Woodbury council approves Woodland Drive special assessments and awards $5.69 million construction contract

The Woodbury City Council on April 22 approved special assessments and awarded contracts to advance the Woodland Drive pavement rehabilitation project.

Assistant Director of Engineering McKenna presented the project scope: conversion of a four-lane segment to three lanes, pavement replacement, curb work, pedestrian crossing enhancements including refuge islands, trail extensions near Woodbury High School, water-main replacement in a commercial area, and storm and sanitary improvements. Staff said the total project cost is about $7.1 million; special assessments amount to roughly $800,000 (about 11% of the total).

At the assessment hearing the council received four written objections filed by property owners represented by attorney Kevin Schoberg. Schoberg argued the assessments were unfairly allocated, said the feasibility report numbers did not match proposed assessments and contended that major arterial roads should be city-funded given wide community benefit. He asked the council not to adopt the assessment roll.

City staff and council members responded that the city followed its adopted assessment policy, that the policy would need a citywide change to be altered, and that objectors retain the right to appeal assessments in court.

Council member (7) moved to adopt Resolution No. 26-46 approving the special assessments; roll-call votes were: Santini Aye, Stafford Aye, Wilson No, Morris Aye, Mayor Burt Aye. The resolution passed 4–1.

Following the assessment vote, the council voted to award the construction contract. Council member (3) moved to adopt Resolution No. 26-47 awarding the construction contract to McNamara Contracting for $5,687,344.06 and authorizing a professional engineering agreement with SEEH Inc. for $662,900 for construction administration. The motion passed on roll-call with all members present voting Aye.

Staff said the project received significant federal grant funding used for the 4-to-3 lane conversion safety elements and a range of other funds including street reconstruction and utility funds; estimated assessments vary by property type (single-family roughly $5,000–$12,000, multifamily $1,900–$30,000, commercial $4,000–$37,000, public/semi-public $31,000–$141,000). Special-assessment payback options include a 30-day no-interest period or a 15-year repayment term with a 4.5% interest rate and first payment due with the first half of property taxes in 2027.

Property owners and the council were advised of the appeal process; the city attorney noted staff disagreed with the objections and that objectors may pursue judicial review if they wish. Work on the project will proceed under the awarded contract and staff will provide construction scheduling updates to inTouch subscribers and via the city's project web pages.