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Nisswa police officer Brandon Rothwell was recognized for 10 years of service. Other Nisswa officers include, from left, Jason Boelter, chief Craig Taylor, Luke Hamilton and Sgt. Tim Holmes.
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The city of Nisswa obtained a 1 percent interest rate to issue up to $1.5 million in general obligation street reconstruction bonds over 20 years for upcoming road projects, specifically the Highway 371 and County Road 18 projects.
The city obtained that low rate from the Public Facilities Authority's Transportation Revolving Loan Fund. The city will save an estimated $329,600 over those 20 years because of the low interest rate. City planner Loren Wickham said that's the lowest interest rate possible to obtain.
The bonds will be used to pay for the city's portions of a pedestrian/bicycle access area leading up to and through a tunnel under Highway 371, as well as Highway 371 improvements and the County Road 18 realignment.
Estimated cost for the city's portion of the tunnel that will be built at the current Main Street/ Hazelwood Drive stoplight is $783,343. The access includes a mandatory ramp that meets Americans With Disabilities Act standards.
The city's portion of Highway 371 work is estimated at $1.2 million and its portion of County Road 18 work is estimated at $275,000.
Estimates include contingency funding. Final numbers won't be known until the projects are bid to contractors.
A $200,000 annual tax levy for road projects the past two years will increase to $260,000 per year starting in 2012 to go toward paying that bond, as well as other road projects that come up.
The city's annual debt service payment for the bond will be approximately $86,000.
Highway 371 and County Road 18 work will begin this July, and is to be completed by July 2013.
Regarding tunnel costs, the city has spent about $60,000 to this point for design work.
Public safety
Police officer Brandon Rothwell was recognized for 10 years of service with the police department. He's the fourth officer to have served at least 10 years with the Nisswa Police Department.
Chief Craig Taylor has served nearly 16 years, Sgt. Tim Holmes for 15 years and officer Jason Boelter has been with the department for nearly 15 years.
Taylor said it's rare for a department the size of Nisswa's to have such longtime officers.
December police activity included 184 calls for service, 86 traffic warnings, 25 traffic citations, 23 agency assists, eight medicals, eight alarms, three criminal citations and three arrests.
Activity for all of 2011 included 2,455 calls for service, 1,403 self-initiated calls, 1,052 assigned calls, 277 agency assists, 1,035 traffic warnings, 401 traffic citations, 35 criminal citations, 36 arrests, 22 DWIs, 94 alarms and 85 medical calls.
Fire
Fire chief Rich Geike reported firefighters responded to a couple of mutual aid calls, one to Brainerd and one to Pequot Lakes, as well as to a minor brush fire on New Year's Eve.
The department had 51 calls in 2010, compared to the usual 70 to 80 annual calls.
In other business Jan. 18, the council:
Learned the Nisswa Chamber of Commerce hosted a meeting for downtown chamber members to explain the benefit of upcoming Highway 371 and County Road 18 road improvements. The 20 business owners who attended learned about ways to attract pedestrian traffic during construction.
Learned the Nisswa Chamber of Commerce is launching a new program, the Nisswa Welcome Team. Similar to an ambassador program, the welcome team will help provide information, support and mentorship opportunities for new chamber members, as well as attend ribbon-cutting events.
Approved a Nisswa chamber raffle request for July 3.
Appointed Tom Groen as an alternate to the Planning Commission.
Heard a presentation from Matt Kilian of the Initiative Foundation regarding what the foundation offers.
