Willmar City Council again defers Municipal Utilities land purchase decision

Yahoo

18-03-2025

Mar. 18---- The
on Monday again deferred action on a purchase agreement for 27 acres of land for
new facilities.
The presentation and discussion for that agenda item took more than an hour, after which action was deferred until the April 7 meeting of the City Council.
The land that Willmar Municipal Utilities wants to purchase for $600,000 for its new facilities is located just east of the Highway 71/23 Bypass and north of Willmar Avenue Southeast. It is adjacent to, but not within, the city limits.
The Municipal Utilities Commission approved the purchase agreement during its Feb. 24 meeting and it was on the City Council's agenda March 3 for approval. This is the fifth property down the list of properties that Willmar Municipal Utilities has tried to purchase since the search for land started in 2023.
The City Council on March 3 chose to defer approval for 30 days or until the next council meeting. City Attorney Robert Scott on Monday explained to the council that the City Charter's language is ambiguous, and he interpreted that to mean that the council could continue the matter to the April 7 meeting.
Some members of the City Council are questioning why Willmar Municipal Utilities wants to build its new facilities outside city limits — where there is significant cost to extend city sewer and water infrastructure — when there are parcels in the
that, in the opinion of those councilors, would be suitable for Municipal Utilities needs.
It should be noted that Scott has explained that if the council allows the purchase, the land would be considered owned by the city and be annexed into the city.
While most of the presentation and discussion focused on comparing the two properties, Willmar Municipal Utilities Facilities and Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Marti informed the City Council that if the purchase agreement were not approved, Willmar Municipal Utilities would not be looking at the industrial park location because other properties score higher on its list.
"This (Willmar Avenue) property scores quite a bit better than the industrial park property," Marti said. " ... There's other properties that are better, in our opinion, in our scoring system, than the industrial park. We would have to investigate those."
The cost to extend sewer and water services to the land on the bypass would be an estimated $2.7 million. However, that infrastructure, if built, would be able to service more than 400 acres of land in that area, not only the 27 acres to be purchased, according to Marti.
Of the estimated cost of $2.7 million, Willmar Municipal Utilities is responsible for more than $800,000 for extending the water main, and the remainder would be city costs to extend the sewer main and install a lift station.
Although the city does not foresee having the funds to pay for the infrastructure project at this time, one of the contingencies in the purchase agreement would be for Willmar Municipal Utilities to install private water and sewer services until such time that funds become available.
Marti asked the City Council if that is something it would consider allowing, which would not result in tax or rate increases because it is already built into the budget for the new facilities.
"I guess I worry about doing private services within the city limits," said Councilor Tom Gilbertson. "It obviously sets a precedent for any person in the city of Willmar to say, 'I don't want to hook onto the Willmar Municipal Utilities power grid. I don't want to hook onto their wastewater going forward.' And I don't think it's in your best interest to do that."
Although he said he agreed, Marti paraphrased city ordinance that states that if it is cost-prohibitive to extend sewer and water to certain properties, those properties can be served by private sewer and water until such a time that sewer and water services are extended and those properties can connect to the city system.
"That's what we would ask here. If there just isn't money in the cookie jar to do this, that would be what we would ask and pursue for this property," Marti said, noting it may be 10 years or more before the city would be able to extend the services across the bypass feasibly.
Some councilors also took issue with a perceived lack of communication to the city from Willmar Municipal Utilities about its plans.
Although there was not any direct communication with City Administrator Leslie Valiant or Willmar Planning and Development Director Christopher Corbett, Marti pointed out that since October, Willmar Municipal Utilities has been communicating with City Operations Director Kyle Box, who works directly under Valiant, and also with Kandiyohi County Engineer Mel Odens, the county's zoning board, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and a township supervisor.
"What does the Planning Commission say as far as what the future annexation of property to add to Willmar looks like?" asked Councilor Stephen Gardner. "Is this (property) even part of it? ... Is this utility pushing us in the direction we don't want to go?"
Despite the City Council's hesitancy in approving the purchase agreement, Mayor Doug Reese said he likes the location due to its ability to extend the city east of the bypass.
"I like that location because of the possibilities of annexation and extending services, because I know there has to be something that trips it up to allow the expansion to go to the east, because that bypass is a real barrier to expansion," Reese said.