Senate leaves out MnDOT project

By Mark Fischenich
The Free Press

ST. PAUL March 24, 2006 12:27 am

— A $990 million bonding bill passed by the state Senate Thursday includes the biggest construction prize being sought by south-central Minnesota — $22 million for the $33 million expansion and renovation of Minnesota State University’s Trafton science building — but leaves out numerous other area projects.
The biggest loser in the bill was the proposed new Minnesota Department of Transportation district headquarters in Mankato, which would get no funding in the Senate bill. The $18.2 million project is Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s top priority among MnDOT projects and is fully funded in his bonding proposal.
The Republican-controlled House is still developing its bonding plan, but the DFL-dominated Senate’s proposal is destined to be the most generous of the three bonding plans. At just short of $1 billion, it’s nearly $150 million larger than Pawlenty’s plan. The House is expected to be close to the governor’s figure.
But even as senators voted 56 to 9 to borrow the maximum amount allowed by legislative guidelines for a bonding bill, scores of requested projects were left out. They include items sought by St. Peter, Winnebago, Blue Earth County, the United South Central School District and more than 150 other projects sought by local governments around the state.
“There was a lot of disappointment from everybody, really,” said Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, who was the Senate sponsor of the Trafton project but saw a number of projects in her district left out.
Sen. Dennis Frederickson, R-New Ulm, helped develop the bill as a member of the Senate Capital Investment Committee and said many good local projects needed to be dropped because of overwhelming needs at the state level.
“We tried to really stress projects and programs of statewide significance,” Frederickson said. “... There was just no room to look at projects of regional significance.”
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities were the big winners in the Senate bill, which would provide $223 million for MnSCU — $80 million more than the governor suggested and $80 million more than the Senate is proposing for the University of Minnesota.
Two for two
The Trafton Science Center project was the top individual MnSCU project for Pawlenty, and the Senate matched that enthusiasm. The Senate also put $55 million into basic repairs at state colleges — more than double Pawlenty’s figure.
The $33 million Trafton project — which will be partially funded by MSU — will expand, renovate and equip the school’s primary science building, providing classrooms, laboratories and offices.
The Senate bill also provides MSU with permission to construct a privately funded new building to house the College of Business on state land. The cost and timeline for that project are still being developed.
Another project included in the plans of both the Senate and the governor is $2.5 million to design and build a new program and activity building at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center. The building would be part of the treatment center’s program for sexual psychopaths and other mentally ill patients.
Left out again
The new MnDOT headquarters for the Mankato-based District 7 has been included in bonding plans from the governor before only to be left out by the Legislature.
As in previous years, area lawmakers hope that it will still end up in the final bonding bill, which will be negotiated by a conference committee of senators and representatives with a great deal of input from the governor’s office. The 43-year-old building at the intersection of Victory Drive and Hoffman Road is undersized and not suited for the larger equipment now used by MnDOT.
The project has additional local importance because the city of Mankato hopes to consolidate its public works department in the current MnDOT building once it moves to the east side of Mankato.
Frederickson said the project was left out of the bill partly because it isn’t funded with general obligation bonds like most of the rest of the bonding bill and can be included in a transportation bill later in the session.
“The challenge there is — Is there going to be a transportation bill?” said Sen. John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter.
Little local
Towns and school districts seeking state help with building projects aren’t going to have much luck, Hottinger, Rosen and Frederickson predicted.
Frederickson had some success getting several of his priority projects included in the Senate bill, but they generally were at state facilities or had broader significance. There’s $500,000 for a long-term project to reduce flooding of the Minnesota River and $685,000 for interpretive trails at Fort Ridgely State Park and the Upper Sioux Agency.
Frederickson also successfully pushed for $1 million for the Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority to begin a $4 million upgrade of railroad tracks from Gibbon to Chaska.
“It would be particularly important to the Winthrop ethanol plant because they’re expanding and they’ll have higher traffic,” he said.
And while Hottinger said many lawmakers and their constituents will be disappointed that local projects didn’t make the cut, it’s probably preferable to a pork-laden bill such as those produced by Congress.
“This is a much better process,” Hottinger said. “It’s a little difficult for those of us who would like to say, ‘Gee, look what I did.’ But it’s better public policy.”