SHERBURN– Sherburn City Council met Monday evening and discussed the veterans memorial, which was tabled from the last meeting. A suggestion that there is a place on the side of Pocket Park where a lot may be opened later was given by a councilman. The council agreed that a veterans memorial was a good idea but the site was troubling for some. The lot where the old hotel was (south of the My Guy building) was at one time the site for a proposed library and meeting room. The council wondered if that lot may be used for development such as the library. The council agreed that once the memorial is built it should not be moved. Sherburn Civic and Commerce members remarked that the Pocket Park site is not aesthetically great with the old building and there are some unsafe walls at the south edge of the lot. They want a dignified memorial and want to improve Main Street in Sherburn. The original motion was amended to say that the Civic & Commerce be willing to move the memorial if the lot were to be used for a building for a library or a business wanted to build there. The motion passed.

The council also accepted the Public Facility Authority offer as a loan for $3 million for construction and updating of the Wastewater Plant. The repayment schedule was reviewed with a $10,000 payment in 2022 and then increasing amounts such as $50,000 and $75,000 for subsequent years. The loan is at 1 percent which will save the city $168,000 since there is no local vendor. The construction company is scheduled to begin in January with measurements and pre-construction actions.

In other news, Greg Mitchell, an engineer from Bolton and Menk, reviewed the 2022 street projects. The biggest project is Osborne Street which will cost $5 million for grading, paving and overlay. There is a grant in the process for this project. The need for repair of this street has been talked about for years. There will be no deepening or widening but

replacement of curbs and sidewalks is part of the project. Bids for this project will be started in January/February if the other smaller projects can be combined the bidding will be easier and attract better results since the project will be larger. This project would

include curb and gutter, sidewalk replacement of what is there now, sewer and storm sewer and water pipes. The street width for Osborne Street would be 42 inches instead of 54 inches as would Second Street. Third Street and Fourth Street would be 36 inches wide. They plan to replace the stop signs too. Some other projects were discussed such as Venn Street, Lynn Street, South Main Street, Cargill Street, and Temperance Lake Road. There was discussion about installing storm sewer on some projects before paving is done. The projects may cost around $600,000. The council asked Mitchell to concentrate plans for South Main Street four inch overlay, Lynn Street overlay, and storm sewer by Cargill, and Temperance Lake Road at least at each end. They agreed with the engineer that paving Temperance Lake Road would help take traffic away from the school zone on Fifth Street.

When the meeting continued the council approved the 2022 budget and a pay increase for employees.

The next meeting of the Sherburn City Council will be 5 p.m. Jan. 3, 2022, at Sherburn City Hall.