St. Cloud Approves Previously Rejected West St. Germain Street Beautification Project

(KNSI) — St. Cloud will move forward with a downtown sewer and road beautification project.

The city council unanimously voted to spend nearly $2.9 million to redo West St. Germain Street between 10th and 12th Avenues.

Councilman Mike Conway motioned to reconsider the project after voting against it last month. He spoke with KNSI minutes after the vote and explained his change of heart. “It’s a project that’s important to get done this season, and if we didn’t bring it back now, we were probably going to miss the construction season. It has some heavy infrastructure. The sewer, the water, the valves and things are way too old to be servicing a city this big.”

Six proposed bump-outs were removed, lowering the project’s cost by about $39,000. The work will still include bike lanes, new lighting and other improvements. Conway said, “This is a compromise. We’ve been talking in the weeks or so between the last vote and today. I talked to the administration and expressed concerns that I had with the overall project. The city’s not totally happy. I’m not totally happy, but that’s the ultimate compromise.”

Councilmember Carol Lewis voted for the reconstruction but stated she would have liked to see the bump-outs remain to slow down traffic for pedestrians in that area. She also stated that the changes and holding up of the project amounted to micromanaging the city’s staff.

Bidding will take place soon, and work will begin this spring or summer.

___