West Lake Street to be reconstructed

By Robert Williams

Editor

A local sales tax is being considered to fund the proposed $1.2 million Vergas Park Improvement Master Plan for Long Lake Park, which includes upgrades to playgrounds, trails, a restroom facility, and accessibility features within the city’s primary park and recreation area.

The council passed a resolution to ask permission from the state to put the tax to a vote in the next election cycle, according to Clerk/Treasurer Julie Lammers. If passed, collection of the tax would begin in the following February.

The total estimated cost of the Park Improvement Plan is $1.2 million to be raised within five years through a general local sales tax at a rate of 0.5 percent on applicable retail sales within the city limits.

“It isn’t property taxes or anything; it’s any retail to collect funds to make the 1.2 million project,” said Mayor Julie Bruhn.

Council Member Bruce Albright brought up the question of what happens if grant funding is approved for the project helping cut the total cost down.

According to Lammers, the sales tax terminates when the project that was specifically applied for is completed.

The sales tax would help provide the matching funds needed for most grants. 

“I really think we’re going to have to use grants to get all of that done,” said Albright. “Realizing without some seed money to get started…we don’t have those funds.”

Streets

West Lake Street is a 0.38-mile city street in Vergas that the city is looking to reconstruct to County State Aid Highway 17. 

The street is currently unpaved, with roadside slopes exceeding 1:3, no shoulders, and no clear zone. These conditions create significant safety risks, especially as daily traffic continues to increase into the Lawrence Lake Acres development.

Initially designed as a minimally maintained gravel road, the street’s estimated traffic of 250 vehicles/day is rising due to several new homes recently constructed along the corridor. In 2024, the city also extended Glenn Street, which intersects with West Lake Street. This project shifted additional traffic onto West Lake, as commuters now use it as an alternative route to County Road 17/Main Street around Downtown Vergas.

The City of Vergas is proposing to reconstruct West Lake Street to a 7-ton structural design with a 22’ driving surface, 2’ shoulders, and a 9’ clear zone. Improvements include a new aggregate base, bituminous surfacing, ditch grading, slope reduction, and new culverts to correct ongoing drainage deficiencies.

The city is respectfully requesting $253,810.98 to complete the reconstruction, which is designed for a minimum useful life of 20 years.

The proposed project offers several operational and safety benefits. Replacing the loose gravel surface with stable pavement and reducing steep slopes will lower skidding and rollover risks. Adding shoulders will improve driver recovery space and provide a safer area for pedestrians. 

The project will also strengthen connectivity to the regional transportation system. West Lake Street connects to CSAH 17, a major collector, which provides access to Highways 59 and 10. People in Vergas have an average commute time of 21.3 minutes (ACS 2023), and improvements to this network will support reliable access to major employment hubs including Perham, Detroit Lakes, Frazee, and Pelican Rapids.

The city will apply for a Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) grant for the reconstruction and commits to funding 40 percent of the construction costs, 100 percent of the engineering and all other costs that are not eligible for LRIP funding and will provide future maintenance and comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations of the funding Agency.

A complementary resolution was passed by the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners to allow the county to be the sponsor and fiscal agent of the grant funds.

The LRIP grant was applied to before in 2023 but not approved, according to City Engineer Ryan Zemek of Widseth.

“We received a pretty good score, but not enough for funding, so Blaine Green (Widseth Engineer) and I worked on sharpening up the application and we’re going to give it another go this year,” said Zemek.

The council approved the resolution to allow Widseth to go forward with applying for the grant after a review of specifics in the grant application with Council Member Bruce Albright and Lammers.

Committees

Mayor Bruhn informed the energy and resiliency advisory board at their latest meeting on Thursday, October 23, that the city has received the grant funds for the solar panels and batteries to be installed at the Event Center. The installation was scheduled to begin November 10 and continue into the week of November 17. 

Installation is followed by an inspection and testing that can take up to four weeks.

Vergas is one of 10 area cities participating in research to see if solar could be used to benefit an area of town through a West Central Initiative (WCI) and Lakes Region Service Cooperative  program to bring solar power and savings to small communities in Minnesota.

WCI staff analysis showed an expected project cost of $104,280.23 and expected project incentives of $97,680. 

The incentives create a near zero cost obligation to the city and the project will save the city of Vergas $67,848 in energy costs over the project’s lifetime.

Holsen Solar is a Fargo-based licensed contractor and electrician that performs residential, business and agricultural solar projects. Holsen Solar was chosen by the group of cities to complete the construction after reviewing requests for proposals.

Signage

The Liquor Store/Municipal Building committee recommended allowing additional interior signage for A Step Up Boutique that was approved by council.