Senators greeted with outstretched hands The stops began to have a familiar feel by the time the state Senate Capital Investment Committee finished its tour in North Mankato Thursday afternoon.
The senators’ caravan would stop, and the senators would be greeted with gusty summer winds from the south, flying dirt from construction sites and outstretched hands from local officials.
It was the final day of a three-day tour of southern Minnesota that included 500 miles, 21 towns and hundreds of millions of dollars of requests for construction funding.
“I’m tired,” said Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley. “Because you constantly have people asking you for money.”
The tour, which covered the southwestern quarter of the state, was the first of five tours of outstate Minnesota that the committee is undertaking leading up to the 2008 legislative session. Along with its House counterpart, the Senate Capital Investment Committee will be paring down about $4 billion of requests into a $970 million list of projects to be funded through state bond sales.
Many requests are classic bonding bill projects where state funds are used to build or repair state facilities such as prisons, colleges and state parks. But many others have a more local character, and Koering said that’s where lawmakers have to think hard about the wisdom of the state picking up the tab.
“In essence, we’re taking other people’s tax dollars and spending them down here,” he said. “And I have to justify in my mind how we can do that.”
Here’s a look at some of the requests they heard after arriving in Mankato around noon Thursday.
The project: An expansion of North Mankato’s Caswell Park. Currently a six-field softball complex, city officials want to purchase 10 acres on the park’s far west side and four more acres on the east side.
Originally 25 acres, the park got a 12-acre expansion in 2005. By adding another 14 acres, the park will be double its original size and could see a water park, outdoor refrigerated hockey rinks, a baseball diamond and youth football fields.
The pitch: The softball complex in upper North Mankato is a statewide resource, serving as the site for numerous softball tournaments ranging from state high school championships to national tourneys for players of all ages. By purchasing the vacant adjoining land before it’s developed, the park will be able to grow to meet increasing demands for recreational opportunities.
The amount: The state is being asked for $350,000 — half the estimated $700,000 cost of acquiring the land.
“It’s a well-thought-out plan,” Zellmer said. “Just like everything else, there’s not enough cash to do it.”
The project: A $25.5 million renovation of the center and south buildings of Minnesota State University’s sprawling science facility. The money would completely retrofit the buildings, bringing modern teaching labs, replacing inadequate heating and ventilation systems, removing asbestos, installing modern lighting, fixing leaky roofs and improving energy efficiency.
The pitch: Trafton is an MSU workhorse. It houses 10 of the university’s departments and 132 faculty, and its classrooms produce 30 percent of MSU’s credit hours. If Minnesota wants to be a leader in the science and technology economy, it needs to have quality facilities for teaching future scientists and engineers.
The amount: The entire $25.5 million project would be state-funded and would follow $33 million approved by the Legislature in 2006 for a major addition to Trafton and a renovation of the Trafton North building.
The project: The construction of a riverside (or at least levee-side) parkway aimed at promoting commercial and housing development in a currently industrialized area. The redevelopment area would begin near the Salvation Army buildings and stretch through the former Hanson Concrete plant to Sibley Park.
The pitch: Rather than promoting further sprawl into outlying farmland, this project will redevelop about 80 acres of under-used land into attractive, tax-base-increasing homes and businesses, according to Mankato Community Development Director Paul Vogel.
The amount: The $5.3 million project is being funded by the city, tax increment financing, special assessments and Department of Employment and Economic Development grants.
As Vogel wrapped up his presentation, Sen. David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm, was clearly confused.
“So, you’re not asking for money?” Tomassoni said.
“You already gave us the money,” Vogel said, referring to the DEED grant. “Thank you very much.”
City officials wanted to show their support for the DEED grant program. And Vogel did mention one place the bonding committee could help. The Sibley Parkway project won’t be completed until the city takes possession of the current Minnesota Department of Transportation regional headquarters, where it will move its public works facilities that are now located along the parkway.
And that can’t happen until the state approves funding for a new MnDOT regional headquarters. The price: about $21 million.
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