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Several area projects at stake in path to MN bonding bill

MARSHALL – As the 2017 Minnesota legislative session enters its last weeks, there will be some big tasks facing state lawmakers. One of those tasks will be to pass a bonding bill, but there are differences that will need to be worked out among bonding plans approved by the House of Representatives, the Senate and Gov. Mark Dayton.

The final result will affect proposed funding for a number of projects in southwest Minnesota. On Wednesday, Dayton’s office released a side-by-side comparison of bonding proposals being considered by the legislature. Some of the proposals could affect infrastructure projects in Lyon, Murray, Redwood and Yellow Medicine Counties.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Tina Smith discussed two Lyon County projects included in the governor’s bonding plan. The governor’s proposal includes $690,000 in bonding to expand the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute in Marshall, and $3.46 million in bonding for Higher Education Asset Preservation and Restoration (HEAPR) at Southwest Minnesota State University. HEAPR helps fund capital projects at Minnesota colleges and universities.

Smith said the two Lyon County bonding proposals “are great examples” of ways that investing in education and agriculture can help develop the economy. “Unfortunately, the House doesn’t have anything” in its bonding proposal for either project, she said. The Senate bonding proposal includes less bonding money for the projects — $2.95 million for SMSU and $606,000 for the AURI expansion.

Dayton’s bonding proposal is also the only one to include bonding for HEAPR projects at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Canby. The governor’s proposal includes $300,000 for HEAPR in Canby.

Other projects in southwest Minnesota are included in either the governor’s, the Senate’s, or the House’s bonding plans, but not in others. Both Dayton’s and the Senate’s proposal include $600,000 for the Talcott Shop in Fulda.

Both the Senate and House bonding proposals include $700,000 for the State Veterans Cemetery Road in Redwood County, but the project is not in the governor’s proposal. The Senate bonding proposal is the only one that also includes $7.8 million for a reclamation project to remove sediment in Lake Redwood.

Both the Senate and House bonding proposals include $200,000 for an impoundment dam in Canby, but not Dayton’s proposal. The Senate bonding proposal was the only one to include bonding money for Pioneer Public Television’s new location in Granite Falls. The Senate proposal included $1.95 million for the Granite Falls project.

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