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Paynesville council authorizes Safe Routes bidding, approves equipment purchase and several routine agreements
Summary
At its April 13 meeting the Paynesville City Council voted to advertise bids for the Safe Routes to School project, approved a resolution to begin a 2027 street improvement report, accepted a vehicle sale bid, approved airport lease agreements and an early-voting hosting agreement, authorized purchase of a heavier tractor (with surplus sale of the Zetter), and accepted a $21,000 lot offer; most motions carried by voice vote.
Paynesville City Council members on April 13 approved a package of project and administrative actions, including authorization to advertise bids for the Safe Routes to School project and direction to prepare a preliminary engineering report for the 2027 street improvement plan.
Public works staff told the council that MnDOT reviewed the Safe Routes plans and that the project includes sidewalk work beside the elementary school on Mil Street, curb ramp improvements and crossing upgrades at Burr Street/Highway 55 and Business 23/Veterans Drive. "We're ready to move forward into the bidding phase," public works staff said; the council voted to advertise bids and open them in mid‑May for summer construction.
Council also approved Resolution 2026‑08, which orders preparation of the preliminary engineering report for the 2027 street improvement project. The planned project list discussed includes Stearns Avenue (Highway 55 to 1st Street), Washurn Drive and Washurn Avenue, Maple Street (Belmont Drive to Mil Street), and a utilities study on Business 23.
On routine business the council accepted the highest bid for the sale of a 2023 Dodge Durango; the motion to accept the bid from Wheelberg Chevrolet carried by voice vote. The council approved a pair of airport lease agreements (a T‑hangar lease and a storage unit lease amended to allow simulator use) and authorized hosting early voting for Stearns County residents as a one‑year test at the municipal site; council members noted the program may require weekend or overtime staffing.
Public works requested and received approval to purchase an International tractor to improve alley grading and to replace a lighter Zetter tractor. The council authorized purchase using proceeds from the Zetter sale and up to $5,600 from street and wastewater equipment funds, and set a $4,800 minimum bid to surplus the Zetter.
Council approved a standard MDOT detour agreement (for Highway 55 bridge work) with a reimbursement amount listed in the transcript as $1,400. It also approved a quote to replace the Veterans Park well with Jennings Well Drilling, Inc.; the numeric amount printed in the transcript is garbled and is recorded here as unclear from the audio record. The council set a public hearing for May 11 on a proposed lot split related to the Kira development and in closed session accepted a $21,000 offer from Frontier Land LLC for lot 275, reserving final decisions on distribution of net proceeds after assessments.
All recorded motions in the meeting were adopted by voice vote with "all in favor, none opposed" language recorded in the transcript.
Next steps: staff will advertise Safe Routes to School bids, proceed with preliminary engineering work for the 2027 street improvement study, publish surplus and equipment sale notices, and return with contract numbers, final bid amounts and details at future meetings.
