St. Cloud City Council Deadlocks on 322nd Street Repair Funding

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud City Council failed to get the supermajority needed to do a mill and overlay project on 322nd Street at Monday’s meeting.

Everyone agrees the corridor is in rough shape and the project would help developers build new single-family neighborhoods on the city’s northwest side but there was opposition to the project. Judge Frank Kundrat lives along the road and spoke against the proposal from city staff. He explained his reasoning to KNSI News.

“That road certainly needs some repair and I’m not opposed to it. I’m just saying the cost should be shared fairly by the public that uses the road. It’s just not me, it’s not my neighbors, we all use it, certainly, but the public uses it a lot more.”

Of the 30 homes along 322nd, only 13 are subject to special assessments. The city’s new policy states that if a house has a lot depth under a certain amount and abuts two different roads, it can only be charged for improvements to one of them. Most in the neighborhood would be charged for 24th Street North, which carries far less outsider traffic than 322nd Street.

The assessments amount to roughly $36,000. The city would be responsible for roughly $64,000 to fill out St. Cloud’s share. Staff says that St. Wendel and Le Sauk Townships have agreed to cover the remainder. An amendment to the motion was proposed by Karen Larson that would have St. Cloud pick up the portion proposed for special assessments, given the unique dynamics at play in this situation. It failed as well.

Kundrat says the discussion highlights the need to tweak the overall assessment policy. “Applying a policy and not considering the application of the policy is not, as far as I’m concerned, is a wise decision to be made.”

If the council finds a solution to the impasse by the next meeting, the work could still be completed by September.

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