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City officials move forward with street improvement project

Street repairs in New Rockford could be underway in less than two years, if all goes according to plan.

The New Rockford City Commission held a special meeting on Labor Day to get the ball rolling on engineering plans for an overhaul of the city’s streets.

Wade Senger of Interstate Engineering walked commissioners through the proposed engineering services agreement, which consists of three distinct phases. The first, preliminary design, involves evaluating all the streets and recommending the best way to repair each one. This could involve a mill and overlay, patching, seal coat and crack sealing, or even total reconstruction, depending on the condition of an individual street. They will also propose new concrete curb and gutter where needed, valley gutters, and any other improvements.

The cost of the preliminary design work is a flat fee of $20,000, and could be completed in October, Senger said. This phase also includes an opinion of cost for the work proposed, so officials can work to determine how to structure the financing.

The costs of the second and third phase - design and construction engineering, are a bit more fluid. During the design phase, engineers will prepare detailed plans and specifications for the project and let bids from contractors. The price tag for this phase is a percent of the total project cost, which is determined on a sliding scale based on the final total.

In the final phase, known as construction engineering, Interstate Engineering staff would be on site to ensure that contractors complete the project per the plans and specifications. Interstate Engineering bills an hourly rate for this phase, based on actual time spent working on the project.

“There are quite a few steps we need to complete in order to be ready to bid the project in early spring” of 2023, President Richter noted. He asked commissioners to approve the agreement with Interstate Engineering, which they did by unanimous vote.

The last time the city’s streets got full attention was in 2000. According to Senger, they recommend that streets get regular maintenance, as UV rays and water break down the oil in the asphalt, leaving the pavement brittle and broken up. The average lifespan of an overlay, the work completed in 2000, is 10 years.

Once the engineering contract got the nod, Senger also gave an overview of the project financing. Senger recommended that the project be funded through low-interest municipal bonds, and the city repay the debt by levying special assessments against property owners.

The first step in the special assessment process is to establish a Special Assessment District. City commissioners reviewed and approved a resolution that would effectively create Special Assessment District 2021-1, which encompasses all property within the city limits of New Rockford.

Three city residents will be appointed to serve on a “special assessment commission,” and they will be tasked with determining the amount of “benefit” to apply to each parcel in city limits. Once the benefit determination is made, the commission will then assess against each lot and parcel a fair portion of the total cost of the improvement, which may not exceed the amount each property will benefit from the improvement.

All property owners will be notified of the total costs of the project, as well as the amount of the special assessments the commission proposes to have levied against their property. Public hearings will be held, and a list of all affected parcels will be published in the newspaper. Once the public has had opportunities to be heard, the special assessment commission will make a formal recommendation to the city commission, which they also must approve.

The plan is to have the special assessment commission certify the final amounts by summer 2022, in time for the special assessments to be levied on the 2023 tax statements.

Residents interested in serving on the special assessment commission should contact New Rockford City Hall at (701) 947-2461.

 
 
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