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10.g City Administrator Report1 Staff Report Date of Meeting: August 18, 2026, City Council Meeting To: Mayor and City Council From: Kyle Morell, City Administrator Re: City Administrator Report 2026 Scandia Wetland Trail Project The City’s LCCMR proposal was selected to move forward in the review process. I presented it to the LCCMR committee on June 28. The Committee met on July 31 to determine funding amounts for all projects. The City received $907,000 of the $998,000 it requested. The project was funded with the passing of the LCCMR bill last month. Council approved the design and engineering of the trail network at the September meeting. Bids were opened on Wednesday, March 11. The bids came in under the engineer's estimate, which bodes well for the City’s plans to install a parking lot at the tee ball field. The project is scheduled for construction in 2026. The preconstruction meeting is scheduled for the week of April 20, with work beginning the last week of April or the first week of May. The sidewalk along Olinda was poured this week. Trail paving was completed in May. The boardwalk will be installed in early 2027. The City Engineer will have the most up-to-date project report for you at the meeting. Once the pay request is approved, the City will apply for reimbursement from the DNR. Bliss Sewer Project The City has been awarded 86% grant funding for the project. The remaining 14% is a low-interest loan from the Public Facilities Authority. The loan amount and payment schedule are known and have been worked into the 2027 sewer budgets. The City Engineer will have the most up-to-date project report for you at the meeting. Council approved the GO Bond to cover the loan portion of the project award on their July Work Session. The City has applied for its first draw from PFA. This draw will reimburse the City for the contractor's first pay request and engineering on the project dating back to April of 2021. 1 Gateway Trail Project Contracts have been signed. Utilities are being relocated. Notice of this work was sent to the property owners on Friday, unfortunately, not before markings began. The trees within the easement were cut in the last week of March. The preconstruction meeting was held on April 15. Work on clearing the easement will begin in May. Country Road 52 was closed on June 8 for the road realignment and tunnel installation. It will remain closed all summer and reopen in September. The City will seek to secure short-term financing to fund the project at its June Council meeting. The LCCMR funds are reimbursable, and the City does not have sufficient funds to make timely payments to the contractors while awaiting reimbursement from the State. A short-term loan will be needed to bridge the financial gap. I will have more information on this in May. The Council will be asked to approve short-term financing for the Gateway Project at Tuesday night's meeting. That financing will be used to pay the contractor while the City waits for reimbursement from LCCMR. Peterson Companies will have its full crew on site to begin work on the trail on May 18. Oakhill Road (CR 52) will be closed from June 8 through Labor Day for tunnel installation and road realignment.  August 3 Update from the engineer o Peterson Companies worked on grading class 5 on the North side of CR 52 on the bituminous trail from stations 3+00 – 8+25. o Peterson Companies worked on grading the horse trail with class 5 base and class 2 for the top 6” on the South side of CR 52 from stations 3+80 – 9+00. o JP Concrete poured three out of the five sections of the South headwall. The remaining two portions of the South headwall will be poured tomorrow. o JP Concrete will be pouring the top caps of both the North and South headwalls later this week. o I had a meeting with the DNR on-site last week to stake all of Mary Cullen’s fence. Fence alignment information from this meeting was sent to Peterson to help them finalize their quote for this work. We should be hearing back from Peterson on a price for this additional chain link fence this week. o Pay Application 3 has been sent over to Peterson for signing. o CR-52 is scheduled to have the wear (upper lift of bituminous) paved the 9/7-9/11 week. Isiah/myself will talk to the County about the striping on this road. We could look into temporary striping tabs or waiving the 10-day warranty period after paving to striping (if striping before opening the road is a requirement for them). o Peterson’s full schedule as attached is weather-dependent. Even with some rain days through August, having CR-52 opened up by Taco Daze on the 12 th seems likely. The City Engineer will have the most up-to-date project report for you at the meeting. Once the pay request is approved, the City will apply for reimbursement from the DNR. 1 Right-of-Way Planting Exemption Permit Staff is still working on this document. We should have something in the coming months. 2027 Budget Staff continues to work on the 2027 budget. The Wastewater Committee meets on Monday, August 17, to review the draft 2027 sewer budgets. The Capital Improvement Committee will meet on August 24 to review those funds. I plan to have an update at our September Work Session.