Holiday garlands back on city agenda

NEW ULM -- Can downtown New Ulm support the installation of poles for the holiday garlands?

That's the question New Ulm's City Council will face during Tuesday's council meeting. The council will decide whether to authorize an engineering services agreement on anchors design for new poles in the downtown area.

The anchor points on the buildings downtown are no longer able to support the garland spanning across Minnesota street during the holiday season. No garlands were placed across Minnesota Street during the 2020 holidays.

To develop new decorating options, the city forms a committee. If the city wants to continue hanging the garlands, new poles will need to be installed at all intersections downtown. Before the poles can manufactured, an engineering study must be conducted to determine where poles can be placed. Steam tunnels and utility lines run under the downtown area. Certain areas might not support new poles.

It is only after the engineering study that the city would be able to get an accurate quote on the poles.

Bolton & Menk is prepared to conduct the study. This service has a price range of $32,500 to $45,500. The service includes drawing anchors for the proposed 22 poles that give the city 11 strands of garland from 4th North to 1st South.

The council will consider authorizing the cost of engineering the poles. The cost of the poles is unknown. The city has an estimate on the pole's cost based on a similar project done in 2013. In 2013, a single anchor pole was $15,000. Assuming a 5% increase per year, each pole would now cost $21,106.50. For 22 poles, the price would be $464,200.

The potentially high cost of the project was previously a sticking point with the council. Authorization of this engineering study came before the council on Nov. 4 but was tabled because the council was evenly split. The council had only four members after the resignation of Lisa Fischer.

Councilor President Charlie Schmitz and Councilor David Christian were against the garlands based on cost. Councilor Les Schultz and Councilor Larry Mack were willing to move forward with the study, but the vote was tabled until after a new council took over.

Since November, Andrea Boettger was elected as Council President and Eric Warmka was appointed to fill Fischer's vacant seat, and the council can determine the future of the downtown holiday decorations.

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The building at 307 N. Minnesota St. needs to be repaired or demolished and city staff is seeking direction on which option to pursue.

The city has been dealing with maintenance issues associated with this property since July 2015. Currently, the north wall of the building is crumbling. The building owner has stated he did not have the money to fix the wall, leaving the city with two options, but both have potential hidden costs.

The cost of repairing the crumbling wall of the 307 N. Minnesota building is estimated at $108,000. The cost of demolition is estimated at $36,640. Demolition could be the lower-cost option, but 307 N. Minnesota abuts The New Ulm Journal building and the city does not know how big space is between the two.

The city is not sure if 307 N. Minnesota St. and The Journal have a common wall or separate walls. If this is not an exterior wall, the city would be responsible for covering it, potentially raising the cost. If the city is forced to fix the Journal north wall after the demo, the cost would go up to $60,000. Additional tuckpointing and hazard abatement would raise the cost further.

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New Ulm is expected to amend the City Attorney Service Agreement. Nierengarten & Hippert Law Office has served as City Attorney for New Ulm since 1979. From 1986, until the retirement of Hugh Nierengarten in 2015, three or four attorneys were providing the legal services required to meet the City’s needs, including all of the work involved in City criminal prosecutions, the civil matters involving the City, and also the New Ulm Public Utilities.

Roger Hippert and Tom Borgen were able to cover these, but as of Jan. 4, Borgen has left the firm and Hippert is not in a position to provide all of the services as a solo practitioner. Hippert is in negotiations with the Blethen Berens Law Office to join that office, with an anticipated commencement date of March 1, 2021, with changes to the current retainer agreement.

Hippert would continue to serve as the City Attorney, but would then be receiving assistance from several lawyers in the Blethen Berens office. The Blethen Berens office history includes a continuous operation of law practice in Southern Minnesota for over 100 years at New Ulm and Mankato offices.