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Council approves 2026 mill-and-overlay project; councilors pause larger 2027 projects pending CIP update
Summary
Councilors approved the 2026 mill-and-overlay improvements and associated assessments but several members said they would not support moving forward with the proposed 2027 projects until the city adopts a clearer capital-improvement plan (CIP). Concerns focused on resident notice timing, assessment amounts, and workload/fiscal planning.
The Baxter City Council moved to approve the 2026 mill-and-overlay feasibility report and related actions and to place the project on the 2026 improvement schedule. Staff presented a recommended mill-and-overlay scope affecting streets in the Mississippi Meadows and other neighborhoods, an estimated total project cost of about $1.5 million and an assessment calculation that amounts to roughly $7,600 per equivalent residential unit (ERU) for affected properties.
What the council decided: The council approved consent-agenda items for the 2026 mill-and-overlay project and related resolutions (items 28–30 on the agenda). Several councilors who voted in favor said they were comfortable moving the 2026 items forward because the work is already in the queue and constituents were awaiting action. However, multiple council members expressed concern about advancing the larger slate of 2027 projects as presented in the work session without a completed CIP and clearer prioritization; at least three council members stated they would not support moving 2027 forward until the CIP work is finished and staff provided more fiscal detail.
Resident notice and process concerns: Council members raised that the initial mailing for the 2026 assessments was going out the same week and that the typical 12–18 months of advance notice for assessed projects had been truncated in this case by schedule constraints. Staff acknowledged the short notice for the 2026 assessment mailing and agreed to provide more robust public informational outreach on future projects.
Change-order clarification: Councilors also discussed a separate consent item (a change order of about $9,700) for a flow meter related to the 2025 water-supply improvements. Staff explained the added cost included programming work, replacement seals on backflow preventers and labor to reinstall/pull meters and was not the result of a defective meter spec.
Next steps: Staff will present a CIP-status update at the March 3 work session and refine public-notice plans for assessed projects; councilors requested a clearer path for project selection, pacing and communication before moving major 2027 projects forward.
