East Main Ave. construction public hearing held

By Robert Williams

Editor

The Frazee City Council reviewed bids for the planned rooftop heating unit replacement projects atop the liquor store and event center during the latest bimonthly meeting Wednesday, Feb. 14.

“The event center is fairly comparable, fairly cut and dried and they’re within just a bit of each other,” said City Administrator Stephanie Poegel. “The liquor store, on the other hand, is a totally different story.”

Esser Plumbing and Heating is proposing two 5-ton condensers, furnaces and coils to provide heating and cooling for the upstairs of the liquor store and bar. Duct work, gas piping, a full removal of everything on the roof and an air exchanger for the basement. All condensers will be placed on stands outside the building.

Material and labor put the Esser bid at $84,000 with any electrical work to be done by another contractor and no temporary heating or cooling included.

Tweeton’s bid includes replacing the rooftop units with one 5-ton condenser and 115k furnace, a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) system on the main level of the building and a split air conditioning system.

The Tweeton Refrigeration and Heating bid comes in with multiple options that total roughly $60,000.

Bids for the event center work are comparable in the $90,000 range.

The city has $130,000 in COVID-19 Economic Relief funds to use for the project, along with potential grant and/or financing options. 

The council approved the acceptance of the Tweeton bid upon the review and approval of Public Works Supervisor Larry Stephenson, who was not in attendance Wednesday night.

Sanitary Sewer work

The council authorized Ulteig Engineers, Inc. to prepare the Preliminary Engineering Report and Facility Plan for the Sanitary Sewer Collection System for the City’s Main Lift Station and 2nd Street Lift Station. The work includes the removal of the gravity sewer line that spans the Otter Tail River and moving it under the riverbed.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency requires a city to develop and adopt a Preliminary Engineering Report/Facility Plan in order to be eligible for funding through the Clean Water Revolving Fund. 

The work is scheduled for 2025 and is a part of the East Main Avenue Project.

A public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 6:01 p.m. at the Frazee Event Center to hear and consider adoption of the plan.

East Main/Rivercrest

A public hearing was held about the street improvements to be done on East Main Avenue beginning this summer. 

City Engineer Chris Thorson gave an extensive preview of the project at the last council meeting and Ulteig Engineers completed a report to the proposed improvement of East Main Avenue, between the Otter Tail River bridge crossing and northeast to the south line of Trunk Highway 87 with watermain, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, street and sidewalk improvements.

The project also includes Rivercrest Drive between East Main Avenue and northerly 400 feet to the end of pavement on Rivercrest Drive with street improvements; and to improve 8th Street SE between East Main Avenue and easterly to the intersection with Cherry Avenue with street improvements; and to improve Cherry Avenue between 8th Street SE and southerly on Cherry Avenue with street improvements.

A final upgrade will be improving the alleyway behind the fire hall, one block north of Main Avenue West between 2nd Street NW and 3d Street NW.

Final designs will lead to the bid portion of the project, along with an assessment hearing once numbers are accepted from the bid(s).

An estimated total cost of the improvement is $1,635,000.

The project is being done in conjunction with Becker County. According to Thorson, the county is paying for all of the street improvements within the East Main corridor. The city takes on the cost of water and sewer replacement.

Thorson discussed the deficiencies of Rivercrest Drive and the other segments, along with planned improvements. Much of the asphalt in the area is 30-40 years old.

Parking

The council passed a resolution requested by Becker County to ban parking of motor vehicles on East Main Avenue from approximately 300-feet easterly from the Otter Tail River Bridge to a point 200-feet easterly from the intersection with Rivercrest Drive. The parking ban will allow for a sidewalk to be added as part of the East Main project.

Park Board

The council will have a future hearing to rescind the Park Board Ordinance after determining that the Park Board and Park and Recreation Committee are basically the same entity. Anyone can join the Park and Rec Committee at any time. A future public hearing will be held to complete the task.

Staffing

The council approved the recommendation of Liquor Store Manager Amanda Young to hire Jenna Castagneri as a Bartender/Retail Clerk.

Jessica Kropuenske submitted her resignation, effective Feb. 10. Kropuenske had been working a four-hour, cleaning position at the Fire Hall. Her position is currently open and looking to be filled.