county funds will be used consistent with program rules.
On infrastructure and sustainability, Arndt noted the recently adopted climate action plan and highlighted the reverse-osmosis pilot at the water treatment plant as an example of following the plan's recommendations. He also recapped planned surface-transportation projects including Veterans Bridge (a MnDOT-led project), a two-year Blue Earth County project on Third Avenue due to gas-line relocations, and a planned second segment of Henniker Parkway and Range Street in advance of Highway 169 improvements.
Arndt described airport improvements: the city secured roughly $3.5 million in congressional directed spending for an air-traffic control tower project and has a $1,265,000 legislative request pending. Other highlights included an increase in fixed-route transit ridership (an almost 40,000-ride increase year over year), creation of a lost-dog alert and expansion of transit scheduling software.
Arndt also reviewed grant activity and economic development support, including community development block grants and a job-creation grant connected to Rolls-Royce; he praised staff contributions and noted ongoing park, fiber, and public-safety capital work. Arndt closed by flagging monitoring priorities such as garbage and recycling trends and reminding council of upcoming meetings.
Arndt's presentation was informational; no formal votes were required on the matters summarized.