Plumbing upgrades approved for Bellanca Building at Alexandria Airport

The installation will be non-contact, which is in line with the other city buildings that have been upgraded with COVID-19 aid funds.

The plumbing upgrades are part of a $ 362,000 renovation being carried out by the City and Minnesota Department of Transportation in the Bellanca building, which was once used to manufacture Bellanca aircraft. City and state share the costs equally.

The overall project also includes roof repairs, the demolition of the office area and the removal of hazardous materials.

The aim of the renovation is to repair the building in the next few years so that it can be rented out to tenants.

There are other items from the March 22nd meeting that are not covered in other Council reports.

To better control costs and efficiency, Alexandria is considering a new “fleet management program” for vehicle purchases by the city departments.

City administrator Marty Schultz informed the city council that the underfunding of the equipment funds began with the 2008 financial crisis, creating a situation where many of the vehicles were used beyond a useful age.

Schultz said raising property tax on the vehicles would place too much of a burden on taxpayers.

Enterprise Fleet Management’s new management program would increase safety, improve vehicle resale and lower maintenance costs, said Schultz. Vehicles would be swapped when they reached their maximum resale value of four to seven years.

Additional coverage from Alexandria City Council:

The city is expected to save $ 162,509 as part of the Enterprise plan, Schultz said. The savings would begin after the city replaces 32 vehicles over the next five years. The plan is to replace 18 vehicles this year, six in 2022, four in 2023, three in 2024 and one in 2025.

The city council authorized District Attorney Tom Jacobson to review the plan and answer questions from the city council, such as: B. What would happen if the city council decided to terminate the agreement.

Changes to the rainwater permit proposed

The city is making changes to its rainwater ordinance and wants public feedback.

The council planned to hold a public hearing during the council meeting on April 12th.

City engineer Tim Schoonhoven summarized the goals of the changes in a memo to the council:

  • Improve consistency of language and terminology between Alexandria and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

  • Reference MPCA Construction Rainwater general permit practices and systems to reduce insignificant deviations.

  • Define land disturbance categories and filing requirements to meet the criteria of the rainwater permit process and Alexandria Construction Department.

  • Add the requirements of the MPCA regulation for salt storage and handling as well as animal waste.

The aim of the city’s rainwater management committee is to bring the revised ordinance into effect before the start of the construction season.

The “vault” of Alexandria City Hall – the room in the front office area where records are kept – is being reorganized.

The records include paper files for every package within the city limits, and the high volume of building permits had resulted in the need for more space in the vault, according to city manager Marty Schultz.

Some items will be moved and the vault will be reorganized. The city will buy some additional filing cabinets and public works staff will be making changes to the cabinets’ configuration, Schultz said in a memo to the council.

For the twelfth time since the pandemic began, the council extended its declaration of a local emergency due to COVID-19.

The city first ratified the mayor’s declaration on March 18 last year and renewed it on a monthly basis. This latest move will extend it to April 30th – unless Governor Tim Walz has his Executive Ordinance declare that the emergency will expire before that date.

The declaration allows the city to approve emergency ordinances that go into effect immediately and offers more flexibility, such as: B. Holding meetings via Zoom video conferencing. It is separate from Walz’s Executive Orders for restrictions from restaurants and other businesses.

The council issued temporary dealer licenses to Papa’s Kettlecorn, owned by Bob Lorenz, and Doug’s Kettlecorn, owned by Doug Hasz.

The council also issued a wine license to the Andria Theater, which will be used from April 1st through December 31st. Upon request, the license fee was divided proportionally over nine months.

The city, county, and Douglas County Agricultural Association are reconsidering the right of way at the temporary exhibition site.

All three companies use or own land on the exhibition grounds and have worked on a master plan for the future use of the land.

At two recent meetings, representatives of the AG Association raised concerns about the location of multiple rights of way on the plat and asked if they were necessary.

The council authorized the staff to continue to speak to the association of the district and the AG about the transfer of land on the exhibition site, including the status of the right of way.

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