City looks ahead on capital plans

Council sets major road projects through 2031

Members of the Medford City Council had construction projects on their minds Tuesday night as they approved the capital project schedule for upcoming years, approved a multi-project engineering contract and got updates on ongoing projects.

The capital project schedule outlines the major building projects the city plans for those years. While on the schedule for planning, the projects still come up for action by the council at the time.

Construction projects are as follows: 2024 - Repair riverbank at Whelen Park in the downtown. The concrete retaining wall is failing and will be replaced with rock.

Drill water main from the Wastewater Treatment Plant to Perkins St. This will be done with directional drilling or pipe bursting.

Participate with the state on the Hwy 13 and Hwy 64 projects. Hwy 64 will be resurfaced next year and the city is responsible for the parking lanes on the project. Resurfacing typically includes grinding down the road surface and repaving it along with replacing curb and gutter as needed. Resurfacing projects are typically not charged back to property owners through special assessments.

CITY on page 5 2025 - Reconstruct N. Second St. from Broadway Ave. (Hwy 64) to Pine St 1,520 feet. Reconstruction is a total road rebuild including utilities. Reconstruction projects are charged back to the adjoining property owners through the special assessment process.

Resurface 9th Street. 2026 - Reconstruct S. Seventh St. from Ogden to Broadway (Hwy 64). Resurface Billings Ave., including replacement of curb.

2027 - Drill a new water main under river at the intersection of Perkins St and S. Wisconsin Ave. The existing main is estimated to be about a century old.

Reline the sewer line from Industrial Dr. to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Resurface Whelen St. for approximately 1,200 feet.

2028 - Reconstruct N. Seventh from Allman St. to Taylor St.

Replace water main from Billings Ave. to 1055 W. Broadway Ave. and water main along northside of Broadway.

2029 - Resurface N. Main St. 2030 - Reconstruct S. Second St. from Perkins Ave. to Conrad Dr. and make it fully urbanized. This is the primary access road to City Hall and is bordered by Tee Hi Golf Course on the east side.

Paint Water Tower #1 located in the Industrial Park.

2031 - Reconstruct E. Lincoln St. from N. Second to Taylor St.

Resurface S. Washington Ave. Council members also approved an engineering contract with Ayres Associates for upcoming road, park and utility projects including the multi-year development of a new well along Pep’s Drive to potentially replace Well 5 located along Hwy 13 near the Bone and Joint Clinic and which was found to have a small amount of PFAS contamination. The city is working to be ahead of potential EPA guidelines on PFAS. The well development is expected to cost about $241,000. The overall engineering contract with Ayres for the four projects is $343,700.

Council members also received an update from city coordinator Joe Harris about ongoing construction projects around the city.

The RCU Pavilion project along Whelen Ave. in the downtown is moving along. The bathroom and serving area of the structure was built in the past few weeks allowing plumbing work to advance in that area. Crews on Tuesday backfilled around the poured concrete footings with the pouring of the slab floor of the shelter portion to proceed.

The concrete is all in place for the Band Shell in the city park with construction waiting on the lumber to arrive on-site. Huotari Construction has started the pool building addition to house a new boiler for the pool at the city park.

In other projects, Harris said the first layer of blacktop on CTH O is expected to be installed later this week with the final layer to be placed next week along with some shouldering work. Harris said he expected it will be open within the next two weeks, which is ahead of the project schedule which had given until the end of October for it to be completed.

“That will be nice,” said alderman Mike Bub of having the major road open once more.

TID 5

Council members approved formally closing a special tax district in the downtown area. Before closing Tax Incremental District No. 5 council members approved using a state law that allows the city to retain revenue from the district for an additional year to use for housing projects.

Typically the property taxes on a parcel are divided between the municipality, school district, county, and technical college district. In TIDs, the amount received by each of the overlapping taxing entities is frozen for a period of time while the city collects the full amount of taxes paid on any improvements made to the properties in the district. This money is then used to pay off costs related to the development of the area. For example, land purchase, road construction or utilities. The TID law also allows districts to help pay off the debts of other TIDs which have been declared “distressed.”

With the closure and the action to use increment for housing improvements, the district’s improvements will go on the general tax rolls for the overlaying taxing districts in 2025.

In other business council members:

Approved sale of 4 acres of land along Pep’s Drive to Brandon Kuyoth for a price of $8,000. He plans to build storage units on the property. The vote came to a 4-4 tie among council members with Mayor Mike Wellner casting the tie breaking vote. Voting yes were Clem Johnson, Wellner, Ken Coyer, Bub, and Laura Holmes. Voting no were Dave J. Brandner, Christine Weix, Randy Haynes, and Peggy Kraschnewski.

Set the trick or treat hours for Halloween for October 29 following the Harvest Days parade until 6 p.m.