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.”