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St. James council approves plan to rebuild 7th Street South, complete Ring Road near hospital
Summary
The St. James City Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling a Jan. improvement hearing to advance a $2.88 million reconstruction of 7th Street South and completion of a Ring Road by the hospital, supported by a $1.5 million LRIP grant; property assessments will pay a portion of eligible costs.
St. James — The St. James City Council on Dec. 3 voted unanimously to accept a feasibility report and call a public improvement hearing for reconstruction of 7th Street South, improvements to 13th Avenue South and completion of a Ring Road serving the hospital.
City staff presented the proposal and told council the city successfully secured $1.5 million in Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) funding earmarked for street and storm-sewer-eligible construction costs. Staff said the current total project cost estimate is $2.88 million and that the council will pursue property assessments under the Chapter 429 improvement process to cover a portion of the work.
“We will use that eligible money towards this project,” the presenter said, describing the LRIP award as construction-only funding. He also said the project will include extending sanitary water to the west side of the corridor to allow for future development and to avoid later road disruption.
Council members asked whether sidewalks would be built on one or both sides of the corridor; staff said sidewalks are currently planned for one side, and the exact side will be determined by driveway locations, trees and neighborhood context. Council also discussed assessment responsibilities: staff said the segment of roadway outside city limits will not be assessed by the city, property owners inside city limits will be assessed, and properties owned by the Mayo Health System along 13th Avenue will receive assessments.
Staff framed the Ring Road completion as a public-safety and reliability improvement: the additional connection provides an alternate access route for emergency response and the sanitary-water upgrades will add redundancy after recent water-main breaks. “It’s going to help with response time,” the presenter said when explaining project rationale.
The council dispensed with the reading and adopted Resolution 241 to receive the feasibility report and call a public improvement hearing; staff said the improvement hearing is expected to occur at the council’s January meeting as the next step.
Next steps: staff will finalize the hearing notice and assessment materials as part of the Chapter 429 improvement process and present them to council at the scheduled improvement hearing.
