Jill Schramm/MDN The Anne Street Bridge has been closed due to a need for repairs. The Minot City Council has been debating whether to dismantle or rehabilitate the bridge.

The Anne Street Bridge narrowly escaped demolition Monday when the Minot City Council voted 4-3 to keep rehabilitation plans alive. The council decided to find a place for the project on its five-year Capital Improvements Plan (CIP).

Removal is estimated to cost just over $200,000 while reconstruction is estimated at about $2.6 million, of which about $1.6 million would be paid through the flood protection project with money from the State Water Commission and city sales tax. The city would have to find about $1 million to get the bridge up to standards for re-opening. The pedestrian bridge has been closed for nearly three years.

At Monday’s meeting, the council heard from residents, the Souris River Joint Board administrator and Minot Downtown Business & Professional Association.

Minot youth Logan Vettel spoke about how much he has enjoyed the bridge.

“I often used this route to visit my grandparents when I was younger. Now that I go to school downtown and have moved from South Hill to North Hill, it provides a safe and direct path to school. And when they eventually turn Central Campus into a middle school, my younger sister will need to use that bridge and so will my younger brother eventually. The Anne Street Bridge is very important to those who live nearby because it provides a safe and quiet route to downtown Minot,” he said. “It should be a valued piece of infrastructure, not left to rot, discarding all the history, but instead kept up to standards for all of us to enjoy.”

ShaunAnne Tangney of Minot said the bridge is important to her as a walker and biker.

“There have been lots and lots of studies about the benefits to a city when we create and maintain pedestrian and biking infrastructure,” she said.

Shannon Straight with Friends of the Souris River said a vote for bridge rehabilitation is a vote for greater renewal.

“We can have flood protection, but we can have access and we can renew a sense of what we have lost with the flood,” he said.

Ryan Ackerman, administrator for the Souris River Joint Board, said preserving the bridge is largely outside the scope of flood protection, even though he would love to see it happen.

He also noted that any expense incurred by the SRJB in saving the bridge would come out of money available for the flood control project overall.

“The more we spend, the longer it takes to complete and the longer that the residents at the end of the line are going to have to wait for it and the higher the probability that the funding will run out before the project is completed,” Ackerman said. Although he added he has faith in the project’s funding partners, he said the joint board has a responsibility to be good stewards of the public funding.

Questions also remain about whether BNSF Railroad will agree to continue to lease the property on which the bridge stands to the city.

Minot Public Works Director Dan Jonasson said the lease agreement states if the bridge is ever reconstructed or fails to be used, the lease reverts back to the railroad. A lease would need to be re-negotiated, and BNSF could decide it no longer wants a bridge at that location, he said.

The Minot Downtown Business & Professional Association asked the council to rehabilitate or build another structure to maintain access at the bridge location.

“We believe the bridge is a vital connection point for the community and a service to our business members, a service to our residents, a service to students,” said Josh Wolsky, interim director for the DBPA.

“These are pathways that pedestrians and people want to travel on.”

Funneling pedestrians to the Third Street Northeast or Broadway bridges isn’t practical, he said.

“For the vast majority of downtown, that is not a convenient or reasonable access point because it’s going to require walking, in some cases, three or four or five blocks over and then two or three or four or five blocks back to get to the primary access point. Walkers will not do this,” he said.

Wolsky referenced the approximate 13 acres owned by BNSF that is in acquisition negotiation for the flood protection project. It would become green space. Preserving the bridge will be important to having access to potential future recreation on that property, Wolsky said.

Wolsky also asked the council to investigate options, such as a flood wall rather than a levee, to avoid the need to acquire properties at the north end of Main Street for a new south access for a rehabilitated bridge. The access point would need to change because of the flood protection project. Wolsky urged preservation of that area’s economic activity and the investment made by those property owners.

“We believe there’s a pathway down there that perhaps allows this project to be done in the interest of downtown that saves the bridge, that allows the property acquisitions to not exist, and we just want to make sure that that is all fully vetted before a final decision is made,” he said.

Council member Carrie Evans moved that the city retain bridge access for now, placing the bridge in the city’s CIP, while seeking out more information on design, property acquisition from nearby businesses and funding.

“I just feel like there’s so much information that we’re being asked to process, and I don’t want to make a decision that is irreversible,” she said.

Joining Evans in supporting the motion were Paul Pitner, Stephan Podrygula and Tom Ross. Voting against were Mark Jantzer, Lisa Olson and Mayor Shaun Sipma.

“We are elected to be the stewards of our community and the taxpayer dollars,” Olson said. “When we do that, we can’t foolishly spend that money. We know that the most financially wise decision to make is to remove the bridge.”

Sipma said he has spent considerable time looking for funding help with the bridge and has found only tax dollars that otherwise could go to other necessary city infrastructure.

Jantzer declined to support putting the bridge into the CIP because of the unlikelihood of BNSF allowing reconstruction or a new bridge.

Ross said his positions changed to favor keeping the bridge after hearing residents’ stories.

“A lot of things have to fall into place perfectly. They really do. They still may be leaning against everybody who supports the bridge, but let’s give it a shot. Let’s take it to the wall. Let’s take it to the finish line,” Ross said.

“I wasn’t willing to spend a million and a half bucks to preserve an old bridge. I don’t think it has sufficient historical value,” Podrygula said. “But I think things have changed in the past six months or a year. And because of that, I think it has more opportunity and holds more potential for the community.”

For example, the bridge could be the icing on the cake for the vibrancy that’s been increasing downtown, Podrygula said. The conversion of Central Campus to a middle school creates potential for more foot traffic, he added. The biggest reason for support, though, is access to future green space, he said.

“I see this as a step toward the future, not just as a remembrance of the past,” he said.

“We’re at that crux of political responsiveness – our responsibility to our constituents – and being stewards of the dollars,” Pitner said.

“The biggest hang up for myself on this is once we lose it, it is gone,” he added. “But if we can maintain our access and maintain our asset and maintain our identity, I’m willing to give it a shot.”

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Council acts on contracts, business assistance

From problems with contractors to incentives for businesses, the Minot City Council dealt with a range of issues Monday. Among actions taken by the council were:

– Renaissance Zone approval for a five-year property tax exemption and state income tax exemption for TITA, LLC, for a commercial automated car wash at 619 N. Broadway.

– approval of a development agreement with Stevens Welding and Machine to provide $128,571 from the MAGIC Fund as the community match for a Bank of North Dakota PACE loan interest rate buydown to purchase real estate and equipment. The agreement will enable the business to retain current employees and add an anticipated eight additional employees by 2025.

– removal of the city’s payroll and human capital management functions from a technology agreement with Tyler Technologies due to the company’s inability to get the software to perform over the past 21 months. The city will be refunded a portion of its expenses. Other city functions that are performing will continue on the contract.

– postponement of contract termination with Rolac Contracting due to the company’s recent responsiveness in advancing construction on the library exterior. The city has been considering termination on the grounds of failure to supply enough properly skilled workers or proper materials and substantial breach of contract. The city has paid $329,669 toward the $384,700 contract.

– approval of a construction and maintenance agreement with the Souris River Joint Board and BNSF Railroad on the MI-5 phase of the flood project along Railway Avenue between Third Street Northeast to the 13th Street Northeast. A portion of the work is on BNSF right of way. A building will be relocated from the project area for storage use by the Public Works Department.