Dust flies with delays in road construction

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, July 5, 2008

Residents in Urbank, frustrated by dust and delays in a sewer update project, look forward to completion the end of August. The project began in late September 2007, with a projected completion date of Nov. 15, 2007.

However, two project extensions were granted due to cold weather, soil not drying out and other factors. With roads impassable, mail is delivered to a central location in the parking lot at the Catholic Church in Urbank.

Mayor Vernon Klimek acknowledges that residents deserve appreciation for their patience.

“We realize people are frustrated, but with a project of this magnitude there’s a lot of sewer piping,” Klimek said. “Also, people need to remember that manhole work needs to take place every few feet.”

Nonetheless, some city residents have been outspoken about the delays and the associated inconvenience.

“Vehicles traveling along Eastern Avenue create a dust storm,” said city resident and retiree Judith Lawson. “We lost our home mailbox deliveries for the entire fall season of 2007, had normal mail delivery during the winter, but then lost them again in the early spring of this year.”

Due to the dust, Lawson said she can’t keep her windows open during a work day and can't hang our her laundry to dry.

“Dust, no doubt about it, is the main issue with residents here,” said Wesley Danelke who is branch manager for Pro-Ag Coop in Urbank. “The county wants to see the road running through town retarred.”

Under contract for the sewer project update is Kolver Excavating of Elk River. Their employees say that clay soil not drying out fast enough is among the factors in the delays.

“Everybody in town has seen enough and wants this project to be completed as quickly as possible,” Danelke said. “It’s been a long time in coming.”

One thing that won’t hit city residents too hard is higher taxes. There will be a monthly user fee, but the amount will be minimal due to state and federal grants. Mayor Klimek said the city put up an initial $100,000 in order to get the project started. The overall cost fore the city sewer project is close to $820,000.

“Six years ago, with an outdated sewer system that wasn’t up to code, we had no choice but to plan for an entire new sewer system for Urbank,” Klimek said.

Charles Grotte of the county highway department, talking about Highway 38 that becomes Highway 235 in Urbank, said the fall cold snap contributed to the sewer project delay. He said that Widseth-Smith of Alexandria is the engineer for the City of Urbank and will coordinate blacktop work along the highway, after sewer work is completed.