ST. CLOUD — This is the worst spring for potholes Dave Kleis has ever seen.
St. Cloud to bring back communitywide survey
Mayor Dave Kleis announced the survey and other initiatives at his 18th annual State of the City.
April 18, 2023 at 9:30PM
The longtime St. Cloud mayor, currently in his fifth term, is no stranger to the inundation of complaints from residents that come each spring as the cycle of snow melting and the water refreezing causes roads to crumble. But this year — St. Cloud had its second-snowiest season on record with 86.6 inches — is a doozy.
"Our folks plowed over 145,000 miles of roads this season. Last season, it was only 91,000," he said Tuesday to a few hundred people gathered at City Hall for his 18th annual State of the City address.
The speech has often been a time for Kleis to reflect on the previous year and unveil new citywide initiatives. This year, he emphasized engagement initiatives, including a partnership with St. Cloud State University to conduct a community survey this summer. Previous communitywide surveys were conducted in 2019, 2017 and 2012.
Kleis is also continuing to host his in-person weekly town halls — with his 920th town hall happening all day Thursday at City Hall.
The mayor also promised continued investment in projects that set the city apart from other midsize regional centers, such as first-of-its-kind innovations at the wastewater treatment plant and the transformative public safety ventures like the community outpost, also known as the COP House.
He's also prioritizing a new task force focused on revitalizing the downtown area.
Other announcements Tuesday included:
- The city will host five "St. Cloud 101" classes for residents — one downtown and one in each of the city's four wards. The gatherings allow folks to learn more about city services including police, fire, water and wastewater treatment.
- The city will partner with St. Cloud State to clean the water in the old granite quarries at George Friedrich Park on the city's southeast side so people can swim at the park again. The land, a park until concerns over partying led St. Cloud State to close it in the mid-1970s, opened as a park again in 2015.
- A delegation from St. Cloud's sister city of Spalt, Germany, will visit in June. The trip makes up for the visit that was canceled in 2020.
Kleis said he thinks the city has a bright future despite fallout from the pandemic, inflation and other challenges of recent years.
"The state of the city, to me, is resilient and remarkable and refreshed and ready to move forward," he said.
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