CIRCLE PINES — As 2023 approaches, the city is reflecting on the completion of the largest investment in the city’s history — $40.8 million to be exact.
“In a world where people focus on the negative, I have always believed that we need to lift up the positive when good things happen,” Mayor Dave Bartholomay said. “Our street reconstruction process was a tremendous event … We demonstrated that with some good planning and some sharp people, that we can take on a major effort consistent over time, get it done, do it right and really involve a lot of people.”
Back in 2006, the City Council agreed it was time to start looking at streets and to develop a plan that would address the city’s infrastructure needs, all while making the financing work. It took a couple of years to get all of that in motion, but the first project kicked off in 2008, and subsequent projects happened every two years. The last one was completed this year.
“It was a classic example of play your work and work your plan,” Bartholomay said.
In total, eight street projects reconstructed 13.26 miles of roadways and cost over $40 million. The city bonded for the projects, and each benefiting property owner ended up paying approximately $4,000 to $5,000.
Jim Klein served as the construction observer (from WSB) from 2012 to 2022. He recalled that in the early rollout years of the plan, there was a lot of opposition, but as the years went by and the projects continued, each one gained more and more support from residents.
Former Council Member Deb O’Brien said the thing that stood out to her about the projects was that residents were engaged. “Typically, people don’t show up to council meetings, but when we had a street reconstruction project, they showed up,” she said.
Former Council Member Dan Greensweig added, “Our residents understood the importance of preserving our infrastructure; they understood the importance of asking us hard questions and making sure that we sharpened our pencils as much as we could. In the end, they knew what we needed to do to keep this community vibrant … I think that says wonderful things about the people that live here, and it says wonderful things about your (the mayor and council’s) leadership.”
Centennial Utilities Chair and longtime resident Jan Kreminski described the projects as “long-range stewardship.
“To all that made this decades-long task possible, including our citizens, thank you for a job well done. Moving to the future with these assets now in place is a base for more forward-thinking for this community to build into the 21st century with pride,” he said. “This really is a challenge to the council and the commission to take this stewardship, this mantra that has been given to us by the citizens, and to continue it forward with forward thinking. We have a lot to be thankful for.”
Council Member Matt Percy added, “This is a great example of how things really can work and how they should work. I think there is a lot to be learned from this.”
The city of Circle Pines will now work with WSB on developing a maintenance plan for how to maintain the new roads.
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