Mayor Delivers 2020 Detroit Lakes State of the City Address

DETROIT LAKES (KDLM) – Mayor Matt Brenk delivered his State of the City address, Tuesday at the Detroit Lakes City Council meeting.

The Mayor said 2020 was a busy and challenging year in terms of managing the City’s business while dealing with issues related to the pandemic, but there were some positives, “There were significant City projects as well as continued development, expansion and growth in our private sector and in new housing. And we continue to be financially strong and stable”.

Notable projects included the new Airport Runway/Taxiway project at the Detroit Lakes Becker County Airport; construction of a new state of the art Wastewater Treatment Facility; and construction of a new Police Department facility.

Brenk is encouraged about the year ahead, specifically moving forward on a new Public Works facility, construction on the Becker County Museum, potentially a new Food Pantry facility, and ongoing festivities in conjunction with the City’s 150th Anniversary.

“2020 was an unprecedented but still a productive year. I want to thank our citizens, businesses and industries for persevering and for all that you do for Detroit Lakes,” Brenk said.

You can read the full State of the City Address below:

STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS, DETROIT LAKES, MINNESOTA, JANUARY 12, 2021

To the City Council, City Staff and to the Citizens of Detroit Lakes Minnesota, it is an honor to deliver this evening, the annual State of the City Address for the year 2020.

This is my 13th State of the City Address and while each one has been special, this one unfortunately comes during a devastating global pandemic, during a time that we have seen social and civil unrest and on the heels of a highly charged election season. I think we can all agree that 2020 was a trying and stressful time for all.

Administratively 2020 was a busy and challenging year in terms of managing the City’s business while dealing with issues related to the pandemic. I want to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for meeting those challenges and continuing to provide excellent service to the community.

As difficult as 2020 was fortunately there were some positive things that happened in the City of Detroit Lakes. There were significant City projects as well as continued development, expansion and growth in our private sector and in new housing. And we continue to be financially strong and stable.

Tonight, I would like to briefly review and highlight some of those positives from this past year and some of the plans for 2021 and beyond.

Some notable civic projects from 2020:

The largest phase of the new Airport Runway/Taxiway project at the Detroit Lakes Becker County Airport took place this past year with the reconstruction of the main runway, the filling of the wastewater ponds and the installation of the approach lighting system. Phase 4 is now underway primarily with the installation of a perimeter fence of the entire airport property. The Airport Runway/Taxiway project expands the runway’ to 5,200’ including a parallel taxiway allowing larger aircraft to utilize the facility and enhancing opportunities for our City and regional businesses.

Construction was substantially completed in 2020 for our new state of the art Wastewater Treatment Facility, the largest single municipal project ever funded in the City of Detroit Lakes. Detroit Lakes has been placed under some of the most stringent wastewater discharge standards in Minnesota and the quality of the water produced from the facility is meeting or exceeding expectations and those standards.

Another important project that began this past year is our new Police Department facility. Bids came in below estimate and construction began in the spring of 2020. The project is on schedule and occupancy of the facility is anticipated for April and May of this year. The project was funded by a Local Option Sales Tax and I am happy to report that income from the tax is coming in at a significantly higher rate than projected. Full payoff of the project and sunset of the sales tax is projected to be the fall of 2023 instead of February 2028 saving the taxpayers approximately $137,000 in interest on the project.

Detroit Lakes had another solid year in 2020 both in terms of private development and in housing development. Building permits, while lower than the previous two years, still came in at about $28 million this past year and included 35 new single-family housing units equaling 2019. Remarkably, 286 new homes have been constructed in Detroit Lakes in the past seven years reflecting our steady and solid growth in the City.

Two large private sector projects were completed in 2020. Midtown Development, a $6 million project with 11,000 square feet of retail space and 30 housing units was completed and opened. Pelican Landing, a $12 million, 76 unit assisted living unit facility was also completed and opened in 2020.

Financially, Detroit Lakes continues to remain fiscally sound and has done so in-spite of the drastic reductions in Local Government Aid over the past 20 plus years and in-spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our City’s credit rating remains excellent. Standard & Poor’s affirmed the City’s credit rating at AA/stable, which is noteworthy recognizing the City’s strong financial management, solid budgetary performance, and our budgetary flexibility and liquidity. This past year, the City’s auditing firm issued an unqualified audit opinion for 2019. Taking advantage of favorable interest rates and our excellent credit rating, the City refinanced a large bond issue in 2020 saving the taxpayers over $420,000 in interest expense. In December, the City Council approved and adopted a levy increase of 6.03% for 2021. However, because the City’s tax capacity is increasing and 6 Tax Increment Financing Districts are coming fully back on the tax rolls, our Finance Department projects no significant impact to the city’s tax rate. Assuming no valuation increase to a City property this would equate to only a $7 annual increase on a $170,000 residential homestead property or a $42 annual increase in the City property tax for a $500,000 commercial property for the 2021 tax year.

Detroit Lakes continues to enjoy one of the lowest tax rates in the region including cities like Fergus Falls, East Grand Forks, Bemidji, Thief River Falls and others. And statewide, our City tax rate is significantly lower than the average City rate for all greater Minnesota cities with populations between 5,000 and 10,000.

Providing property tax relief, flexibility in funding growth and providing enhancements to our quality of life, Detroit Lakes also enjoys prosperous enterprise revenues.

Our Municipal Liquor Store had record sales which will surpass $8.8 million in 2020, making our operation the 8th highest grossing municipal liquor store in Minnesota. The City makes an annual transfer from the Liquor Fund to the General Fund in excess of $500,00.

Our Finance Department also projects that final receipts from the City’s Food & Beverage tax will be approximately $367,000 for 2020, down slightly from 2019 but still significant. While not a direct funds transfer, the tax provides an ongoing resource for stewardship to our area lakes, for parking and trail improvements and for continued re-development of our business corridor sectors.

Transfer to the General Fund from the City Electric Utility as a payment in lieu of taxes will be $623,150.00 in 2021.

To put these funds into perspective, assuming these revenue funds did not exist in the City this past year, Detroit Lakes would have had to increase property taxes by well over 25% to maintain and fund the status quo.

The City’s Departments, the Public Utility, the various advisory Boards & Commissions and the City Council committees continued to work with the City Council this past year to enhance the public good and the quality of life here in Detroit Lakes.

I urge the City Council members and interested citizens to review the various year-end reports from our City departments, copies of which can be obtained from City Hall upon request.

Here are just a few of the highlights from our various departments this past year:

The Planning Commission, the Development Authority and the Community Development Committee had a busy 2020 dealing with numerous activities.

The Planning Commission and the Community Development Committee reviewed numerous re-zoning requests, conditional use permits, variances, subdivisions, non-conforming use permits, and 2 annexations increasing the corporate limits of the City by an additional 41 acres.

The Detroit Lakes Development Authority also conducted numerous activities in 2020 and continues to assist Detroit Lakes in making strong gains in economic development and housing growth. The Development Authority and the City Council continue to emphasize housing as a key element in the growth and economic expansion of the City.

Our City’s entirely volunteer Fire Department continues to provide professional fire protection services to the City of Detroit Lakes and to the surrounding townships of Detroit, Lakeview and Erie. Our department currently stands at 25 firefighters and looks to establish a full roster of 30 firefighters this coming year. In 2020, the Fire Department responded to 216 calls for service along with engaging in numerous hours of training and other community activities.

The City Police Department with 17 sworn officers, also saw another busy year in 2020 responding to 12,207 calls for service, down slightly from the previous year but still significant in relation to the number of officers. The Department continues to up-grade equipment and engage in extensive training and other community activities. 2021 promises to be an extremely busy year for the department as they move into their new facility beginning this spring.

The Public Works Department with 20 full time and 16 part time employees kept the City and the numerous facilities it oversees looking great this past year. One area in which we can all be proud of is our extensive park system and growing internal trail system. The new South Shore Park shelter, parking lot and trails were completed this past year with plans for playground equipment and courts in 2021. A substantial portion of the Heartland Trail between Detroit Lakes and Frazee was constructed in 2020 with more work scheduled for this summer. Larry’s Pathway, a segment of the City’s internal trail system was completed and dedicated this summer, honoring former Mayor Larry Buboltz for his many years of leadership and service to the City and his tireless work in developing and expanding our multi-use trails. The Detroit Mountain Recreation Area Legacy Grant project was completed in 2020 which includes new asphalt parking improvements, new mountain bike trails and a natural playground. Additional Public Works activities in 2020 included new irrigation at the Soccer complex, an 18-hole disc golf course at Long Lake Park, improvements to the Dog Park and to the Skateboard Park.

In terms of environmental stewardship, this past year, our Public Works Department completed over 7,000 miles of street sweeping removing 4,081 yards of debris and pollutants from entering our storm water system. The City Council continues emphasis on implementation of additional portions of the Green Steps City Program which was adopted by the City in 2019. The City also received the Bronze Bike Friendly Community designation in 2020 which reflects the City’s commitment to improved quality of life and health, stronger community connections, a proactive stance toward climate change concerns, increased tourism, property values and economic development and added safety.

Several large road construction projects were completed or substantially completed last year. These include the entire length of West Avenue, Willow Street from Washington Avenue to Jackson Avenue, Washington Avenue from Willow Street to south of North Shore Drive including two roundabout intersections and Randolph Road from Kris Street to County 54. Significant improvements were made to the Kris Street intersection and signal lights were added to the intersection of County 54, East Shore Drive and Highway 10.

The Detroit Lakes Public Utility was busy also both in the Electric Utility and the Water/Wastewater Department with numerous projects, the most significant of which is the new Wastewater Treatment Facility. I do want to mention that the Utility was recognized for several operational and management awards this past year. In April, the Utility received the American Public Power Safety Award for having zero lost time accidents in 2019, the Platinum Designation from the Reliable Public Power Provider program recognizing excellent service, and the APPA Excellence in Reliability Award reflecting a reliability index in the top ¼ of all Utilities in the United State. Finally, Congratulations to General Manager Vernell Roberts on his election to Chairman of the Board of Missouri River Energy Services.

Administratively our City staff spent many additional hours dealing with COVID-19 related issues with distribution of the Cares Act Funding received by the City proving to be an enormous undertaking. Some other notable administration activities this past year include negotiation of 3-year contracts with all four of the City bargaining unions, ongoing discussions with the County and surrounding Townships regarding the City extraterritorial subdivision authority, establishment of a Massage Therapist ordinance and amendments to the City’s Personnel Policy to name a few.

2020 also saw several key personnel retirements. Brad Green, Public Works Director, Pam Slifka, Finance Officer and Fire Chief Scott Flynn all retired this past year. The City Council welcomed Shawn King as new Public Works Director, Heidi Tumberg as the new Finance Officer and Ryan Swanson as the new Fire Chief. In addition, Jay Schurman resigned his Alderman position this past year and Bruce Imholte retired at the end of his 5th full term in December as Alderman at Large. Tonight, we welcome our newest City Council members, Aaron Dallman and Wendy Spry to their first regular City Council meeting.

As I conclude this evening, here are some things that we can look forward to in 2021 and beyond:

The City Council has been budgeting for several years to construct a very much needed new Public Works facility to be located on North Tower Road and we will have to make some decisions on moving forward with this project.

The City Council approved a $450,000 commitment to the new proposed Becker County Museum. $1.85 million was received from State Bond Funds in 2020 and construction should begin in 2021. Additional agreements will be needed between the City, County, DLCCC and the Museum as things move forward.

The City Council commissioned BHH Architects to develop some design concepts and cost estimates for the Washington Ballpark and this information should be available for Council review early this year.

The City is engaged in discussions with the Food Pantry Board of Directors and Becker County regarding a new Food Pantry facility and more information will be presented to the Council in the coming months.

Two large road construction projects are planned for this summer. Reconstruction of West Lake Drive from Legion Road to County 6 and West Willow Street. In addition, portions of Frazee and Holmes Streets with be reconstructed this year.

Plans are underway and ongoing for festivities this summer in conjunction with the City’s 150th Anniversary.

Finally, we will continue to deal with the pandemic issues and look forward to large scale vaccinations and increased immunity and a return to a better world.

In conclusion, 2020 was an unprecedented but still a productive year. I want to thank our citizens, businesses and industries for persevering and for all that you do for Detroit Lakes.

Thank you to our advisory boards & commissions working behind the scenes, helping the City Council to make vital decisions for the City’s future.

To all City employees, thank you for meeting the challenges of 2020 and continuing to provide excellent service. You are the professionals that keep our City functioning efficiently, and who not only serve our citizens but equally important, make our City appealing to our visitors.

Lastly, to the City Council and Vice Mayor Zeman. Thank you from all the citizens of Detroit Lakes for your service, leadership and accomplishments in 2020.

It is an honor to work with you and for you. I look forward to abatement and elimination of the COVID-19 virus for a great 2021 as we make Detroit Lakes a better place to live, to work and to visit.

Respectfully submitted,

Matt Brenk, Mayor

City of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota