Bonding corrections allow projects to continue, grant program added

The fixes needed fixing. That’s one way to characterize the 2021 bonding corrections law. Several capital investment projects funded in previous years had been delayed because language in their proposals needed to be amended or extensions were required.

Capital projects

Sponsored by Rep. Fue Lee (DFL-Mpls) and Sen. Tom Bakk (I-Cook), the law amends prior appropriations of general obligation bonds and authorizes a conveyance of state-bond financed property.

Among the plethora of projects amended:

• veterans’ cemeteries have their bond sale authorization and appropriation extended until Dec. 31, 2024;

• the non-state match requirement for public infrastructure at the Thief River Falls Airport will now be at least 20% of the total cost of the project rather than a fixed amount;

• the balance of an appropriation to Virginia for a Highway 53 utilities relocation can be used for construction of a Mesabi Trail segment, with the bond sale authorization and appropriation extended until Dec. 31, 2022;

• the balance of an appropriation for Rice Lake’s water main replacement can be used for a municipal utility extension, with the appropriation availability extended through Dec. 31, 2022; and

• the bond sale authorization and appropriation to restore water quality in the St. Louis River is extended through Dec. 31, 2023.

The law also:

• amends an appropriation to become a grant to Swift County for a segment of County State-Aid Highway 6, with bond sale authorization and appropriation available until Dec. 31, 2025;

• authorizes the City of Eagle Bend to redevelop and reuse the Eagle Bend High School building and site, contracting with a third party to manage the renovation and operate the housing project, with bond sale authorization and appropriation extended until Dec. 31, 2024;

• removes installation of a new steel fence and pillars from the appropriation for the restoration of the Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery in Minneapolis;

• extends the bond sale authorization and appropriation for Minneapolis’ Norway House through Dec. 31, 2026;

• provides that local road improvement fund grants for Inver Grove Heights may be for the city, Dakota County, or both;

• extends the 2018 bond sale authorization and appropriation for the Wakan Tipi project at St. Paul’s Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary through Dec. 31, 2024;

• allows any unspent portion of the appropriation for the Dietary Building project on the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center campus to be used for asset preservation;

• authorizes the balance of the appropriation of the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center project to be used for asset preservation, and extends the availability of the bond sale authorization and appropriation through Dec. 31, 2023;

• extends the bond sale authorization and appropriation for Minneapolis’ Upper Harbor Terminal Redevelopment project to Dec. 31, 2024;

• changes Ramsey County to the grantee for a Southeast Asian language job training facility, adds acquisition of a Sycamore Street facility to authorized uses of the appropriation, and authorizes the addition of child care facilities and on-site supportive services to the project;

• allows an appropriation for a drinking water system in Aurora, Biwabik, Hoyt Lakes and White Township to be used for acquisition of a long-term lease, and extends the availability of the bond sale authorization and appropriation to Dec. 31, 2024;

• extends the bond sale authorization and appropriation for South St. Paul’s Seidls Lake project to Dec. 31, 2024;

• clarifies that the portion of the flood hazard mitigation appropriation for the Toelle Coulee applies in Traverse County;

• adds “engineer” to the authorized uses of the appropriation for Lake City’s Ohuta Beach breakwater;

• adds authorized uses to the construction and renovation of public skate parks, requires designers to be experts in the field of skate park design, and makes the language retroactive to Oct. 21, 2020;

• adds environmental analysis of local road intersections and associated improvements along Trunk Highway 65 in Anoka County to authorized uses of the appropriation;

• amends authorized uses of the appropriation for Golden Valley’s project at Douglas Drive and Highway 55;

• removes Scott County as the grantee and adds public utility relocations for the Highway 13 interchange at the intersections of Dakota and Yosemite avenues;

• adds Olmsted County as the grantee for the county’s share of general obligation bond eligible portions of the Trunk Highway 14 and County Road 104 interchange construction project, and authorizes the balance of the appropriation to be applied to the county’s share of right-of-way acquisition, construction, furnishing and equipping the interchange;

• amends the living units to which the appropriation applies for the Minnesota Correctional Facility — St. Cloud;

• authorizes the Department of Administration to enter into a lease for a term of at least 125 percent of the useful life of any improvements to be constructed on the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Togo site;

• adds design to the authorized uses of the appropriation for Crookston’s Colborn Property development;

• deletes an amphitheater from the Fergus Falls riverfront corridor project;

• removes demolition and site work from Hennepin County’s Avivo project, and allows any unspent portion of the appropriation to be used for renovation or construction after providing written notice to Minnesota Management and Budget;

• adds predesign to the authorized uses of the appropriation for St. Joseph’s Jacob Wetterling Recreation Center, clarifies that it is adjacent to the city community center, and authorizes the city to enter into a lease or management agreement for operation of recreation programs;

• changes the grantee for an access road project in Wadena to Wadena County, Otter Tail County or both;

• amends a project in Willernie to be for replacement of a maintenance building;

• adds acquisition of easements and engineering to authorized uses of an appropriation for a water main in Arden Hills;

• authorizes amounts remaining after substantial completion of a project in Austin to be used to construct a wastewater treatment facility;

• clarifies that an appropriation is for wastewater infrastructure improvements in Mahnomen and deletes erroneous cross-references on a drinking water infrastructure project;

• clarifies that an appropriation is for improvements to the water distribution system in Mendota;

• authorizes a wastewater system infrastructure grant to be used for the restoration of a Zumbro River stream bank in Oronoco;

• adds a well house, water main and other related drinking water improvements to a South Haven wells project;

• clarifies that city utility improvements in Spring Park include an adjacent roadway;

• adds wastewater treatment facilities and sanitary sewer and storm water collection systems to water infrastructure improvements in Vernon Center;

• adds authorized uses to railroad grade separation and flood mitigation projects;

• authorizes the Department of Administration to convey to Isanti County all or a part of certain state-owned property in the county; and

• clarifies that all amendments to appropriations are effective July 1, 2021, unless otherwise specified.

2021 Special Session: SSHF52*/SSSF39/SSCH9

HF0052* / SF0039 / CH9