by Dennis Dalman
The Sartell City Council unanimously approved a call for bids for the long-anticipated 2019 East Side Reconstruction Project.
April Ryan, an engineer with Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. presented a slide show of the project at the Jan. 28 City Council meeting.
The project, estimated to cost about $7.7 million, will involve the following: full reconstruction of some storm sewers and water mains; street milling and paving overlays; some curb-and-gutter repair; a partial reconstruction of Scott Drive; a few alleys reconstructed from gravel to paving; a full reconstruction of some streets, including widening of some, along with fixes to sanitary sewer lines and water mains, and more. The project will involve almost every area of the east side of Sartell.
In approving the call for bids, council members highly praised the engineering firm for working so well with east-side residents. The entire project was the result of the engineers tailoring the reconstruction needs to the wants of the residents. Many meetings took place for input from residents, and plans were altered to accommodate their opinions, such as not making some streets so wide and going to extra lengths to protect the small-town ambience of the east-side residential area.
Council member Tim Elness said he talked with many east-side residents who are “very happy” about the project.
Work will begin in four phases starting this spring and summer. The final phase will be completed in the summer of 2020.
Author: Dennis Dalman
Dalman was born and raised in South St. Cloud, graduated from St. Cloud Tech High School, then graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in English (emphasis on American and British literature) and mass communications (emphasis on print journalism). He studied in London, England for a year (1980-81) where he concentrated on British literature, political science, the history of Great Britain and wrote a book-length study of the British writer V.S. Naipaul. Dalman has been a reporter and weekly columnist for more than 30 years and worked for 16 of those years for the Alexandria Echo Press.