NEW ULM — The New Ulm City Council will determine the future of New Ulm’s downtown holiday garland decorations, Tuesday.

The holiday garland decorations have been a part of New Ulm’s history for decades, but in 2016, the garlands led to a fire. This began a conversation about the safety of the decorations and who is liable in an accident.

In 2018, the building owners signed a one-year agreement allowing the city to hang garlands.

Ahead of the 2019 holiday season, the city needs to determine how to move forward with the garland tradition.

Currently, the city owns the components of the garlands, including the bell, star centers, and the guide wires. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) contributes $2,000 toward the purchase of fresh garlands each year. The Chamber of Commerce pays the remaining cost of the garlands. The Street Department installs and removes the garlands.

There are 24 buildings that can have the garlands attached, for a total of 12 garlands, but not all have anchors attached. In 2017, seven garlands were hung and in 2018, eight garlands were hung.

A subcommittee of the Downtown Action Committee investigated the cost to have each building inspected to determine if it could hold the weight of a garland. The estimate was $100,000.

The cost of installing anchors is unknown, but initial estimates were upwards of $50,000. The cost of new cables is estimated at $5,000 each.

Suggestions for funding this inspection include: adding to the city budget, splitting the cost between the businesses; and seeking donations through fundraising.

The council is expected to make a formal decision on whether the city will continue with the garlands and how to cover the cost.

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The council will consider a pledge of $150,000 of city reserve funds to the New Ulm Baseball Association (NUBA) to build an observation deck at Johnson Park.

Johnson Park is scheduled to undergo significant improvements in 2019 as the first Reinvest in New Ulm (RENU) project. The plan is to have the improvements in place by 2020. Johnson Park will be used in the 2020 state amateur baseball tournament.

The observation deck along the first base/right field was not part of the original design request for proposals and would cost over the $14.8 million allocated for RENU. If the council agrees to include the observation deck in the Johnson Park project, the extra cost cannot come from RENU funds. The estimated $150,000 deck would need to come from New Ulm’s reserve funds.

NUBA plans to pay the city back for the deck through revenue generated by the park. NUBA believes the bulk of the cost will be reimbursed after the 2020 state tournament. Based on past hosting revenues, NUBA estimates $120,000. NUBA already contributes annually to the city budget through concessions tax, field rent, and the share of Mueller Park outfield fence ad revenue.

If the city uses reserve funds to pay for the observation deck, reserves will decrease by 1.45 percent. The city will need to maintain the deck, which will increase the Park and Recreation Department’s budget.

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A modification to the 2019 North Highland Avenue roundabout project construction plan is requested by the contractor, M.R. Paving and Excavating. The project was structured to be constructed in three phases over two months. This phasing allowed one constructed lane of traffic to remain open in each direction on North Highland and Oak Street during construction. M.R. Paving is now requesting the city consider a full road closure.

The contractor believes a full intersection closure would reduce the construction time to one month and provide a safer environment for construction personnel. Due to the anticipated efficiencies, the contractor is offering a $10,000 deduction from the contract amount.

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The council is expected to go into closed session at the end of the meeting to develop and consider offers or counteroffers for the purchase or sale of real estate.