EAST GRAND FORKS — The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities continues to prioritize infrastructure and government aid needs for rural Minnesota cities, according to Marty Seifert, a lobbyist for the organization.
Seifert on Tuesday presented to East Grand Forks City Council members about some results of Minnesota’s legislative session, including the bonding bill that was passed to help fund various infrastructure projects around the state.
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“It was very bipartisan — very focused on infrastructure,” he said.
The Legislature passed a $1.24 billion capital improvement bill earlier this year, with $400 million going toward water-related projects and transportation grant programs.
Seifert said that bill "cleared the deck” for other projects and funding requests from rural Minnesota cities.
“There’s $3 billion of requests, they fund about $1 billion in the bonding cycle, so it clears the deck for the next round to come in,” he said.
City Engineer Steve Emery asked if any of the funding reserved for street construction would be available for local street projects to help with construction costs and assessments. Seifert said most of the funding was for communities who asked f...