Fergus Falls Council Approves Three Street, Utility Projects and Remote Attendance Policy

The Fergus Falls City Council, meeting on Feb. 17, 2026, approved three named major street and utility improvement projects, Kabort Avenue (PI5966), Cleveland Avenue (PI5964) and Douglas Avenue (PI5967), adopted a new remote-attendance policy for council participation and accepted a $10,000 philanthropic donation from a national organization. The council meeting began with what the Fergus Falls Journal described as an unusual open forum start.

Feasibility reports for the Kabort, Cleveland and Douglas projects were tied to a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 17, 2026 at 5:30 p.m., a timing noted in engineering feasibility notes produced by 4tcreative. Neighborhood engagement included open houses held Feb. 4–5, 2026: Kabort and Douglas were listed for Feb. 4 at 5:30/6:30 p.m. in 4tcreative materials, and Cleveland was held Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m. The projects were described in council materials as major street and utility improvement projects for the named PI numbers.

City Engineer Kyle Meyer presented details of the 2026 street and utility improvements at the Feb. 17 meeting, while Josiah Rost presented Task Order 11. Task Order 11 carries an engineering fee of $180,000 and covers mill and overlay work on Channing Avenue (Cascade to Pebble Lake Road) and Spring Avenue (Mount Faith to Fryberg) as a 2027 federally funded STIP project. Task Orders 12 and 13 were listed with fees of $20,000 for the seal coat engineering and $40,000 for the mill & overlay engineering for 2026 projects. Finance Director Bill Sonmor provided budget references for construction of approximately $200,000 for seal coat work and approximately $350,000 for mill & overlay work, with engineering fees calculated at 15 percent of the average bid per contract.

Assessment methodology and policy details were outlined in the feasibility materials: assessments follow city policy, with lower assessments assigned to higher-traffic and wider streets; assessment calculations use traffic counts and street widths and are broken down by block. 4tcreative’s next procedural steps listed at the meeting included finalizing and approving resolutions to accept three grant awards and associated budget adjustments, proceeding with engineering tasks for the 2026 seal coat and mill & overlay projects and the 2027 Channing/Spring project, and uploading the recorded meeting to the city website once processed by PEG access. The firm also instructed staff to schedule a return of the street sweeper purchase resolution with additional cost comparisons of ownership versus lease versus outsourcing and to provide an updated quote if necessary.

The Feb. 17 meeting photo caption shows Keven Swenson, director of golf at Pebble Lake Golf Club, speaking at the council meeting; the meeting record excerpts do not include the content of his remarks. Background context from Sept. 15, 2025 council minutes shows precedent for recent public-works procurement: PI 5367 (TH 210 utility relocation) received a low bid from Flatland Enterprises of $915,489.68, with MnDOT participation of $771,517.82 and a city share listed as $143,971.86 financed by $70,000 from the water fund and $74,000 from the sewer fund, and the council previously rejected bids for PI 5855 with an interim plan to pack the alley with gravel until paving can occur.