Koering notes four district projects in bonding bill that Senate approved

Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, supported the bonding bill that passed the Senate Tuesday by a 52-14 vote and highlighted four area projects in the legislation.

Koering is the ranking member on the Senate Capital Investment Committee and said he likely will be the lead Republican senator when the bill is conferenced with the House version, which is scheduled to be voted on sometime next week.

The senator said the items in his district have a statewide impact.

Two of the four items Koering listed are located at Camp Ripley. Minnesota has been developing an emergency management training facility at Camp Ripley where entities from law enforcement, emergency responders and emergency management from around the state can come to drill in exercises to prepare for emergency situations, which may arise anywhere in the state.

"The bonding request is for Phase II of this training facility at Camp Ripley," Koering said. "The governor had recommended $10 million in his bonding proposal and the Senate only has $6 million. Obviously I support the higher amount, because I view this primarily as a safety issue in our state."

The Troop Support Facility at Camp Ripley was another item marked for just more than $1 million for funding in the Senate bonding bill. This money would be designated to the adjutant general of the state to renovate and refurbish the current troop support facility at Camp Ripley.

Also included in the bonding bill was a request from the Minnesota Department of Transportation for a truck station in Little Falls. Koering said the current station was built in 1958 and now serves 353 lane-miles of state roadway. In 1958 that amount was only 275 lane-miles. Today the facility maintains 10 plows, four more than it was originally built to handle.

When the facility was originally constructed plow and sanding equipment was 18 to 23 feet in length, today's plowing equipment ranges from 32 to 42 feet in length and even 62 feet with tow plow technology, according to Koering. He said the current shop area is insufficiently sized and equipped to serve current tasks.

The Fort Ripley Republican said that by moving the site from its current location in a residential/commercial area, which is landlocked and has limited salt storage capacity, the new truck station would be more readily accessible to roadway quicker and have a much greater salt storage capacity enabling MnDOT to buy the salt at volume discount.

Also included in the Senate bonding bill was $1.25 million for development of the Cuyuna Recreation Area.