Working Towards 2016 Road Improvements

Road paving is something the city has been striving to accomplish for all the gravel roads in town but given the extent of needs it gets difficult to accomplish.  In the past the city had developed several five year road improvement plans.  The goal was to pave all the roads in the community.  The plans were very aggressive in that many street improvements were being built at the same time.  To finance them the city was required to bond, incurring debt service to accomplish the projects.

Not only was this disruptive, it carried with it a cost that the city would need to absorb.  Bonding requires fees and charges in issuing a bond.  With a bond you have interest expense.  Administration incurs expense in putting together the projects as well as the project administration through construction.  There are the oversight costs incurred by public works staff with inspections and coordination.  There are also the costs associated with tax forfeitures.  This last item can be significant.  For every road improvement that abuts a tax forfeited property the city has to finance that improvement until the property is sold.  Until that sale, the city not only incurs the expense of the project cost, it also incurs the expense of interest payments on the debt incurred to finance the project. 

To address some of these challenges the city has been looking to accomplish a small number of projects on an annual basis using funds on hand. This slower approach doesn’t make a huge dent in the needs but much like the tortoise and the hare we eventually get there.  Without bonding, costs are reduced and debt service isn’t an issue with repayment of the bonds.  The projects are assessed and the payments received support future road improvements.  With an annual appropriation of funds we’ll be able to support some paving while also addressing some drainage issues along the way.  There are still costs associated with the project but on a much reduced scale.

For 2016 the council has approved a feasibility study to determine project details and costs for the paving of a couple of street sections.  Winter Trail between Logging Lane and Shady Trail and Scenic Overlook between Shady Trail and White Overlook Drive are being considered. Both of these road sections have portions of roadways that have been paved.  These sections are the gravel portions of the roadways.  Starting this process earlier in the year gives us a better handle on the needs of the project and allows for early bidding in the spring. 

Fire Contrract Renewal

Annually the city enters into a contract with Pequot Lakes to provide the city of Breezy Point with Fire Service.  Pequot Lakes hosts the Pequot Lakes Fire District.  The district is composed of the cities of Pequot Lakes, Jenkins, and Breezy Point.  Townships of Jenkins, Loon Lake, Moose Lake, Pelican, and Popular are also involved. 

The fire contract uses a formula to share the costs on an equitable basis. It involves the use of the service averaged over a 10 year period by each jurisdiction and the total market value of structures in each jurisdiction.  These factors are a percentage of the whole.  The use percentage and the value percentage are then added and divided by 2 to come to a percentage that is applied to the annual budget of the operations of the Fire Department. 

As Breezy Point has a high structure value and receives a good deal of call volume our share of the costs of the department are relatively high. Pequot Lakes is also relatively high and currently paying the most under the agreement for fire service. For 2015-2016 the cost of fire service for Breezy Point is $76,027.66.  This is slightly higher than 2014-2015 contracts at $74,335. 

The fire district operates a sub-station in Breezy Point.  This is manned by volunteers of the Pequot Lakes Fire Department from residents that live in Breezy Point.  This sub-station is located in the Public Safety Building just north of City Hall.  Having this facility allows some property owners to get a lower rate on their fire insurance.  It also has led to better response times than was previously available.  Breezy Point provides the building facility however the equipment housed is part of the Pequot Lakes Fire Department.  Overall this has been a good relationship for the city and serves the city well. 

Paving in 2015

The city has been working on a couple of smaller paving projects for this year.  They involve the paving of Snowman Circle and a short section of Thrane Drive.  Thrane Drive is the roadway that goes to the Pelican Lakes Conservation Club.  It was at one time called Plant Road as it is the roadway that leads to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

The City received bids for the project on March 27.  Three bids were received; Tri-City, Anderson Brothers, and Ideal Construction (from Staples).  The apparent low bidder for the improvements was from Anderson Brothers Construction at $44,949.31.  With the bid schedules in hand the construction cost for Snowman is $39,257.78 and the construction cost for Thrane is $5,691.53.  Added to these amounts are the soft costs such as engineering.  The total cost for Snowman Circle to be assessed is $54,492.44.  The total cost for Thrane Drive to be assessed is $7,421.80.

The city generally assesses on a per lot basis.  In other words the cost is divided by the number of assessable lots.  For lots in Snowman Circle the cost to the majority of the lots is $7,784.63.  The cost for the two corner lots, as they were already assessed for the other abutting roadway, is 50% of the full assessment or $3,892.32.  There are two lots abutting Thrane Drive and the cost for each of these lots is $3710.90. 

The process of construction will occur as soon as possible.  Anderson Brothers Construction, who gave the winning bid, has an portable asphalt plant in Breezy Point and intends on moving this plant to another job site around June 1^st. 

ALPR, Whats That?

Automated license plate readers (ALPR) have been around for some time and the automation technology continues to improve. With automation, the use by the police department becomes easier and safer.  Updates to the data base can be accomplished with ease.  This enables the reader to recognize the most current information.  It was felt the use of these devices will save lives as well as solve crimes.  ALPR has been used to locate vehicles involved in the distribution of controlled substances, apprehend fugitives with outstanding arrest warrants, locate stolen vehicles, and identify high-risk drivers who operate motor vehicles with revoked and suspended licenses. 

Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system utilizes one internally mounted optical/infra-red camera to collect license plate information.  The information is then compared with state and national “hot sheets” of wanted vehicles and individuals. 

The vendor, PlateSmart, has their systems being used by the Minnesota State Patrol. They have recently offered a discount of 40-50% to improve their use in the Minnesota market.  With the discount offered it makes this technology affordable to the Breezy Point Police Department.  The city council approved the use of forfeiture funds to purchase a PlateSmart system for one of the squad cars at a cost of approximately $6,000.  With the use of forfeiture funds there is no impact to the budget or tax levy.  This adds one more tool to the toolbox. 

Paramedic Renewal

The Paramedic Program in Breezy Point is a model that was created by the city about a decade ago, in March of 2005.  The program involves the hiring of police officers who are trained paramedics.  As paramedics, their skill set and training is far superior to that of a first responder.  They have the authority to administer drugs, use specialized medical equipment and life-saving methods but they are not physicians.  As such they need to operate under the auspices of a physician.  

This relationship has been undertaken by North Memorial Medical Center and is memorialized by an agreement between the city and North Memorial.  The agreement specifies the responsibilities and relationship of the parties.  The agreement has been renewed every other year as a two year agreement.  The agreement was again approved at the April meeting and is now in place until April 21, 2017.  

The paramedic program continues for another 2 years with this relationship being reaffirmed.  Residents of the city benefit from the two paramedics police officers we have on staff.  We have appreciated the efforts of Officers Joe Garcia and Jason Rieber who have served the city well in this regard for a number of years.