Brief: No Projects For Woodbury In Bonding Bill

Woodbury does not have any projects included in the $500 million bonding bill passed by the Legislature earlier this week.

And that’s fairly typical.

The city generally does not receive much funding for local projects through the bonding bill, said David Jessup, the city’s Public Works director. The infrastructure projects included the bills are usually of regional significance, he said, pointing to a new Stillwater bridge as an example.

“Those kinds of projects, in my mind, are the ones the state’s going to fund,” he said.

Rep. Andrea Kieffer said she broached the topic with city administrators when it became clear that Gov. Mark Dayton would only agree to the GOP budget proposal if a bonding bill was passed this year. (Usually, the state Legislature alternates between passing a bonding bill and addressing the biennial budget.)

“We have no projects right now that, from our perspective, would qualify to be eligible for state funding,” Jessup said.

Rep. Kathy Lohmer and Sen. Ted Lillie voted against the bonding bill, with the senator saying he felt the state should have stayed on its traditional schedule to address the capital projects bill. Lillie added that there was already plenty of funding in the budget for infrastructure improvements.

In the past, Woodbury has received state funding through other means for projects such as the Tamarack Road interchange at Interstate 494, Jessup said.