Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Dassel prepares plans for new water tower by Dec. 15



Dassel is getting its construction plans and specifications for a new water tower ready for the Minnesota Department of Health by Saturday, Dec. 15.

Dassel has all “its ducks in order” and needs only to get them marching, City Administrator Myles McGrath told the city council at its meeting last Monday.

The public comment period for the intended use plan listing for fundable projects has ended, and the project has been forwarded to the Public Facilities Authority to have it funded, he said. The plans need to be submitted by March 5, 2008. However, the earlier the project gets submitted, the better. It also needs environmental review, which is time consuming, McGrath said.

“The bulk of the engineering is done,” City Engineer Barry Glienke of Bolton & Menk said, adding that the earlier Dec. 15 deadline, set by the council last Monday, would not be a problem.

The project will need a boring under Highway 15, a loop to bring water to the Martin Estates area, and a “happy medium” of water pressure, so water goes all the way out to Summit Hills, but doesn’t blast away the plumbing in the lower parts of town, Glienke said.

The current pumps at the city’s water plant already have the capacity to pump to the top of a new tower, he said.

The city’s current 50,000-gallon tower, which McGrath called a “proud lady for many, many years,” is getting worn, McGrath said in his recommendation to the council to proceed in the next step of the application.

Odds and ends

In other business, the council:

• heard that the Fifth Street Improvement Project is almost finished. Fifth Street and Marcia Street still need another 1.5 inches of bituminous on top.

• vacated an easement dating to 1960 under the Dassel Lakeside Community Home for the property transfer transaction with Augustana Care.

• listened to a report from Glienke about getting a quote from Burlington Northern to fix the railroad crossings, and install Quiet Zone features. Flexible curb delineators will be installed so bean heads and other wide farm equipment will be able to get through the Quiet Zone features.

The timbers in the crossings are disintegrating, McGrath said. Also, sharp bolts are protruding and bent enough to take out a tire, he added.

The railroad will pay 20 percent of replacing the timbers, Glienke said.

• ratified the Dassel area museum’s choice to have Flow Construction of Dassel tuckpoint the museum’s chimney for $2,000, and have Schmandt Roofing of Litchfield re-roof the museum for $6,200. When these capital improvements are finished, the next improvement will be to tile and install a sump pump in the basement.

• noted that the 2007 seal coat project is nearly done. All that is left is to sweep up the loose rocks on the top.

• looked over the empty space in the municipal liquor store building as a possible site for a community room. The 3,300-square-foot room has a shop attached that could be used for installing new restrooms and a food-staging area. It has plenty of parking and needs no elevator to make it handicap accessible, McGrath said.

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