Politics & Government

Woodbury Takes Another Step Toward Bielenberg Expansion

The city council on Wednesday approved an architectural and construction-management team for the $15 million sports complex project.

Slowly but surely, Woodbury is moving ahead with its plans to expand and update the .

The Woodbury City Council on Wednesday approved an architectural and construction-management team for the approximately $15 million project, which is expected to begin early in 2013 and be completed about a year later. Plans call for a .

Approval of the team—Pope Associates, Inc., and Kraus-Anderson Construction—was originally slated for the consent agenda, typically a list of routine matters for the city adopted by one vote.

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Councilman Christopher Burns opted to pull the measure for further discussion because the project is a “big endeavor” for Woodbury and he wanted to bring the latest developments to the public’s attention.

While acknowledging he’s looking at the process through “20-20 hindsight,” Burns did question whether it was a good idea to authorize an action plan for the project’s task force on the same day the city approved architectural and construction firms. It might have been advantageous for the stakeholders on the task force to have some input in that regard, he said.

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Parks and Recreation Director Bob Klatt said the task force will work closely with the construction and architecture group as it prepares designs, engineering and cost estimates.

“Having those come together simultaneously actually makes a lot of sense,” he said.

Five city staffers interviewed the six teams that came forward with proposals, Klatt said, and they unanimously agreed the Pope-Kraus group was the best. (The measure passed 5-0.)

Pope Associates has not been hired by the city before, Klatt said, but it has done a number of projects in Woodbury and worked with city staff. Kraus-Anderson, meanwhile, was involved in the , and building projects, and the city has had “very good experiences” with the construction firm.

Councilman Paul Rebholz echoed Burns’ comments about getting news of the project to residents and said the city will solicit feedback.

“If you have an opinion, now’s the time to weigh in,” he said.

Burns also noted that the task force meetings will be open to the public, and suggested the city post updates at the . Klatt added that the city will hold other community meetings about the Bielenberg project, as well.


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