The five roadways were 23rd N. Street from N. Broadway to Terrance Drive; 11th S. Street from Payne Street to Jefferson; 5th N. from Broadway to German; 15 S. Street from State to Washington Street and Summit from State Park Road to Golf Drive.

City Engineer Joseph Stadheim said all five projects were streets where minimal sub-grade correction was anticipated and no underground utility work was needed. All five projects involve removing and replacing the road surface. The engineering report recommended the special assessment rate be set at 45% of full reconstruction rate. This is $2,140 per adjacent single family residential parcel and incremental benefits for multi-family parcels.

Of the five road projects, the council only received comments on the 23rd N. and 11th S. Street projects during the public hearing.

Rick Traulich, a resident of 23rd N., said based on the road condition he believed the project needed to be done, but objected to the amount of assessment to the residents.

One block of S. 11th Street between Payne and Jefferson was authorized for resurfacing. The road segment was constructed in 1977 and has been seal coated multiple times. City Engineer Joseph Stadheim said the road had reached the end of its useful life.

“There has been excessive truck traffic on my road for the last four years,” Traulich said. He cited the heavy truck traffic as the main reason for the road’s deterioration. “I do not think it is right for me to pay the full amount because I thought there was a little bit more than what should have been traffic wise on that road.”

Stadheim said it was the city’s policy to levy assessments from a parcel regardless of usage. The city had not changed assessments amounts because the road was on a truck route or more heavily traveled.

Council President Andrea Boettger asked if this reconstruction project was coming in early or ahead of schedule.

Stadheim said the road segment was 26 years old and was within the 25 to 30 years expected useful life.

Councilor Eric Warmka asked if the $2,140 assessment needed to be paid in full or broken up over time.

Stadheim said the assessment can be paid back over a 10 year period, but he was uncertain what the interest rate would be until the city bonded for the project.

Christopher Ries was also against the full assessment on 23rd N. He said there was excessive truck traffic on this road during the construction of the retention pond at the bottom of the 23rd N. hill. Ries said at times there were trucks going up and down once every 30 seconds. The same issue occurred during the construction of Boundary Street.

He asked if 23rd N. was designed with truck traffic in mind.

Stadheim said the roadway was constructed with five inches of payment, which is thicker than a typical residential roadway. As part of this reconstruct, the city is planning to place a four inch surface.

Stadheim said with the completion of Boundary Street, this section of N. 23rd has been posted as a no truck traffic zone.

“We felt it was appropriate to reconstruct this as a residential section,” he said.

A representative of the Ridgeway on 23rd Assisted Living asked if the businesses would be assessed differently than the residential properties.

Stadheim said Ridgeway on 23rd would be assessed differently because of its side. The Assisted Living facility will be assessed as two unit. The total assessment will be $4,280 based on property frontage.a

For the 11th S. roadway project, Roger Lund asked why the project was needed. He believed it was in need of a seal coating, but he saw no holes in the street.

Stadheim said the roadway was constructed in 1977 and estimated it had been seal coated at least 10 times.

“It’s reached the end of its useful life and it is staff’s opinion that it needs to be replaced,” he said.

Stadheim further explained the project was only for removing and replacing the surface. No utility word was being done, which would reduce the total assessment.

Warmka said he appreciated people coming in with comments on N. 23rd Street, as it was in his ward.

“I understand where they are coming from, but this road has been there for 25 years and it is in tough shape at this moment,” Warmka said. “These are things that need to be done. We’re not cutting up road just for the sake of cutting up roads.”

Councilor David Christian said he agreed with Warmka.

“No one likes to pay the assessment, but I am in agreement that we need to keep up with our streets and this is the way to do it.”

Councilor Larry Mack wanted to be proactive in repairing roadway and consistent.

“We can’t just say this road get less traffic or more traffic because we don’t know where a future detour is going to be,” he said.

Christian made the motion to order in the surface reconstruction projects with a second from Councilor Tom Schmitz. It was unanimously approved.