Mar. 15—- The Willmar City Council on Monday will revisit its deferred action on a Willmar Municipal Utilities purchase agreement for vacant land to construct new facilities.
The land is located east of the U.S. Highway 71/23 bypass and north of Willmar Avenue Southeast, adjacent to, but outside, the city limits. The purchase price is $600,000.
City Council members will review a list prepared by Municipal Utilities staff of the pros and cons of the location for its needs versus a site in the Willmar Industrial Park, according to the council’s meeting agenda and materials packet posted on the city website.
The regular council meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, in the boardroom at the Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services building, 2200 23rd St. N.E. in Willmar.
The Municipal Utilities Commission approved the purchase agreement for the land at its Feb. 24 meeting, but the
at its March 3 meeting deferred giving its approval in order to gather more information.
Willmar City Council members were concerned, among other things, about the cost of extending sewer and water service to that location.
There are contingencies in the purchase agreement that if it is not found to be feasible to extend sewer and water services to the property or not feasible to construct a private well and septic to the property in the meantime, the purchase agreement would be null and void.
When General Manager Jeron Smith briefed the
Commission earlier this week, he said Municipal Utilities staff had met with staff from the city to discuss the sewer and water service concerns, and that Bolton & Menk engineers provided an estimate of $2.7 million to extend city sewer and water services to the property.
Willmar Municipal Utilities has within its building budget the ability to cover roughly 45% of that cost, which Smith said was presented to the city as an option if the property purchase moves forward. The city does not have the funds for the remaining roughly $1.9 million for the extension, according to Smith’s presentation to the commission on March 10.
Smith, in a memo to the council that is included in the packet of meeting materials posted online for the March 17 meeting, wrote that city staff requested a list of pros and cons comparing the Willmar Avenue property and an Industrial Park property located just to the south of the Hawk Creek Animal Shelter on 28th Street Southwest. The list “will assist the City Council in understanding why WMU has selected the site on Willmar Avenue,” Smith wrote.
The list, also in the meeting packet, compares a number of factors from maneuvering large vehicles and avoiding railroad crossings, to zoning, parking and customer access needs. Smith and Utilities Facilities & Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Marti are slated to present the overview of the site selection process to the council Monday night.
The full meeting agenda and materials packet is posted on the city website at
It can be found under the government tab, then go to “boards and commissions” and find the section for agendas, minutes and videos.
