Burnsville council adopts 2026 street-improvement program and multiple special assessments amid resident objections

The Burnsville City Council on May 5 approved a set of 2026 special assessments and the city's street-improvement program after staff outlined project scope, funding and assessment methodology and several residents raised written and oral objections.

Deputy public-works staff and Assistant City Engineer Charlie Gerke told the council the 2026 street-improvement program includes two reconstruction areas, two reclamation areas and four rehabilitation areas. Major funding sources for the package include the Infrastructure Trust Fund (about $2.0 million), water-main work (about $2.8 million) and special assessments, which staff said total roughly $748,000 for street costs — about 23% of the streets portion of the program. Special assessments are calculated from a linear-foot cost based on a three-year rolling average and typically represent about 40% of a home's assessed street cost, Gerke said.

Gerke explained the pavement condition index (PCI) scoring system used to prioritize work and showed maps of project areas, construction timelines (work underway in May with completion expected by October), and homeowner notification and outreach steps, including open houses and door hangers. He said the city normalizes wide state-aid routes to a 30-foot frontage for assessment purposes and that the city absorbs the remaining portion of unusually large costs.

Residents at the hearing questioned both the fairness of assessments and the level of maintenance they have actually observed. Bruce Henry, board president of Real Life of Burnsville, said his organization receives little direct benefit and objected to charges for trail maintenance appearing on his water bill. "I perceive this assessment as taxation without benefit," Henry said, asking council to accept the association's appeal. Michael Falk, a Garrison Court homeowner, requested a detailed breakdown of how his assessment of $2,273.06 was calculated, cited Minnesota Statute 429.051 on benefits-based assessment authority and said he had not observed promised maintenance such as snow removal on sidewalks.

Council and staff answered questions about bids and procurement: staff said contracts were awarded in April to McNamara Contracting Inc. after public bidding (multiple bidders were received on project packages) and that bid results and council minutes are public. Gerke and other staff committed to follow-up meetings with objecting residents to review parcel-level calculations and public-record bid documents.

Other assessments approved at the meeting included a reduced list of neighborhood-service assessments (staff said the total to be assessed was reduced during the day to $5,900 after some owners paid) and miscellaneous assessments totaling $3,695 for 11 properties with repeated false alarms. The HOC (Heart of the City) streetscape district was presented as a roughly $425,000 program; the city’s share was reported as about $237,000 with the remainder (about $186,000) assessed across district properties at individual amounts ranging from roughly $26 to several hundred dollars. One written objection to the HOC assessment had been filed; objectors have a 30-day appeal right.

All of the listed assessments and the street-improvement resolution were adopted by motion during the meeting.

What happens next: staff will finalize assessment rolls, notify property owners of appeal rights and continue project outreach during construction. Residents who raised concerns were offered follow-up meetings with city staff to review parcel-specific calculations and project sequencing.

Sources: testimony and presentations by Assistant City Engineer Charlie Gerke and Deputy Community Development Director Travis Bistodeau; public comments from Bruce Henry and Michael Falk; council motions and roll calls at the May 5, 2026 meeting of the Burnsville City Council.