Streets, parks, Caswell, equipment part of North Mankato five-year plan

Tim Krohn, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·3 min read

Oct. 25—NORTH MANKATO — North Mankato is eyeing $41.3 million in capital improvement projects over the next five years.

The plan includes several street projects, Caswell Park upgrades, ravine stabilization projects, the purchase or replacement of large equipment, painting of a water tower, sewer upgrades and many other projects.

The 2022-2026 capital improvement projects list is nearly $8.9 million larger than the 2021-2025 project list.

The city's hopes to build an indoor recreation facility at Caswell Park accounts for much of that increase. The city has requested $8.5 million in state bonding money for the indoor rec center, with a matching amount coming from the city and user groups. The Legislature will next year decide if the Caswell project makes the cut when it passes a bonding bill.

The City Council, during a workshop Monday, reviewed the capital improvement projects as it works toward finalizing the city's budget for next year.

Some of the major street projects tentatively planned for 2022 include $1.5 million for the reconstruction of the 300-500 blocks of McKinley Avenue and $1.2 million for Lor Ray Drive from Monarch Meadows to Somerset. The total cost of the Lor Ray project is $4 million, with other sources of funding covering the bulk of the costs.

2023 tentatively has $500,000 for the city's portion of a roundabout at Howard/Lor Ray drives and $1 million for Somerset Drive improvements, with an additional $1.5 million slated for Somerset in 2024.

For 2025, $1.3 million is penciled in for improvements to Garfield Avenue from Center to Range and $1.7 million for Cross Street from Monroe to Webster.

In 2026, $1.75 million is tentatively planned for Sherman Street from South to Garfield avenues, $1.3 million for Page Avenue from Center to Range streets and $625,000 for the 300 block of Wheeler Avenue.

Park improvements slated for 2022 include updated playground structures ($50,000), a splash pad at Fallenstein Field ($50,000 city funding plus a pledged donation), and improvements to Lady Bug Lake at Benson Park ($150,000). A variety of other park and trail improvements are slated for 2023-2026. The council has previously set a goal of doing about $300,000 per year in park improvements.

The city budget includes the general fund, construction fund, capital facilities and equipment replacement fund and the utility fund.

Some of the small-scale projects and equipment purchases will be cash expenditures with money taken from the different operating budgets, while large-scale infrastructure and recreational projects will be paid through bonding.

One relatively small purchase, scheduled for sometime after 2022, had special meaning for City Councilman Billy Steiner — the $150,000 replacement of the city's mobile band shell. The trailer that converts to a band shell is used for Music in the Park and other outdoor festivals during the summer.

Steiner, a longtime musician, said he and bandmates were talking about the bandshell the last time they played in it this summer in Wheeler Park. "We were joking about how many times we played in it." He said the mobile unit may go back to the 1960s and he remembered playing in it at the old People's Fair that used to be held in Sibley Park in Mankato.