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The Chisago City Council is prepping for major sewer and road improvements on the west side of Chisago City. The council approved two engineering projects with two different engineering firms impacting that area. 

In its first action, last week, the council agreed to an expenditure of $27,800 to have City Engineering firm Bolton and Menk complete a feasibility study and preliminary design layout for extending Chisago City’s sanitary sewer to the west. The sewer extension will serve future development along the eight-mile section of the Highway 8 corridor scheduled for reconstruction in 2027.     Preliminary siting of a new sanitary lift station, force main sizing, and conceptual layouts of the sanitary trunk sewer will be included. The goal is to present the final study and design to the council in October, in hopes of using the information to obtain funding assistance from the state of Minnesota.

In the second action, the council agreed to spend up to $124,700 with I & S Group, Inc. (ISG) of Bloomington for professional services related to Liberty Lane and Karmel Ave. between Highway 8 and Lofton Ave. The city also wants to add bicycle and pedestrian facilities, improve stormwater management, improve intersection safety and crosswalks in the area and add right turn lanes on Karmel Ave. 

ISG’s work will include project management, data collection, a public open house in early October to communicate with residents, business owners and road users as well as an interactive website and online surveys. 

ISG will develop construction documents, estimated assessment scenarios, and roadway design concepts, and will design the corridor to accommodate a trail connection that supports the planned Highway 8 trail construction.     

Because the roads are adjacent to Lakeside Elementary School, the study will evaluate pedestrian crossings and projected speed limits. Their evaluation of the Karmel Ave., Liberty Lane intersection will focus on operation and safety due to its importance for school access, truck movements and emergency services. They will develop construction staging concepts that maintain access to the industrial businesses, public works, fire station and school throughout the construction. 

ISG will have a 90 percent plan ready for submittal to MnDOT by Nov 13, 2026, and a bid opening in early January for construction to begin in spring 2027. ISG Engineer Jake Guzik will serve as project manager working with Chisago City on the Liberty Lane/Karmel Ave. project.

In other business, the council:

- passed a resolution requesting that the 2027 state legislature “recognize the critical need to sustain deputy registrar offices, and enact a permanent state revenue sharing fund for deputy registrars, sourced with 50 percent of the existing filing fee revenue captured by the Department of Public Safety from their online and mail-in transactions to be disbpersed quarterly among all deputy registrar offices in Minnesota.” Chisago City operates a deputy registrar office adjacent to city hall where driver’s licenses are renewed, auto titles transferred, and license plates and tabs sold.

Two state-commissioned reports have recommended that state revenue sharing funds be used to reduce costs for the local governments—like Chisago City—that currently subsidize the deputy registrar offices. Six local registrar offices in the state reportedly have closed due to financial losses since 2021.

Administrator Pechman stated that state-commissioned reports found that “without legislative action, there is a risk of additional permanent office closures, resulting in the loss of important community services and local jobs.” The deputy registrar office employs a half-dozen people.

- set a public hearing for the Sept. 22 council meeting on proposed amendments to Municipal Code 300 related to discharge of weapons within the city limits. The amended code is designed to accommodate changes to state law that now allow use of centerfire rifles for deer hunting in areas of Minnesota that were previously restricted to hunting with shotguns only. Chisago City is impacted. 

See CHISAGO CITY/12

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