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The Albert Lea City Council on Monday approved final assessments for two road projects from the summer as well as assessments for a series of delinquent water and sewer accounts.

The first project was for the Fifth Street and Frank Hall Drive reconstruction, which included replacement of the pavement, curb and gutter, water main, sanitary sewer and storm sewer on Fifth Street from St. Joseph Avenue to Frank Hall Drive and on Frank Hall Drive from Third Street to Fifth Street. New sidewalk was installed along the west side of Frank Hall Drive between Fifth Street and Fourth Street and along Academy Park.

The final layer of bituminous is slated to be placed in the spring.

City Manager Ian Rigg said the final costs of the project was lower than the original estimates, so proposed final assessments are lower than the preliminary assessments.

The total final cost is about $1.25 million, with assessments covering about $261,000.

Assessments will be paid over 10 years at 5.23% interest. The average assessment is about $7,900.

The second project was for the city’s state aid street overlay project, which included the following streets:

• Clark Street from St. Mary Avenue to East Main Street

• Washington Avenue from West Main Street to Fountain Street

• Newton Avenue from East Main Street to Clark Street

• Bridge Avenue from Clark Street to Fountain Street

Work included milling the existing bituminous surface and then installing a new layer over the entire width of the street. Miscellaneous curb and gutter was also replaced to address drainage concerns and to correct deteriorated curb. New sidewalk was installed along the north side of Clark Street from Bridge Avenue to East Main Street.

A memo from City Engineer Steven Jahnke said a decrease in the cost came from the council deciding to only install sidewalk on the north side of the street on the east end of Clark Street instead of both sides, but costs to mill and repave the streets were higher than estimated.

Assessments will be paid over 10 years at 5.23% interest. The average assessment is about $2,500.

Total project costs were about $600,000 with about $178,000 of that assessed.

In other action, the council:

• Approved a series of special assessments for delinquent water and sewer accounts and delinquent accounts receivable with the exception of one residence on Margaretha Avenue, which the city is looking into further.

• Heard an update from Shell Rock River Watershed District Administrator Andy Henschel. Look for more on this in a future issue.

• Witnessed the swearing-in of new Albert Lea Police Department Officer Alex Wynn.