Minnetrista City Council — Transcript
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Ridgewood Cove Water Main Assessment
Water Fund Budget Discussion
Trunk Highway 7 Transmission Improvement Project
Nuisance Property Update
Votes (4)
Ridgewood Cove Water Main Assessment Discussion
Dissent: N/A
Moved by N/A · Seconded by N/A
The discussion centered on the high preliminary assessment of $15,500 per unit for the Ridgewood Cove water main extension and resident feedback against it. Staff presented options like connection fees and deferrals, comparing them to other communities' practices and a past city project. Council members largely opposed a forced assessment, favoring a connection fee approach and resident polling to gauge interest. Concerns included legal challenges, the longevity of private wells, and the long-term cost of not installing infrastructure during road work. Staff was directed to survey residents and explore policies regarding mandatory connection if private wells fail.
Water Fund Budget Discussion
Dissent: N/A
Moved by N/A · Seconded by N/A
The core of the budget discussion was the need to significantly increase water fund revenue due to rising debt from major capital projects. Staff proposed a 20% water utility rate increase for 2026 and 2027. Council agreed to this but pushed for greater upfront contributions from new developments, directing an immediate increase in the new home connection fee to $10,000 and the trunk water area charge to $16,000, instead of phased increases. The goal is to better balance infrastructure costs between current residents and new growth.
Trunk Highway 7 Transmission Improvement Project
Dissent: N/A
Moved by N/A · Seconded by N/A
The presentation covered the ongoing water treatment plant construction and the necessity of the Trunk Highway 7 transmission project. This project is vital for alleviating a critical bottleneck in the water system, improving pressure for western areas, and enhancing system redundancy. An estimated cost of $2.4 million is partially offset by $1 million in EPA funding. The timeline anticipates design and environmental work in late 2027, with construction in 2028, aligning with the expected development of Accate and Bowl properties. Council members affirmed their support for the project and for utilizing the EPA funding, despite the associated administrative overhead.
Nuisance Property Update
Dissent: N/A
Moved by N/A · Seconded by N/A
The discussion centered on two properties with ongoing nuisance issues. For 9550 West Hill Road, the owner failed to comply with a September 1st abatement order, showing minimal progress despite criminal proceedings. The estimated cost for city abatement was $250,000-$400,000, unbudgeted, with uncertain recovery. Council members expressed frustration at the lack of owner action and directed staff to proceed with obtaining abatement bids and to notify the owner of the city's intent. Similarly, for the 'Hunter property,' facing comparable issues across multiple jurisdictions, the council directed staff to issue an abatement order to escalate pressure for cleanup.
Notable Quotes (11)
I'm not in favor of assessing for this because I think um it would be really hard to prove a benefit when somebody already has a working well and maybe they've even invested in filtration systems and so on.
um, I think it's always good to put the infrastructure in when we're redoing the road because we're going to need it at some point.
The one thing with directional drilling is and Ridgewood Cove is a little bit better because they are wider lots. Every time you you dig that trench for the water service, you've got patches everywhere. So, um even though you're not open cutting for that main line, you're still [clears throat] opening open cutting a good portion of the road for those services. Is it more expensive? It is more expensive.
what's really driving is the associated debt obviously that comes with uh being able to pay for the projects and you can see our our debt um is going from you know used to be low 1 millions a year and and by the end of all the projects we're going to be pushing $3 million a year in debt. So that's the main driver of why we need within a few years here to we have our revenue um in the water fund be basically 4 million a year versus right now it's 2 to two and a half you know it really needs to to step up.
I think we need to increase the connection fee for the new homes to 10 grand. um cuz they need to pay for the infrastructure that's going in, especially if we're talking about having to pay 1.5 million for the trunk highway 7 line that's only going to serve the Ocarati property at this point. Um they they need to front more of the cost.
The major um hurdle that we're trying to work through right now in the transmission portion of your system is that bottleneck right before you cross the creek there u kind of in the middle of the system. That that is the biggest problem within the the transmission portion of your system is all of the water is produced on the east side of the system. It has to push to the west side.
So, if we have a water man break on that 12 in the entire western portion of of the community would be without water. So this helps with redundancy as well.
Is working with the EPA going to cost add cost to the project above what it would cost if we weren't using this money? Yes. [laughter]
So it's it's really in the the hands of city council. We're looking for direction on how to proceed with the the abatement order. um if if the direction is to proceed with it and proceed with getting bids and things like that, we would then work with legal counsel to um go through that process, affirm the uh abatement order. So Sarah would get a judge to affirm it.
subjectively, do we feel like these property owners are uh acting in good faith and just don't have limited resources to clean it up or do we feel like they're dragging their feet on purpose?
I think we need to keep the pressure on and you know, maybe getting bids uh and then sharing those bids with them. You know, how much equity are you going to have left if you know it cost us a quarter of a million? I I I think we need to just kind of keep on that path and we can always back off if if they start to really really do something.
Ordinances & Resolutions (11)
Document outlining water main extension options for Ridgewood Cove.
Report with corrected preliminary assessment amounts for Ridgewood Cove.
City's policy of assessing 100% for improvements.
Section outlining funding options for water main extension.
Report completed for a 2022 street improvement project, considered as an option for water main.
Capital Improvement Plan driving the water fund budget and associated debt.
Required approval for the Accate property, which triggers the Highway 7 project design.
Order issued for 9550 West Hill Road and considered for the Hunter property due to nuisance conditions.
Filed on November 11th against the owner of 9550 West Hill Road.
For support in applying for EPA CDS funding.
Required as part of the EPA funding application process.