NEW ULM — The New Ulm City Council authorized the city declaration of emergency relating to COVID-19 to Friday, June 12.

This grants the mayor, city manager and emergency management director the ability to determine and implement the actions required to protect the safety of staff and citizens.

Following the extension the council discussed options for reopening city facilities. City Manager Chris Dalton originally suggested reopening City Hall and the PUC on June 3.

Playgrounds, restrooms, BMX, skate and dog parks are scheduled to open Wednesday, May 20. All playgrounds will be open, but not sanitized. Signs will advise patrons to use at their own risk.

The BMX, skate and dog parks will also have signs restricting use to no more than 10 users at a time, with social distancing required.

Vogel Fieldhouse will have a tentative opening June 1, depending on Gov. Tim Walz’s orders. Dalton said when the fieldhouse opens, it will be only for fitness and cardio. Hours of operation will be reduced.

The Civic Center ice will close as rentals are minimal during the month of June.

The Community Center will remain closed at this time.

Summer programming is delayed at this time. Programming may start if Walz allows contact sports later in the summer.

The library will open for computer use appointments only on June 1 and to the public mid-June with reduced hours and limited users.

City Councilor Les Schultz asked if there was any difference between opening City Hall on June 3 or opening next week.

Dalton said it was anyone’s guess when to safely reopen.

Council President Charlie Schmitz said facilities should open next week because they are public buildings.

Schultz said since delayed opening was not related to getting safety procedures in place, the city should reopen.

The council agreed by consensus that City Hall could reopen Tuesday, May 26. No official motion was needed to reopen.

Councilor Schultz thanked staff for the hard work during this shutdown.

Tree planting

Over the next year the city will plant 325 trees in city boulevards. City Planner John Knisley said this work would consist of planting the trees and guaranteeing the life of the trees for one year.

The planting project received three bids with the lowest coming from Belek Tree Service at $43,355 for 222 trees.

Knisley said this bid came in substantially lower than anticipated. This gave the city the opportunity to plant additional trees for a total of 325 trees.

The council agreed to increase the number of trees bringing the cost to $65,938.25. This project is funded through DNR forest grants and does not impact the city’s tax levy.

The reason for the new trees is the removal of ash trees in the city. In March, the city awarded a contract to Ryan Tree and Aerial Service to remove 225 ash from public rights-of-way.

Following city approval the contractor started work on March 23 and completed the removal of all 225 trees by April 3.

Since the city was able to replant additional trees, the council was asked to approve another contract with Ryan Tree and Aerial Service to remove additional trees.

The grant contract with the Minnesota DNR stipulates that for every ash the city removes, the city will replace that tree with a new one of a different species..

“We’re getting a lot more bang for our buck than we expected in the beginning,” Knisley said.

The city plans to apply for this tree grant again next year.

Public hearing

The council held a public hearing on the 2020 surface reconstruction project. The reconstruction project provides for removal and replacement of the existing surface areas at 8th North Street from Garden Street to Franklin Street; 2nd South Street from Front Street to Valley Street; 7th South Street from Washington Street to railroad tracks; 9th South Street from Front Street to Valley Street and Washington Street from 16th to 17th North Street

The engineering report recommended that the benefit of the reconstruction be assessed at $1,620 per residential parcel.

North Washington resident David Stadick spoke during the public hearing. He had questions about whether the road would be upgraded to a truck route, what was the life expectancy of the road and will the west exit coming out of the warehouse be left open or closed off?

Stadick said he and his neighbors did not want to pay full price for the assessments because of industrial trucks driving on the street despite not being permitted.

City Engineer Steve Koehler said the road is not being upgraded into a truck route. The road was constructed in 1975. He said a 40 to 50 life expectancy was about average for a road in this area. There were no plans to change the access to the driveways. Koehler said it was up to the council to decide the final assessment, but the staff only recommended assessing 25% of the cost.

The estimate for the 12 blocks of surface reconstruction is $471,284 and is funded by the Street Department. The estimate of assessments is $116,640.

Councilor Larry Mack asked if the curb access can be removed to prevent further truck traffic on the road.

Councilor David Christian agreed taking the reconstruction as a chance to remove access for trucks could help with some of the problem.

Koehler said it could be done if the council made it part of the motion.

Councilor Les Schultz made the motion to approve the 2020 surface reconstruction project with the removal of curb cuts from North Washington Street.