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Mankato is hoping to do $60 million in repairs and modernization to the Water Resources Recovery Facility, which treats sewage from a half-dozen communities in the region.

Mankato is hoping to do $60 million in repairs and modernization to the Water Resources Recovery Facility, which treats sewage from a half-dozen communities in the region.

MANKATO — Mankato and a half-dozen nearby communities were betting on Minnesota lawmakers to do their work, complete it on time and reach consensus on $30 million in funding for the regional sewage treatment plant.

When midnight struck late Sunday night, the bet wasn’t exactly a winning trifecta.

“The Legislature didn’t quite finish the work we hoped they would finish,” City Manager Susan Arntz told the City Council Monday night.

With the 2022 regular legislative session now adjourned and no guarantee of a special session, Mankato and its wastewater partners are in a quandary. The sewage plant on Pine Street is in need of major repairs and modernization, the price tag is $60 million and half of the funding plan is now in serious doubt.

Just after midnight, Arntz figured a long day had come to a disappointing close.

“Then, of course, the mind goes to ‘OK. Now what?’”

After thinking about that during the early morning hours and seeking updates from lobbyists and area lawmakers throughout Monday, she didn’t have an answer.

Arntz said she was hoping to be able to report that legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz were preparing for a special session later this week to wrap up unfinished budget bills, tax cuts and a $1.55 billion package of statewide construction work. But leaders of the Republican-controlled Senate aren’t sold on the idea of a special session, and the Democratic governor is saying he won’t bring lawmakers back unless legislative Republicans and Democrats, who have the majority in the House, have come to agreement on the major bills.

Those sorts of standoffs aren’t uncommon in Minnesota’s divided state government. Two years ago, an agreement on the big construction-funding legislation — known as a bonding bill — didn’t come until October. For Mankato and its sewer partners, a more immediate deadline is just a week away.

When bids were opened in February, the lowest bid from Knutson Construction Inc. of Minneapolis was just over $60 million — 35% above estimates. City officials responded by boosting their request to the Legislature from $20 million to $30 million and by asking Knutson to stand by its bid through the end of May, hopeful the Legislature would finish passing all of its major bills by the constitutional deadline of midnight Sunday.

Arntz said staff would now be going back to Knutson again: “Can they give us an extra week? Can they give us an extra two weeks?”

There’s no guarantee that will be long enough. But inflation in construction prices this year is prompting worries that a new round of bidding will push the cost up even higher. Then there’s the aging plant, components of which date back to the 1950s and which could potentially fail if repairs and replacements are pushed back in hopes of more success in St. Paul during legislative sessions in 2023 or 2024.

“Our team is keenly aware of the risks of not moving forward,” Arntz said after the meeting.

The alternative — moving forward without a major contribution from the Legislature — is not something she would recommend either. If the entire cost of the project is borne by Mankato and other communities who rely on the plant, utility bills for businesses, homeowners and even nonprofit institutions such as schools, churches and hospitals would skyrocket.

Technically, the Mankato City Council could accept the Knutson bid, move forward with the project and boost the charges to its partners — North Mankato, Eagle Lake, Madison Lake, Skyline, South Bend Township and the Lake Washington Sanitation District.

“I would advise them against doing that,” Arntz said.

She’d already put the issue in financial perspective during the meeting, using Eagle Lake as an example. The small city spends $2.55 million each year for police, snow plowing, administration, planning and zoning, parks and everything else in its general fund. Eagle Lake’s share of the sewage treatment plant upgrade if the legislative money isn’t available would be $4,000 more than that — $2.554 million.

While Eagle Lake and the other partners would be paying off that debt over several years, it put the size of the project in perspective.

Mayor Najwa Massad said she’s been in close contact with Sen. Nick Frentz, who represents Mankato and North Mankato, and Sen. Julie Rosen, who represents several of the partner communities, and said they’re trying to keep the funding alive.

“They know how important it is, not just for Mankato,” Massad said.

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