St. Cloud Officials Continue To Make Case For Local Bonding Requests to Lawmakers

(KNSI) – St. Cloud officials are not concerned yet about the lack of local project support in the governor’s proposed capital budget.

Mayor Dave Kleis served in the state legislature before taking the top spot at city hall. He says numerous St. Cloud requests in the past were only added during late-round bonding negotiations.

“I’ve seen that in the past with the River’s Edge Convention Center. We’ve seen that also with the bonding dollars for the airport when the airport was part of the city structure.”

St. Cloud is looking for $100 million phased in over several years to help revitalize downtown and pave the way for housing and commercial development in the area.

Governor Walz’s version relies heavily on state agencies to review and approve funding for everything from water infrastructure projects to city and county requests. Kleis says St. Cloud officials continue to make their case to lawmakers instead.

“We are represented in our community by our legislators, of the Senate and the House. So, we’ll focus on the elected representation, and if it ends up being in block grants through an agency, then we’ll go down that path.”

The state legislature will have its say when the session begins on February 12th.

Other projects left out of the governor’s bonding proposal include support for the CentraCare medical school campus, infrastructure in Sartell for a healthcare hub, and PFAs mitigation in Sauk Rapids.

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