Austin City Council approves grant from MnDOT concerning replacement of fueling system at Austin Municipal Airport at Monday meeting

The Austin City Council moved to accept a grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation concerning the replacement of the fueling system at the Austin Municipal Airport at their regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening.  Public Works Director Steven Lang stated to the council that the grant would cover 70% of the design costs for the project, which would total $57,680, with $24,720 of the cost to be covered by the city of Austin for a total of $82,400.  The proposed project would involve removal of the existing fueling system, which consists of two 10,000-gallon underground fuel tanks with dispensers that are more than 30 years old, and the installation of new above ground tanks, new dispensers, and an automated card reader system.  Construction on the project is expected to span from June to October of this year.  

The council also moved to approve water level logger installation and data collection totaling $7,000 for the proposed whitewater project.  The council approved contributing $25,000 toward preliminary design for the project at their January 16th meeting, contingent upon securing outside funding to cover the remaining costs, and Assistant City Engineer Mitch Wenum stated to the council that at their last meeting, the city accepted a $7,000 donation from the Austin Fraternal Order of the Eagles toward the whitewater project.  The installation of the water level loggers was approved on a vote of 6-1, with Councilman Geoff Baker casting the lone dissenting vote.  

In a work session following their regularly scheduled meeting, the Austin City Council approved a contract with Flashing Thunder Fireworks totaling $35,000 to perform the fireworks show at the city’s annual July 4th celebration this year, and the council also approved a request to join other entities to support a request from Impact Austin for a Quality of Life and Impact Austin management totaling $20,000.  City Administrator Craig Clark stated at the work session that support from other partners will include $60,000 from Mower County, $25,000 from Hormel Foods, $10,000 from the Development Corporation of Austin, $10,000 in-kind, $10,000 from Mayo Clinic, and $67,000 from the Hormel Foundation.  Clark stated that the objective is to fund the Impact Austin staff member, and to provide administrative support to the DCA of $40,000 and $43,000 for a small project fund.

The next regularly scheduled meeting for the Austin City Council is scheduled for Tuesday,  February 20th at 5:30 p.m. at the Austin City Council chambers.