Waite Park State of The City Building Foundation For Future

WAITE PARK (WJON News) -- The City of Waite Park focused on four areas during Wednesday's State of the City presentation. The city emphasized development, public safety, entertainment, and transportation.

Get our free mobile app

City Administrator Shaunna Johnson made the entertainment portion of the address. She says The Ledge has made a huge contribution to the city since it opened in 2021:

"We have really seen a significant impact not only with the people that visit here but also just with that domino effect that that has within our community. I think that we've estimated that it has about a six million dollar economic impact."

Johnson says over 100,000 people have attended events at The Ledge since it opened, they expect close to 50,000 will visit this year, and they are always looking to add new types of events. It was a State of the City by committee as Mayor Rick Miller could not attend so Johnson, Police Chief Anthony Reznicek, Community Development Director Jon Noerenberg, and Public Works Director Bill Schluenz all made parts of the presentation.

Schluenz presented the transportation portion and provided updates on the Southwest Beltway, 10th Avenue, and PFAS in the city's water. He also spoke about how the city prioritizes what road projects they do first:

"We rate each road on a pavement index number, it's a little bit complicated, so the worst being the roads have the worst ratings we look at all those and then map out how much that cost is for that segment that we need to fix. We see where we are at and then find out what that total is. If that's two million dollars but we only have a million then we have to pay down that list."

Schluenz says Waite Park is unique in that there is not an assessment to citizens for pavement maintenance costs and it is all done at the city's expense.

He said one of the next streets slated for repavement is the Sunwood Park area, and the city has hired an engineer to come up with a design on how to best treat the PFAS in the city's water supply. The State of the City was held out at the Ledge Amphitheater in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce.

READ MORE FROM AUTHOR PAUL HABSTRITT:

• UFL’s Spring Football Has Several Reasons To Watch
• Safari North Wildlife Park Has New And Fan Favs For 2024
• Xcel Energy’s St. Cloud Service Center Is On The Move
• Homeowners Generosity Provides Valuable Training For Sartell FD [PHOTOS]
• Hundreds Line Up Despite Cold Weather For Record Store Day – [PHOTOS]
• To QB Or Not To QB? That Is The Question Vikings Ponder [Gallery]