City council approves Murray Avenue, Sixth Avenue work

Two planned street reconstruction projects are moving forward after action taken Monday night by the Worthington City Council.

Work on Murray Avenue is set to take place from Nobles Street to East Dead End and include improvements related to sanitary services, curb and gutter, sidewalks, driveways, base reconstruction and bituminous surfacing. The projected cost of the Murray Avenue work is $807,000, with a city share of $328,386.64.

Work on Sixth Avenue is set to take place from 11th Street to 14th Street and include improvements pertaining to water main, sanitary sewer main, storm sewer main, sanitary services, base reconstruction, bituminous surfacing, curb and gutter, driveways and sidewalk. The projected cost of the Sixth Avenue work is $670,000, with a city share of $184,000.

Owners of properties within the boundaries of both planned projects will be assessed for improvement costs.

Council members also took action on an entirely different construction project Monday, as they approved a base bid of $884,449.79 and alternate $59,162.30 bid from Everstrong Construction of Redwood Falls for building a new three-bay hangar at Worthington Municipal Airport. The bid will be contingent on the city's receiving a Federal Aviation Administration grant for the project.

A mill and overlay project that's slated to take place in the Cherry Point neighborhood was also on Monday's council agenda. Improvements to Liberty Drive, Pershing Boulevard, Betty Avenue, Godfrey Street, Leon Avenue and Grandview Avenue are planned; West Lake Avenue is not part of the work. The city council approved the project's plans and specifications and authorized the advertisement for bids. Bids will be received at 2 p.m. March 5 and will be considered for award at the March 10 council meeting.

Additionally, Monday's meeting included the appointment of Trent DeGroot as the new chief of the Worthington Fire Department.

After serving the residents of Worthington as a firefighter for more than 27 years -- and the past four years as the chief -- Pat Shorter retired effective Feb. 3. Members of the fire department met Jan. 28 and forwarded the recommendation to appoint DeGroot as chief. DeGroot joined the department in 2009 and has served as the first assistant chief for the past four years. 

The Worthington Fire Department Chief has general supervision of the department at all times as well as control over all apparatus, equipment and supplies and command over all persons who are employees of the department. The chief reports to the City Administrator. 

Also Monday, council members authorized hiring HTG Architects of Hopkins to get a feasibility report and cost estimate for remodeling the existing ice arena. The proposed work is to include developing site plans and floor plans, preparing exterior elevations, preparing cost estimates, and establishing a project schedule. The fee for this phase of work is $3,400 plus expenses.

In another matter, the council approved the second of three required readings of the city’s cannabis ordinance. Regulations stipulated in the ordinance include registration process for businesses, fees, enforcement, penalties, hours of operation restrictions and other requirements.

Approved by council members as well was the amendment of a service agreement with the engineering consulting firm AE2S for the County Ditch 12 Phase 2 project. The amendment was prompted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's announcement of a new funding opportunity specifically for the construction of the stormwater resilience.