The Kimball City Council held a public hearing as part of their May 6 council meeting. Information was presented regarding the planned street improvements in the city of Kimball. Kimball residents who attended were able to watch a videotape of the sewer lines on Hazel Ave. that will need to be replaced.
Plans are now being put together for the project, which includes a new city well, and improvements to water and sewer lines along Hazel Ave. The timetable now in place has construction beginning in late August or early September, with suspension over winter and completion in summer 2003.
Estimated cost for the project is $1,450,200. The council will hold another public hearing (at a future date) to discuss specific cost to each homeowner in Kimball. The city will get the money to pay for these improvements from several sources: a large loan (which the city will pay back over time), an across-the-board increase in water and sewer rates that everyone in Kimball will pay each month, and assessments to homeowners directly affected by the Hazel improvements.
This is actually the first phase of street, sewer and water repairs and improvements in Kimball. Hazel Ave. was selected in part because Stearns County had planned to repave part of it, and the money it has set aside for that will help to offset some of Kimball’s cost. The city engineer and councilmembers will apply for grant funding for future projects in hopes to further relieve tax burden from Kimball residents.
Watch for notice here in the Tri-County News of the next public hearing on this project. We will print other news regarding this project as it becomes available and as the council proceeds in its plans.
Baseball field fence
Another topic pending before the Kimball City Council is the installation of an outfield fence in Kimball’s ball field. The next regular council meeting, scheduled for May 20, will commence a half-hour early (at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7) in order to visit the ball field and see where the fence will be installed.
The Kimball Express baseball team wants to install a 10- to 14-foot fence, extending the outfield. They had made arrangements to install a steel fence, similar to a pole building and possibly steel on both sides. They are now also looking into the possibility of chain-link.
If the fence in the ball field is something of interest to you, be sure to attend the May 20 council meeting, starting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall and then proceeding down to the ball field.
City personnel
A new city works worker has been hired. Interviews were completed on May 14 for a new police officer, with an employment offer pending. Both of these positions have been open for some weeks, but these decisions now complete city staffing.
As always, Kimball City Council meetings are open to the public. Anyone wishing to address the council on a particular subject should contact the city clerk/administrator Dianne Robinson about a week in advance in order to be placed on the agenda. The agenda is posted before each meeting at City Hall. The phone number for City Hall is (320) 398-2725.