At their meeting on Monday, May 12 the Spring Valley City Council learned they have been awarded a sizable grant through the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s (MnDOT) Active Transportation (AT) grant program.
“Congratulations, you were awarded a million dollars, which was the maximum amount through that program,” Drew Weber, of Bolton and Menk, expressed. “The scope for the project as far as the application goes are pedestrian crosswalks, pedestrian improvements along Broadway (Avenue) from Jefferson Street, Courtland, and both sides of Main Street. We adjusted the scope to include the south side to allow people to get to here (downtown) more easily. Another piece of that scope was connecting your current bike trail. There is the gap between County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 1/Main Street, Willow Park and Highway 63, so we included a trail on the north side of CSAH 1/Main Street to connect your downtown and your trail system. So, a nice connecting piece to help utilize that more safely.”
The grant will not cover any aesthetic improvements “beyond standard.” The goal for the project is to increase the walkablility and rollability of the city’s infrastructure.
“We (the Broadway Project committee) knew that going into the grant application. We met as a committee and redefined our scope and the goal was to maximize the grant dollars while minimizing the city’s expense outside of that grant.”
Weber noted that while the grant doesn’t include any beautification they want to create a project that could accommodate aesthetic details in the future when funds are raised.
“I just want to make sure whatever we do through the grant and through this project doesn’t have to get redone or changed and it can accept other improvements in the future,” Weber explained.
In accordance with the grant guidelines, the project must begin in 2026.
In speaking of the potential timeline Weber said, “In a project like this let’s make sure we do it right. So we will take the process in steps and have an open house, a modified demonstration project this summer using the feedback we got last year and it has been suggested we do a Broadway on Wednesdays booth to help answer any questions in a more informal setting.”
Behind the scenes there will be surveying done, a feasibility report to get a better estimate of all the costs and the final design work will be done over the fall and winter months. Once the design is complete the project will be bid out.
The city of Spring Valley received yet another grant. This one from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
“It is a resiliency plan grant. We worked on it with both city and utilities staff. It is basically a flood study of Spring Valley Creek within the city limits. This grant allows us to study the flooding occurrences and frequency within Spring Valley Creek and also evaluate the infrastructure related to that. So that would be looking at all the culverts, box culverts that the creek runs through, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, electrical and infrastructure adjacent to the creek to understand where we are at risk,” Weber explained.
A benefit to the study is, according to Weber, that in the past the MPCA has had grants for infrastructure and having this study completed can help the city score higher because they can show they’ve been proactive in the preparation and planning of future improvements.
The study is estimated to cost $90,000, but the grant will cover 90% of the costs. Weber shared public utilities has offered to pay half of the 10% cost.
“Its a neat opportunity to position ourselves well for the future at a pretty low effort from a dollar standpoint,” Weber concluded.
The council voted to approve the study.
Staff Reports
Parks and Recs Director John Fenske noted registrations for summer rec and the pool are open and can now be found online. They are beginning to prepare the pool for summer, but are once again in search of lifeguards before their June 9 opening.
“Right now we have five applicants, but we need nine to run the pool for the hours we are open,” Fenske said. “If we cannot find more lifeguards our hours are probably going to have to change a little.”
Mayor Justin Mlinar urged anyone interested in applying to be a lifeguard to contact city hall for more information.
Fenske thanked Penz Automotive Group/Chevrolet of Spring Valley for their donation of $500 and more than $2,000 worth of equipment to the summer rec program.
Economic Development Authority (EDA) Director Chris Hahn reminded residents and while summer is the time for making improvements, there are usually necessary permits and ordinances to review, but all the information can be found on the EDA website, as well as the city’s.
Little Huskers registration will be opening for their August 16 event. The registration will close on July 26.
Hahn suggested residents check out their community calendar for all the summer events.
“There’s probably more than ever on the calendar for summer events this year, which is great,” Hahn expressed.
The Osterud-Winter Foundation is seeking funding applications through May 28.
Hahn shared the Root River Trail Towns bike rental program is back for the summer at Sunshine Foods.
Library Director Melissa Vander Plas told the council the library’s new system is now live and has gone relatively smooth, though there have been some small glitches. She urged any patrons having issues online to call the library for assistance.
“The potential there is great. As we work through the issues we are still seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It was a good move for the library to go to this system,” Vander Plas said.
Library staff took advantage of the time the library was closed for the system update by rearranging the shelves to make books easier to find and make some areas more family friendly.
The summer reading program will begin in June with registration opening on June 2.
Co-Ambulance Director Mike Zimmer shared there were 46 calls in April and 20 calls to date in May.
Zimmer recently completed an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) training course. There are now four trained EMRs in Wykoff and one in Ostrander.
“That will help with some of the drive time because we’ll have people on scene right away. It will help out greatly in some instances,” Zimmer said.
Fire Chief Dustin Johnson said there were two out of control brush fire calls, one structure fire and a suspected gas leak call in April.
The department was able to do school bus extraction training thanks to a donation of a school bus. Johnson stated they were able to cut into the bus to see all the components inside, which is something they’ve never been able to do before.
Other Business
• Sarah Kohn spoke to the council about recent issues at Kolling Courts regarding area youth being disrespectful and vandalizing equipment at the courts. Councilor Chris Danielson also shared her encounter with the youths as they came to her home and tried to kick in her door. Fenske stated officers have tried to speak with the youths, but were also met with irreverence. Fenske is looking into getting cameras installed at the court, but warned the council they will be expensive as there is no internet there. Mlinar pleaded with parents to not only take responsibility for their children but to teach them respect and responsibility.
• The Tracy Road Project is expected to begin in June or early July.
“We are working through the contracts with the contractors and they are tentatively planning in June or early July. They have expressed no concerns about getting it done within the project timeline,” Weber said.
• The next Town Hall Meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 11 at 7 p.m.. The event will be hosted by Mlinar and Danielson and the topic will be, “What would you want to improve or see in our community.”
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