"We've got a lot of land within the confines of the city that we have to be responsible for," said Mayor Jim Sturdevant. "There's a lot of infrastructure that people don't realize we have to maintain."
Currently, the city maintains 31 miles of storm sewers, plus ditches, 45 miles of water mains, plus fire hydrants, 6 miles of alley, 3.6 miles of levy with shared paths and constant work on water lagoons and pump systems. The greatest maintenance item for the city is its 68 miles of streets, which includes snow removal and pothole repair.
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The replacement costs for the infrastructure of the city is roughly $190 million. The average annual replacement cost is $3.948 million.
The population, though, has been declining. In 2000 the population was about 8,500, and in 2009 it was about 7,400, said Sturdevant. One reason for the decline in population is that there are less people living in households. Despite this, expanding the infrastructure remains necessary for the city.
"Families are getting smaller than they were a long time ago," he said. "But we can see that the city is growing. In other words, as we're growing, putting up new housing developments and that, we have to put infrastructure in there."
One example of a vital infrastructure increase is the local Wal-Mart. Prior, there wasn't anything out there, he said. Sturdevant describes the addition of such businesses as Wal-Mart as "critical to the community."
"We need to have those expansion businesses," he said. "In past surveys we've had with our citizens, there are two things they've really concentrated on: One is a big box retailer, and the other is shared use paths."
The city maintains 4.5 miles of shared used paths, which includes Safe Routes to School sidewalks. Sturdevant said he's had many positive comments from residents regarding the shared use paths and Safe Routes to School sidewalks — they're using the paths for walking and biking.
"We need those throughout the community, and all those things need maintenance," he said. "You can't just put them up and not maintain them. And so that's a continued challenge for us, and then making sure that we do have the personnel to do it. It's critical that we maintain them."
The most visible example of necessary maintenance of the city's infrastructure has been Dakota Avenue, which had been stymied on the North Dakota Department of Transportation's docket for 8-10 years.
"We kept pushing it off because they didn't have the funding," Sturdevant said. "Well, the road was deteriorating, it was sinking, there were potholes. And all of that costs us money to maintain in the interim."
Since the avenue's reconstruction began, old sanitary and storm sewer pipes have been removed. This proved that not only is preventive maintenance necessary, but revealed the infrastructure is also old and that repairs are needed.
One example of a deteriorating element of the infrastructure is the local water treatment plant.
"The water plant is getting old," he said. "That takes more maintenance also, to keep that water plant going."
He added it's an area most don't think about, but residents want good drinking water. Sturdevant said the city doesn't want to fall back on the high quality of the city's drinking water.
Another reason for expanding the infrastructure is to entice new prospective residents and to serve commuters who work in Wahpeton. Efforts to expand attractive amenities include the golf course, shared use paths, the park system and local schools.
The one failing voiced by the citizens, Sturdevant said, is that that there isn't enough retail. In response, the city has several programs to encourage downtown businesses to "spruce up" their buildings and has worked to keep the local J.C. Penney's department store as an anchor business for downtown commerce.
While the city's economic development office continues to work on expanding the community, Sturdevant has faith that Wahpeton's residents understand that maintaining the infrastructure is to their long-term benefit.
"I think that it's welcomed," he said. "I think the citizens realize it's their community, it's their asset. And like anything else, like their home, you have to keep working on that asset. And that's what we're trying to do for the citizens."
Maintenance is the city's priority, he said. The cost is all the greater when an asset completely breaks down and has to be absolutely replaced, instead of simply being repaired.
"We have to take care of our buildings, we have to take care of our streets," he said. "It would catch up to you in the long run if you just put it off, and you can't put off maintenance."
Former Twin Town Resident wrote on Sep 10, 2010 6:50 PM:
2. Local stores need to carry heavier inventory. It's sad when certain stores(ie JCPENNY) have the same inventory on the shelves year after year. And carry less and less. How are parents suppose to bring childern school shopping when there is so little styles and choices to choose from. "
Perry wrote on Sep 9, 2010 10:03 PM:
Jake Krohn wrote on Sep 3, 2010 5:55 PM: