Facing park maintenance backlog, St. Paul council hopes to use pandemic aid for infrastructure

Ever since she moved near St. Paul's Irvine Park eight years ago, Elyse Jensen has heard annual calls for more upkeep of the historic green space.

The iconic fountain is rusting, and its original lights have been unusable for years. The stone curb is uneven in many places. And after so many years of being told there isn't enough money in the city budget for repairs, neighbors decided to take matters into their own hands by launching a GoFundMe to cover maintenance costs.

The Historic Irvine Park Association is hopeful it can raise $450,000 to help pay for work on the fountain, sidewalk repairs, landscaping and other needs because so many St. Paulites have ties to the site. Jensen, the association's treasurer, said city staff recently provided a long list of couples who were married in the scenic park and might be willing to donate.

"You just have to wonder how many green spaces in our city don't have cohorts of neighbors with the time, money or resources to band together like this," she said.

St. Paul's parks were ranked No. 2 in the nation this year, but facilities are facing an estimated $91 million backlog of maintenance in 2022 that officials said will only become more costly if left unaddressed in the coming years.

"I'm very, very concerned about the deferred maintenance," City Council Member Rebecca Noecker said during a budget presentation from the Parks and Recreation Department on Wednesday. "It seems like all of the indicators budget-wise are going in the wrong direction when it comes to taking care of this."

St. Paul has seen its street repair needs pile up in a similar way. Council Member Jane Prince said previous mayors and councils went multiple years without raising the property tax levy, so many maintenance projects were delayed or skipped.

"We know that kicking the can down the road has been the style of doing business in this city," Prince said in an interview Wednesday. "We acknowledge it, and we do not want to continue doing business that way."

In a memo sent to Mayor Melvin Carter on Monday, council members said they consider infrastructure a priority as they discuss how to spend St. Paul's $166 million federal American Rescue Plan allocation. Carter did not include funding for street or park repairs in his proposal for the money and previously said it would be "shortsighted" to spend the one-time funds on bricks and concrete.

Spending the federal COVID-19 pandemic aid on streets, parks, the removal of lead water pipes, broadband and other infrastructure projects "isn't the most flashy thing to do," Council President Amy Brendmoen said.

"There's a lot of flashy things that have been built," she said. "But it's also important to recognize that everything we build requires maintenance."

The council is "generally aligned" with Carter's other proposed uses of the aid, Brendmoen said, though she'd like more details about what some of his desired investments — such as $40 million for jobs and career readiness — entail.

Parks and Recreation Director Mike Hahm said Wednesday that Carter has indicated his jobs programs could hire workers to address some of the city's maintenance backlog. He added that some additional money for parks maintenance could be freed up if the city wins grants to help with major capital projects, such as the construction of a North End Community Center.

The council approved spending more than $3 million in American Rescue Plan dollars Wednesday to establish an Office of Neighborhood Safety, rehire some parks and library staff, and fund the Police Department's Law Enforcement Career Path Academy and repairs to the RiverCentre parking ramp — all of which were described as urgent needs.

After cutting more than $1 million from its budget last year, the parks department has restored hours and services that were scaled back during the pandemic at recreation centers and pools, Hahm said.

"I understand the need for bridge funding from ARP [American Rescue Plan] dollars, and at the same time it's concerning to see some of these critical services in parks and libraries being put on ARP — not in the general fund," said Noecker, adding that she'd like more information about how the city plans to budget for parks staff in future years.

Katie Galioto • 612-673-4478