The Senate Capital Investment Committee Comes to Hibbing

City of Hibbing Mayor Pete Hyduke, city officials, and state Senator's Keri Heintzman and Robert Farnsworth met with Senate Capital Investment Committee Chair Sandy Pappas and members of the Capital Investment Committee at Hibbing City Hall on Wednesday night to discuss proposed projects requesting state matching funds.  

The City of Hibbing had two proposed projects for the committee to review, a sanitary sewer rehabilitation project and a major renovation overhaul of Hibbing Memorial Arena.  Mayor Hyduke introduced City Engineer and Public Works Director Jesse Story, who outlined the project, “Our system spans over 90 miles, so the sanitary sewer is 90 miles long.  We have just under a thousand manholes, it was determined that 58 miles of the sanitary sewer main and 240 manholes need to be rehabilitated.”

Story explained in detail what the city was up against and steps that have already been taken, explaining that it would take the city over twenty years to complete the sewer linings and manhole replacements without additional funding.  Hibbing's Water Treatment Plant doesn't have that time to wait, as it's nearing the end of its useful life, according to Story, “So we want to send less water to our treatment plant, we want to treat less water, extend the life of our plant.”

In 2012, the Water Treatment Plan was able to treat 2.6 million gallons of water daily, last year, only 2.1 million, a significant drop in only twelve years.  Members of the Capital Investment Committee asked questions on various metrics, how many citizens used the water treatment plant versus septic, and average water and sewer fees before moving onto the Memorial Arena Building renovations. 

City Service Director Nick Arola shared the history behind the facility while also citing how many people in the region and the state come to the Arena, “It’s not just a Hibbing facility, it’s a regional hub.  It draws upwards of 70,000 people annually, and it supports our local economy while providing a safe space for the youth, families, seniors and veterans alike… but today we are at a crossroads, the building is in critical need of investment.”

Arola continued explaining the needs of the facility, “Number one being the roof, the roof is deteriorating.  We have eleven different levels of roofing on the building, nine of them are thirty-five years or older.  Of those nine, that’s roughly one hundred thousand square feet of roofing we need to complete.  Heating, electrical, HVAC systems are outdated, and the refrigeration plant is nearing the end of its useful life.  And one of the basic things of life safety doesn’t exist in the building, as far as fire detection and fire alarms are not in there.”

The committee wanted to learn more about the people who used the Arena and were surprised that it was still in use given its serious condition.  Senator Farnsworth closed out the conversation, “Being in this historic building, is that historic buildings like Memorial Building have their own challenges.  If you were able to swing by the high school and just look at the high school, also on National Historic Registry and I’m trying to get money for that building as well because it’s just so much more expensive to maintain when you have to keep up with those historic requirements.”

After the closing remarks, Committee Chair Pappas asked Mayor Hyduke to give the Committee's bus driver directions to Hibbing Memorial Arena so the group could view the facility before they made their way to their next stop of the evening at Bear Head Lake State Park.