May 4—ROCHESTER — An anticipated state grant to provide nearly $2.4 million for
a potential $5.5 million Silver Lake Dam replacement
could spur a change in city policy.
Rochester City Council members Shaun Palmer and Mark Bransford have called for requiring council review of any grant application seeking $50,000 or more for a city project.
“This allows for clarification questions via email and/or to be discussed publicly, if need be,” they wrote in the request that will be reviewed during Monday’s council meeting. “This helps with data symmetry and ensures alignment with current City Council decisions and duly approved policies.”
While the Silver Lake Dam grant application was submitted without specific council approval, several council members said that’s not uncommon.
“Our job as a council is to set the strategic priorities, make policy decisions, and set the budget and levy for the city,” Council President Brooke Carlson said. “Staff are responsible for carrying out and implementing the decisions we make.”
Deputy City Administrator Aaron Parrish said the city does not actively track the number of grant applications submitted, but at least 40 grant awards were managed last year, with the Parking and Transit Department overseeing a majority with 30 grants.
While transit and parking staff seek annual council approval for state agreements, there have been no requirements for council approval of grant applications before submission.
Council member Patrick Keane said the Silver Lake Dam request was a similar effort to fund support of a past council decision.
“I commend the staff for being creative and finding funding for things that this council voted to do,” he said.
The grant seeks to support a portion of a larger project that had also included trail connections and a pedestrian bridge.
“In 2020, the council gave us permission to go ahead and do 30% of engineering design and part of that process is to identify funding,” Rochester Deputy Public Works Director Aaron Luckstein said of the proposed dam changes.
The city initially sought funding through state bonding, but after years of unsuccessful efforts, staff took a different approach, which appears to have been successful. The Minnesota House
approved the funds as part of a larger statewide bill,
and the Senate is expected to vote on it at a later date.
Palmer said he thought the city stopped seeking funds for the project after state bonding requests were unsuccessful.
When he found out about the new request for state funds, he said he was initially supportive.
“I was told we were No. 2 on the list. I was happy we were No. 2 on the list, and then I read the grant,” he said, adding he believes the contents were misleading, partly because it centered on support for creating a fish passage into Silver Lake and upstream.
“We never applied for fish habitat,” he said of earlier requests. “They are just chasing grant money.”
While discussions of the larger project focused on recreational opportunities and other aspects of the project, Luckstein said fish migration into the lake and upstream were always part of the proposal. He added the Lessard-Sams grant request focused on that aspect.
“We were applying for a funding source specifically for addressing issues related to fish and habitat. … That is why we emphasized that piece,” he said, adding the environmental funding has been used for similar multi-focused projects in the state.
Palmer also cited concerns about representing the dam as old and unsafe. He said the dam built in 1937 was updated in the 1990s, and dangers seen at other dams can’t be applied locally.
Luckstein, however, said the majority of the concrete structure of the existing dam dates back to the original construction, and the city is trying to address potential dangers, rather than waiting for an unfortunate event.
Palmer said he hopes future review of grant applications can raise awareness of such disagreements before funding requests are submitted.
While the majority of the council said they are aware city staff doesn’t seek approval of all grant requests, some said they would have expected to have seen the dam-related request, due to past community discussions.
“I was surprised that the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council grant was not noted for review by the council, since it is an item of high public interest,” council member Norman Wahl said.
Since only two members of the current council — Palmer and Keane — were part of the initial project decision in 2020, some council members said they believe the request needed added review.
“I support future grant applications falling under City Council purview, especially when they involve large sums of funding or are past/future legislative priorities,” council member Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick said.
Keane said the grant proposal was mentioned in weekly council updates, but other council members said they don’t recall seeing the information.
Palmer said the new request will ensure it’s more visible and available for public review, even if each item isn’t discussed in detail by the council.
Some state grant applications are kept confidential until a decision is made, but council member Molly Dennis voiced concern about details not being known.
“It takes away the people’s voice who oppose whatever project in the future, because we already have (the funding),” she said of the potential to be awarded funding before a final council decision.
If the state funding is approved by the Minnesota Legislature, the City Council will need to approve accepting the funds, as well as the other funding sources, which are expected to include $2 million from Rochester Public Utilities and $1.1 million in flood-control reserves.
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