Associate editor

Bailey Point Nature Preserve has been approved as the official name for Elk River’s latest park.

The Elk River City Council voted unanimously May 20 to approve the name.

This site is now officially named Bailey Point Nature Preserve.

The 23-acre parcel was acquired by the city last November. It is located west of downtown, where the Mississippi and Elk rivers meet.

Mayor John Dietz liked the addition of nature preserve to the name, saying it reinforces the city’s intent to keep the point as a natural area where people can observe birds and plants.

He also supports the Bailey Point name. Dietz said the Baileys have been a well-known family in Elk River for more than 100 years. They founded Elk River Concrete Products (Cretex). The Bailey family and the Bailey brothers were very civic-minded people who donated a lot to the community and provided leadership throughout the years, Dietz said.

“I think it would be truly fitting that we name this park after them,” he said.

Council Member Stewart Wilson agreed, saying it serves as a legacy to the Baileys and their involvement in the community.

Council Member Paul Motin said he had no objection whatsoever to the name, but noted that there has been concern in the past about naming parks or other things for people.

He sees Bailey Point Nature Preserve as an exception becuase the site has been known as Bailey Point and it makes sense to keep the same name.

Dietz also noted that the city has a parks and facilities naming policy in place. The policy was approved by the City Council last fall.

In a related matter, the City Council also approved regulations for the use of Bailey Point.

The red oval shows the location of the designated river access.

A designated river access will be established in the southeast corner of the park for canoe/kayak river access and for fishing from the park land.

In addition, under the regulations no organized or team sport activities will be allowed at Bailey Point.

Bailey Point is currently closed to the public. A parking lot will be constructed and the nature preserve is expected to be open for public use in late June or early July, according to Elk River Parks and Recreation Director Michael Hecker.

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Associate editor

A consultant will be hired to delve deeper into the issue of how best to reduce train horn noise in Elk River.

The Elk River City Council voted 4-1 May 20 to hire a quiet zone specialist at a cost estimated from $5,000 to $10,000.

The specialist will evaluate the railroad crossings in Elk River and finalize the costs of implementing a project to quiet train horns.

While the council hasn’t decided whether to proceed with some sort of quiet zone project, there is interest in researching the matter further.

“I think it’s a big enough issue for the city,” Council Member Matt Westgaard said, noting that residents have been quite vocal about wanting relief from the noise of train horns.

Dan Belair of the city of Elk River’s engineering division held a decibel meter outside Martie’s Farm Service, located near the Jackson Avenue railroad crossing, during a wayside horn test in February. Behind him are City Engineer Justin Femrite and Street Superintendent Mark Thompson. Star News file photo

The council had earlier directed its staff to take a closer look at the train horn issue. In February, Robert Albritton of Quiet Zone Technologies in Texas visited Elk River and the city tested the company’s wayside horns at six crossings — Main, Jackson, Proctor, Meadowvale, Ogden and Zebulon.

Wayside horns are mounted on poles at railroad crossings and directed at vehicles on the road so locomotives don’t have to sound their horns at the crossing.

City Engineer Justin Femrite said tests of the wayside horns were extremely positive in some areas in the amount of noise reduction. In other areas, Femrite said he had a few concerns.

“In general, I had a real positive feeling towards that (wayside horns) as an option,” he told the council this week.

Videos and more information about wayside horns and the tests in Elk River are available on the city’s website at www.elkrivermn.gov under Engineering, Projects and 2013 Train Horn Noise Mitigation. A blog has also been set up on the city’s website where people can comment.

The wayside horns cost about $125,000 per crossing, which is much less than other quiet zone options the City Council has studied over the years.

A study done in 2007 determined that it would cost $4.5 million to add safety enhancements to the 10 railroad crossings in Elk River so trains would no longer have to blow their horns. That study was reviewed again in 2011, but both times the cost was a deterrent and nothing moved forward. The cost of that plan is now estimated at $5 to $5.5 million.

Meanwhile, Femrite said another option that has recently surfaced is something called Qwick Kurb. It is a curb that can be mounted on the centerline of an existing street that qualifies as a supplemental safety measure — something necessary for a crossing to be a railroad quiet zone where locomotive horns are not routinely sounded. Femrite said that may be an alternative at some crossings and would be cheaper than wayside horns.

Four of the five council members supported hiring a consultant to flesh out the options for reducing train noise in Elk River.

Council Member Paul Motin was against it.

He lives in a development near the railroad tracks and said the train noise doesn’t bother him a whole lot. He said he also hears train horns at his office, but it doesn’t disrupt his work or affect his business. Motin said he doesn’t see the benefit of spending $5,000 to $10,000 on a consultant when train horns are probably a “non-issue” for 95 percent of the people in town.

Other council members, however, wanted to hire the specialist and get more information.

Council Member Stewart Wilson said there seems to be a lot of community interest the City Council addressing the train horn issue. He supports at least exploring the possibility by gathering more information to see if there is a reasonable option at a reasonable cost.

Council Member Barb Burandt and Mayor John Dietz agreed.

Dietz said he realizes that in one sense trains put Elk River on the map because there was a train station and the city built up around it.

But more trains travel through Elk River now, he said, and people are looking for the City Council to find them some relief.

“I think anything we can do at a reasonable cost to improve the quality of life … is significant for a lot of our residents,” Dietz said.

The post Quiet zone specialist will study train noise issue in Elk River appeared first on Star News.

Editor

Elk River’s newest parkland commonly known as Bailey Point is about to have an official name.

Eagles nest at Bailey Point.

The Elk River Park and Recreation Commission voted 4-1-1 on May 6 to name the park on the Elk and Mississippi rivers Bailey Point Nature Preserve.

The group also believes when the park opens in late June there should be a designated area along the parcel’s shoreline for fishing.

The Elk River City Council will get the final say on the name and other matters at its regular meeting Monday.

The name Bailey Point Park Nature Preserve was suggested by Elk River Park and Recreation Commission Chairman Dave Anderson after the seven-member advisory body wrestled with a push by one commissioner to delay a vote until the public had a chance to participate in the naming process.

City staff and a majority of the commissioners said enough has been done already to involve the public in the naming process, and they believed it was time to move ahead with the naming.

Park and Recreation Director Michael Hecker says the acquisition of the parkland has been in the news for months, and anyone in the community with a desire to weigh in has had ample opportunity.

The park commission held off last month on naming the park and a decision about including a place for fishing from shore until there was a tour of the park and there was a public notice in the paper about the park being named.

Commissioner Mike Niziolek says the only problem with all that is the park had been given an assumed name of Bailey Point in the commission’s new park naming policy and the public was never really invited to be part of the naming process.

The names of two city parks — Woodland Trails and Hillside Park — were decided in a contest open to the community.

“I’d like to encourage the public to participate in this naming process, and see if Bailey Point does rise to be the name of this parcel,” Niziolek said. “I want to make certain we don’t hurt people’s feelings. We have acquired park properties that we didn’t name after people.”

Niziolek said the process would draw greater attention to the park, history would surface and it would be good for the community as a whole.

Commissioner Jim Nystrom said he recalled an effort to involve the public in the naming a county park with little luck. He said most of the suggested names came from school projects.

Nystrom said this is the most historic piece of land the city has had in its hands, noting the Elk and Mississippi rivers were acknowledged in maps created in 1680 that were used by Father Hennepin.

“Rather than a contemporary name we should have a historic name,” Nystrom said, noting it should key in on the long history and discovery time of European explorers.

He abstained so as to not have to vote against the good Bailey name, but rather in opposition to not considering something more representative of the land’s significance in history.

Others felt enough had been done to solicit the public’s opinion, and felt a name like Bailey Point Park Preserve or Bailey Point Nature Preserve  was the right way to go.

“I like the name Bailey Point,” said Commissioner Guenther Sagan. “It rolls off the tongue. I haven’t heard any better (suggested) names. My opinion is we keep it.”

It was suggested by Commissioner Mark Ahlness that someone could put in an application to rename any park at any time. Niziolek warned that could be hurtful.

Anderson helped spur the commission to make a decision, saying that an effort had been made to solicit the public’s feedback and they got some.

Patricia (Bailey) Miller, a Mound woman who grew up in the Bailey family in Elk River, told the commision she liked the name Bailey Point Nature Preserve.

“I think it clarifies what the park is,” she said. “I that it’s a great idea. I like it.”

Kelly Prusak of Elk River said  during the meeting she thinks the commission has a share of the public that cares about this matter at the meeting.

“When you put it in the newspaper and asked for public response, those of us who want to have input and hold this land dear to our hearts are here and we do care,” she said.

The post To be or not to be: Bailey Point Nature Preserve appeared first on Star News.

Associate editor

A 315-acre farm along the Mississippi River may become part of Elk River’s park system at virtually no cost to the city.

“It almost seems too good to be true,” Elk River Mayor John Dietz said.

This map shows the Houlton farm outlined in red.

Steve Hobbs, Minnesota director of the Conservation Fund, outlined the details of the plan during a May 13 City Council work session.

Hobbs believes they are at a point where they understand the price the owner of the Houlton farm may accept and have put together a variety of funding sources to pay for the property.

Those funding sources include the Minnesota Land Trust, Friends of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources parks legacy and regional park grant program. Both the Minnesota Land Trust and the DNR grant program have funds available through the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, Hobbs said. The Legacy Amendment was approved by Minnesota voters in 2008. It increased the state sales tax by three-eighths of one percent until 2034 and distributes that money into funds for clean water, outdoor heritage, arts and cultural heritage and parks and trails.

Hobbs said the city would need to put together a proposal to seek the DNR grant, which would provide the majority of the funding. The Conservation Fund would assist with the grant writing.

A view of the river from the farm. Photo courtesy of the City of Elk River

“We’ve talked to their staff, the folks who really evaluate proposals, about this particular property and whether or not they thought it might be a good candidate for funding this funding cycle and they feel strongly that it would be,” Hobbs said.

If money from the DNR grant becomes available, he said there should be enough, when combined with the other two sources of funding and a discount on the original sales price that the landowner is willing to provide, to be able to acquire the property.

There should be no real cost to the city in acquiring the land, and “at the end of the day it would be the city that would own the property,” Hobbs said.

“So your role is to put the funding together, purchase the property and then title it over to the city?” Dietz asked.

“Correct,” Hobbs said. Because the farm is for sale now, he added that if they feel it’s a fairly good risk that the funding will eventually come back to them, they could go ahead and acquire the land and then get reimbursed when the funding is all in place.

If the DNR grant is approved, funding would become available early next year, he said. “That’s where we would be looking potentially to maybe acquire it before then if it looks like we have a good chance to get the parks legacy funding, and then hold it until that January-February time frame,” Hobbs said.

While details are still very preliminary, there’s some thought that the farm would become a regional park open to the public for passive recreational activities like hiking and birdwatching.

The Houlton farm in Elk River. Photo courtesy of the City of Elk River

The farm is located west of downtown near Orono Dam and has frontage on both the Mississippi and Elk rivers. It is adjacent to Bailey Point, a boot-shaped peninsula which was recently acquired by the city as a nature preserve.

Michael Hecker, Elk River’s director of parks and recreation, said the Friends of the Mississippi River would help maintain the Houlton farm property and be involved long-term.

Council members appeared enthusiastic about the possibility of acquiring the land.

Council Member Matt Westgaard wondered what the vision for the farm would be, what kind of investment the city would need to make once the land is acquired, and what the annual on-going expenses would be.

“It looks to be a great opportunity,” Westgaard said. Preserving green space along the river is a great idea, he said.

Other council members agreed.

Council Member Stewart Wilson said the farm would be “an additional jewel” in the city’s park system.

“It looks like a fantastic opportunity from my point of view, but one that certainly has its share of challenges,” Wilson said. The challenges would include figuring out how to best use such a large piece of property and make it available and usable to the public.

Elk River has never fully capitalized on its presence on the Mississippi River, Wilson said, other than some of the things done downtown. Acquiring the farm would open up a lot more opportunity to use and appreciate the river, he said.

No vote was taken, but it was the consensus of the council to move forward with pursuing acquisition of the property.

Hobbs said the Conservation Fund is a national non-profit organization whose goal is to acquire land for conservation purposes. It acquires land on behalf of federal, state and local governments and other non-profit organizations.

The council had discussed the Houlton farm a year ago after the city was approached by Dotseth Realty regarding the city’s interest in purchasing the property. At that time, the council directed its staff to look into it further.

About the Houlton Farm

•The 315-acre farm is located at 1801 Main St. in Elk River, near the Orono Dam.

•It includes 180 tillable acres where crops like corn are grown.

•There are old mill ruins and oxcart trail ruts on the property.

•It is home to bald eagle nests and the largest tree in Sherburne County.

•It also includes an island.

Source: City of Elk River

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by Joni Astrup

Associate editor

Local leaders are turning up the heat to improve key corridors like Highway 10 and Highway 169 in Elk River and beyond.

One of the people in the thick of it is Sherburne County Commissioner Bruce Anderson of Elk River.

Afternoon rush-hour traffic headed west on Highway 10 near Main Street in Elk River last week.

Anderson, the former Sherburne County sheriff, said traffic congestion has been an issue in Elk River for a long time and he heard a lot of concerns about it while campaigning last year.

“It has been a huge issue,” he said. “As we all know, if you try to get into Elk River when people are coming home from work or even getting through in the early morning hours, it really gets bottled up. We definitely need to do something.”

It’s a larger issue than Elk River, however, he said. There is interest across the region in seeing highway improvements.

Bruce Anderson

Anderson said a number of entities have passed resolutions in support of improvements to key regional highways including Anoka and Sherburne counties, area cities such as Elk River, Anoka, Ramsey and  Zimmerman and the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce. Law enforcement officials are also supportive.

The issue is on the radar of local, state and federal officials as well.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, met with area officials last month in Ramsey to discuss transportation issues, specifically Highway 10 and I-94. Among those attending the meeting from Elk River were City Administrator Cal Portner and City Engineer Justin Femrite.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, visited the State Capitol in March to advocate for two north metro transportation projects. At a press conference, Bachmann pushed for funding lane additions on Interstate 94 and dollars for improvements on heavily traveled Highway 10. She was flanked by Republican legislators and local leaders, including Anderson, state Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River, and Brian Olson, operations manager with Cretex in Elk River.

Anderson said Gov. Mark Dayton is aware of the issue as well.

Zerwas, meanwhile, said Anderson had approached him about how they are getting the counties and other stakeholders together, rallying around the transportation issue.

Nick Zerwas

Zerwas said he has met with Bachmann and her staff and they have indicated that “transportation in our area is her No. 1 priority.” He said the congresswoman has indicated she will apply the same focus to improving Highway 10 as she did in seeking funding for a new bridge at Stillwater.

Zerwas, who was on the Elk River City Council before being elected to the Legislature last year, said Elk River is ahead of the game because it has worked for several years with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to develop a transportation plan for Highway 10 in Elk River.

“That’s one of the messages I’m trying to deliver both here in St. Paul and to the folks out in (Washington) D.C.,” he said.

“We have a plan. It’s ready to go…We’re just looking for the funding,” he said.

The plan calls for about $250 million in improvements to Highway 10 through Elk River. As envisioned, Highway 10 would evolve into a freeway as it comes through downtown. That would require shifting the railroad tracks to the north to make way for a highway with interchanges and a frontage road system.

Zerwas said the state, county and city would all have a role in such a project, but it needs to be led by Congress.

“The ability to fund a capital project that huge at a state level just isn’t feasible,” he said. “There might be an ability to bite off a chunk here and there, but for a lot of it it’s really going to be looking at partnering with a federal project and making sure that we’re ready when we’re required to put in that state and local match.”

He sees it being funded in steps, with the first step to relocate the railroad tracks in downtown Elk River.
“I don’t think anyone believes it’s realistic to have a quarter of a billion dollars show up,” Zerwas said.

The city of Elk River also has worked with MnDOT to craft a long-range plan for Highway 169 through Elk River.

The Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce has expressed interest in improving both highways, forming a Corridor of Commerce Highway Taskforce to advocate for improvements to Highway 10 and Highway 169. The group was formed in December and has met several times so far. Members attended Bachmann’s press conference as well. Anderson, Zerwas, Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, Brian Olson from Cretex and others are on the task force.

The chamber’s Board of Directors also recently approved a resolution supporting prioritization of improvements to Highways 10 and 169. The resolution states that the highways are the “Corridors of Commerce” for Sherburne County and for the region. They serve businesses, commuters and tourists who seek access to the Twin Cities and are a gateway to northern Minnesota.

Debbi Rydberg

Cal Portner

Debbi Rydberg, the chamber’s executive director, said MnDOT has not made funding of this regional corridor a priority. The board’s action, along with resolutions from area counties and cities, is an effort to bring the need for this project into better focus, she said.

Elk River City Administrator Portner said a number of things have come together to call attention to transportation issues.

One was the election of Anderson to the Sherburne County Board in November, Portner said. Transportation is one of Anderson’s priorities and “he’s been out and about very actively pushing it,” Portner said.

In addition, one of Bachmann’s priorities is to advance transportation in Minnesota overall and the I-94 and Highway 10 corridors in particular, Portner said. Because she is looking to get federal funding identified, that has helped the cause, he said.

Recent traffic fatalities in Ramsey have also galvanized people to press for highway improvements, he said.

Portner, who used to work for U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, said a project like the Highway 10 improvements in Elk River would typically be a “tremendous partnership,” starting with a large allocation of federal funding.

“Then we’ll get it on MnDOT’s plan because there’s federal earmark money (and) then we’ll get some state money involved in it,” Portner said. “Then, most likely, there’s going to be county and maybe even city money in there somehow if we really want to get it done. But you need that one big chunk to get things going.”

Best-case scenario, if everything fell into place, Portner said it would probably take 10 years to even get started on a project.

But what he finds encouraging is that people are looking at the entire corridor — from Coon Rapids to past St. Cloud — and taking a regional approach to solving the problem.

Rydberg agreed Highway 10 is not just an Elk River issue.

“It goes way beyond Elk River. From Anoka to St. Cloud needs help. You can’t just fix one piece of a road,” she said.

Matt Look

In Anoka County, Commissioner Matt Look of Ramsey would like to see a $300 million project to turn Highway 10 into a freeway in Anoka and Ramsey, plus additional funding for Highway 10 in Elk River.

“The reality is you just can’t keep expecting this highway to perform when it (traffic volumes) are exceeding what it was designed for,” he said.

Congestion on Highway 10 pushes traffic onto county and city roads, Look said. Anoka County did a traffic study and if Highway 10 were not upgraded, in some cases Anoka  County would need six-lane county roads to handle the traffic.

“The dysfunction that’s occurring on Highway 10 doesn’t stay on Highway 10,” he said.

Highway 10 is a federal highway, Look said, and funding for an improvement project would consist of 80 percent federal funding and 20 percent state/county/city.

Bachmann, Franken and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, have all expressed support, Look said.

He and others will be traveling to Washington, D.C., this month to lobby for funding and meet with the chairman of the transportation committee.

While it could be a number of years before funding becomes available, Look said federal participation at some point is crucial.

“When the dust settles, if the federal government hasn’t contributed anything we’re going to have a problem,” he said, “because lot of these projects are just way too costly for us to bear locally.”

Look said officials in Anoka and Sherburne counties realize they face some of the same issues with Highway 10 and it makes sense to both work to accomplish some improvements.

“We’re just working hard, trying to find an outcome to it,” he said. “It’s not going to be a quick outcome, but it’s hopefully going to be a staged outcome that we can get support for and start chipping away at the problem.”

Keeping a high profile for those projects is crucial, Anderson said.

“Sometimes it’s who pushes and pushes harder is who gets the money,” Anderson said. “That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The post Coalition presses for highway improvements appeared first on Star News.

Associate editor

The city of Elk River is seeking volunteers to assist with a variety of tasks.

John Dietz

Mayor John Dietz suggested the idea after reading about how the city of Wayzata is using volunteers to help out after staffing cuts.

A formal volunteer program within the city of Elk River was launched in April in conjunction with National Volunteer Week. Twenty-three positions are currently available to be filled by volunteers; others may be added as needed. The jobs range from coaching youth in sports leagues to cleaning and maintaining city outdoor spaces to general administrative needs.

“There’s always things that need to be done that get pushed to the side because there’s not enough time. Maybe if some people volunteer a lot of those things can get done,” Dietz said.

Jim Babcock

Jim Babcock of Elk River has stepped up as the first volunteer. He is the volunteer coordinator for the program.

He plans to interview people over the phone and then use the volunteer job descriptions to match volunteers with the positions that suit them. He has two volunteers interested in the program so far.

Babcock said he has retired from The Bank of Elk River and had talked to the mayor about the volunteer position.

“This will be good to keep my head in the game,” he said.

The Elk River Parks and Recreation Department is spearheading the development of the volunteer program. For more information, go to www.elkrivermn.gov or call 763-635-1000.

The post Elk River rolls out city volunteer program appeared first on Star News.

Associate editor

A sweeping change is being made to the way the city of Elk River covers the cost of maintaining its nearly 150 miles of streets.

The Elk River City Council voted 4-0 Monday, April 15, to implement a franchise fee that will eliminate the need to assess property owners and levy property taxes for street maintenance projects.

The fee will go into effect this summer. It will total $9 per month for residential properties, $29 to $41 per month for small commercial-industrial properties, $120 to $140 per month for general commercial-industrial properties and $170 per month for large commercial-industrial properties. All properties with gas and electric service in Elk River will be charged the franchise fee on their bills (CenterPoint Energy and Elk River Municipal Utilities or Connexus Energy) starting in July.

The fee is expected to generate about $1.4 million per year, according to City Engineer Justin Femrite. That, combined with state aid allocations, is projected to fully fund the city’s Pavement Management Fund. The fund will be used to pay for street reconstruction and overlays to prolong the life of streets. With proper care, streets should last 50 to 60 years, according to Femrite.

The city currently levies about $270,000 a year for street improvement bonds. With the franchise fee in place, the city will not need to levy for those bonds going forward, according to Finance Director Tim Simon.

Under the current system, benefiting property owners are also assessed 33 percent of the cost to replace existing streets or 100 percent of the cost to overlay streets. Proposed assessments for 2013 street projects were up to $8,000 for homeowners and $20,000 for the average business.

Jean Keely, the city engineer in Blaine who lives in Elk River, is one of the homeowners who was proposed to be assessed for a street project this year. That assessment will not happen, now that the franchise fee system is in place.

Keely thanked the Elk River City Council and staff for considering the franchise fee program.

“I’d just rather pay a dedicated fee for street maintenance, in lieu of special assessments and general tax dollars,” she said during Monday’s council meeting. “I think it has a low impact, being a per-month fee, and it’s better for resale of homes than having special assesments levied against your property.”

Property owners who are currently paying assessments for street work, or who prepaid assessments for projects that still have active assessments, will be eligible for a rebate of the franchise fee for the duration of the assessment period. The city will be sending information to property owners who are eligible for the rebate.

The change to a franchise fee came as the city looked at the rising cost of keeping streets in good condition. Without a change in the way the city funds street maintenance, Femrite said the city would need to increase assessments and more than double the annual property tax levy to $600,000 to manage the city’s street network and fully implement an adequate pavement managment plan.

More than 80 percent of the city’s streets have been constructed or reconstructed in the last 20 years, so a growing number require costly maintenance in the near future, according to city officials. Streets are typically overlaid every 20 years and rebuilt after 60 years.

Most of city streets are in good to excellent condition now. Femrite said the average Pavement Condition Index of Elk River’s streets currently is about 80, with zero being the worst condition and 100 being excellent. Without a franchise fee system and at the current funding levels, that would drop to 59 in the next decade, he said.

Under the plan, the city will continue doing major street projects every two years. Projections show the city spending $3.7 million on street maintenance this year, followed by an estimated $4 million in 2015, $4.3 million in 2017 and $4.5 million in 2019.

The city has taken a lot of feedback on the franchise fee. A brochure outlining the proposal was sent to more than 7,000 homes in Elk River and an insert describing the plan to businesses was included in the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce newsletter. The city also hosted an open house on April 4 and set up a blog.

Femrite said he took a couple hundred phone calls on the matter.

Reaction on the blog was mixed, with some liking the idea of a franchise fee and others critical of it.

One person wrote: “I agree the roads need to get done but not at our expense! We already pay too much in taxes and now you (are) soliciting door to door looking for more? Back to drawing board.”

Another wrote on the blog: “I am 100 percent for this management program. Other cities use this method with success. I do not like the assessment to property owners. It is difficult on many residents and creates stress. A nominal monthly charge can be absorbed.”

The post Fee replaces assessments, taxes to maintain streets appeared first on Star News.

Associate editor

For the last eight years, supporters of the historic Oliver Kelley Farm in Elk River have been working to get state funding for a $9.857 million revitalization project.

School children followed a Kelley Farm staff member into the garden last spring. Star News file photo

The funding has been in several bonding bills over the last few years, and passed both the Minnesota House and Senate three years ago before being vetoed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, according to Kelley Farm Site Manager Bob Quist.

The effort continues this legislative session.

The $9.857 million is in the DFL-controlled House bonding bill, but not in Gov. Mark Dayton’s plan; the Minnesota Senate has not yet released a bonding proposal.

The Kelley Farm is seeking the funds to renovate and expand the visitors’ center, add several outbuildings and fund other improvements. No significant changes are planned to the historic area where the Kelley Farm house and barn are located.

The Minnesota Historical Society site draws 28,000 visitors a year, and half of them are school children, Quist said. The site is turning away several thousand additional school children because the 35-year-old visitor center can’t accommodate that many people, he said.

Kelley Farm staff, along with school children, worked the fields last spring with a pair of oxen. Star News file photo

He likened the visitors’ center to an hourglass. No matter how big the top and bottom, the sand can only move through at a rate allowed by the bottleneck in the center.

“The visitors’ center has become that dreadful bottleneck,” Quist said.

The revitalization project would renovate and triple the size of the current visitors’ center. It would include a teaching kitchen, classrooms, community meeting room, expanded exhibit and public program spaces as well as expanded rest rooms, museum store and office and storage areas.

New outbuildings would include a four-season picnic shelter, a maintenance building and a livestock building.

Quist said a large part the revitalization is just to meet current visitor needs. “We have no picnic facilities, we have two stools in each restroom, and we are processing 300 kids at one time,” he said of the school groups that visit the farm.

“It really is limiting our ability to meet the needs of our visitors,” he said.

This shows the layout of the visitors’ center after renovation and expansion.

The farm received planning money in 2008 and almost all the design work is done, Quist said. If money is appropriated this session, construction could begin this fall.

Quist said the improvements would allow the farm to add programs because there would be more space available, including classroom and meeting space. Projections are that within about three years after the revitalization is complete the farm would double its audience.

The existing living history program would continue, and the farm would also tell the story of Minnesota’s agriculture from the past through today. Agriculture is Minnesota’s second-largest industry, Quist said.

Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River, and Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, carried bills this session to appropriate $9.857 million in bond proceeds to the Kelley Farm revitalization project. That request is now part of the larger, $800 million House bonding bill.

At a Senate committee hearing last month, Kiffmeyer described the Kelley Farm as a very unique site. Students reading about agriculture in a book is one thing, she said, but the Kelley Farm gives people a hands-on experience.

Zerwas sees the Kelley Farm is a valuable resource for schools and said the current facility is “kind of being held together by baling wire and duct tape.”

Zerwas told the Star News that the revitalization project has been languishing for about a decade and it’s a project he supports. It is the Minnesota Historical Society’s top capital project priority and was part of the Republican bonding bill in an earlier session, he noted.

He said the Kelley Farm’s proposal is a great project and wishes it could be voted on individually, rather than as part of the larger bonding bill.

Zerwas said he is concerned about the size of the bonding bill — $800 million in the House and $750 million in the governor’s proposal.

“A bill of that size is going to be very, very difficult to vote for, certainly in an off (non-bonding) year,” Zerwas said.

About the Kelley Farm

•Oliver H. Kelley was the founder of the first successful national farming organization, the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, better known as the Grange.

•The farm is a National Historic Landmark and Minnesota Historical Society site.

•It is a working 1860s farm. Activities follow the farming cycle and change with the season. Visitors can meet the animals in the barn, help work in the fields and gardens and see what’s cooking the in farmhouse.

•Opening weekend at the Kelley Farm is May 4-5. For more information go to www.mnhs.org/places/sites/ohkf/ or call 763-441-6896.

•The farm is located along Highway 10, 2.5 miles southeast of downtown Elk River.

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Associate editor

A road project is planned for this summer on Highway 10 in Elk River.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) plans to resurface five miles of the highway between Norfolk Avenue by downtown Elk River and Jarvis Street near the Elk River-Ramsey border. There also will be a number of turn lane extensions and three median crossover will be closed for improved safety, according to Jenny Seelen of MnDOT.

Elk River City Engineer Justin Femrite said median crossovers slated to be closed include:

•One in front of a house located between Edison Street and 165th Avenue, east of the Kelley Farm.

•One in front of Jerry’s of Elk River, between 167th Avenue and 170th Avenue. The entrance by Jerry’s will be restricted to right in, right out.

•One at 173rd Avenue, with 173rd Avenue being reduced to a right in, right movement.

MnDOT plans to let bids on the project on April 26. It is estimated the project will cost $4 million to construct, according to Seelen.

Plans are to begin work in early June with completion by mid-September — pending the contractor’s schedule, she said.

The majority of the work will be done during non-peak overnight hours. Motorists should expect reduced speeds, single lane closures, shifts and possible flaggers at accesses, Seelen said.

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ECM Capitol reporter

Sixth District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann visited the State Capitol on Monday, March 18, to advocate for two north metro transportation projects.

Flanked by a semi-circle of Republican legislators and local leaders, Bachmann pushed for funding lane additions on Interstate 94 — a business-life artery, said one business leader — and dollars for improvements on heavily traveled Highway 10.

Photos by T.W. Budig
Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River, joined U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann at the State Capitol to show his support for transportation initiatives.
Bachmann and Zerwas were backed by an array of local officials and business leaders.

“One thing we all know is politics is a team sport,” said Bachmann, touting her own efforts by citing hundreds of meetings with district officials and speaking of shared resolve on transportation.

A parade of business leaders stepped to the podium to stress the importance of Highway 10 and I-94 to their businesses.

David King, a production manager at Vision-Ease Lens in Ramsey, spoke of safety concerns and frustrations for company employees needing to navigate Highway 10 in that city. Beyond this, the company, which produces a large number of lenses for eyeglasses, relies on the state’s transportation infrastructure to conduct business.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann appeared at the State Capitol in support of adding a new travel lane in each direction on I-94 between Highways 101 and 241.

Concern over Highway 10 was shared by Anoka County Commissioners — a handful in attendance — with Commissioner Matt Look talking of transportation “heart blockage” and the need for stents.

Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, said: “Hopefully we can get some of the pieces of the puzzle to fit together so we get funding.”

Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River, spoke of the vexing problem of Highway 10 to his city, saying the nearby railroad tracks complicated upgrading the vital highway.

“Elk River is really a divided city,” he said of the transportation grid within the city.

Anoka County officials look to upgrade five intersections on Highway 10 through a stretch of highway between the cites of Anoka and Ramsey. The planned improvement carries a $300 million price tag. County officials indicated the intersection of Armstrong Boulevard and Highway 10 will be addressed soon.

Bachmann said the bulk of funding for the envisioned lane additions to I-94 will involve federal funding. She mentioned speaking to the U.S. House Transportation Committee officials about the initiative, indicating receptiveness and saying the proposal had “traction.”

According to the I-94 West Corridor Coalition, I-94 from Highway 241 in St. Michael to Highway 23 in St. Cloud accounts for 40 percent of the congestion on the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s interregional system, though accounting for less than two percent of the roadway.

Proponents want  to add additional I-94 lanes in phases, with the idea of eventually adding lanes from Maple Grove to St. Cloud.

For her part, Bachmann indicated that finding sufficient federal funding was a matter of prioritization. She indicated that increasing the federal gas tax, not increased since 1993, was a separate issue.

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