Tim Krohn: Ask Us: St. Andrews Drive gap a frustration to reader

Sep. 18—Q: St. Andrews Drive is all messed up. It starts with a curve and runs east then stops because of a farm field. However, it continues east, but then it makes a 90-degree left turn and runs north across Victory Drive. Why? Try to find CCF Bank at 180 St. Andrews Drive! We can find Community Bank at 300 St. Andrews Drive at the intersection of Victory Drive. But when you look for CCF Bank, where is it? Oh, go back to Victory Drive, turn unto Hazeltine Road and there it is — not on St. Andrews Drive — for the entrance is on Hazeltine. What a mess. Who is responsible for this?

A: Stand In Ask Us Guy can vouch for the reader's view of St. Andrews, which is fine as it runs north of North Victory Drive past Home Depot but gets a bit weird south of Victory Drive.

Kurt Klinder GIS coordinator for the city, said the gap in the street, where it dead-ends against a small field, is the result of how new developments can come about.

"Each parcel in that area was annexed and developed at different times," he said. When a developer comes to the city to plat land not currently in the city with the intent of developing it, the land is annexed. Klinder said the city and developer can then design and build streets on that land. But if land next to the development isn't yet annexed, the city can't start building streets because the property is still in the township.

While most all of the land running along each side of St. Andrews is now developed and in the city, there is still a vacant lot that isn't yet annexed and is part of Mankato Township. "That's where the road isn't finished," Klinder said. Once a developer brings a proposal to the city to develop that parcel and the land is annexed, the small section of missing St. Andrews Drive can be finished.

As for how addresses are applied along St. Andrews or any new street, the city does what it can to make the addresses make sense, even if they're not sure exactly how the new development is going to unfold.

"With portions of St. Andrews Drive being developed at the beginning of the early 2000s, city staff had to use their best judgment to determine address ranges for a road that has yet to be developed. Once St. Andrews Drive is completed, the street address range should be continuous," Klinder said.

He said the lot where Citizens Community Federal Bank, or CCF Bank, was built was initially platted and given an address in 2007. With the completion of the bank in 2015, there was the potential of a shared access off of St. Andrews Drive in the future. The bank developers were given the option of keeping the original address of the lot or switching it to Hazeltine Road.

In 2017 the city of Mankato adopted a Street Address Standards Policy to ensure new developments are addressed consistently, and future developments can be incorporated into the addressing scheme. "The policy also outlines the process for changing a street name and requesting a different address. The bank can request an address change and city staff will review and if it aligns with the Street Address Standards Policy may accommodate it," Klinder said.

He said changing the street name of St. Andrews Drive to include an East or West prefix would affect roughly 20 businesses. "If a street name changes, every property would be required to change their addresses. The city would want to see a consensus of all property owners and tenants before proposing a street name change," he said.

Q: Looking at the "Blue Earth County Vendors over $5,000" list in The Free Press recently, I noticed numerous local businesses that received the sum of $8,000. Many of these were food/beverage establishments. What might these purchases be for? My understanding of a vendor is someone who sells you something. Seems odd that this exact amount would fit all these businesses.

A: The multitude of like-amount payments was not for anything the county purchased from the businesses. Instead, the payments were the result of the massive federal aid as well as state funding that poured in to help businesses and individuals weather the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns.

Jessica Anderson, communications manager and business analyst for the county, said all of the vendors on the over $5,000 list "are most likely all recipients of Blue Earth County Business Assistance Grant funding through appropriations from the state and federal government."

In January 2021, the County Board approved a business assistance grant program, using state and federal money, to assist businesses in the county hurt by the pandemic.

The grants, provided to 148 businesses and nonprofits in the county, were to be used for operational expenses and there was a variety of eligibility requirements to get funding.

The business or nonprofit had to have a physical establishment in the county, could have no liens on file with the state, had to be in compliance with all state executive orders at the time and must have had a t least $15,000 in revenue in 2019 or in 2020.

The business or nonprofit also had to demonstrate they were adversely affected by COVID executive orders and show they had at least a 25% revenue loss from the last quarter of 2020 compared to the last quarter of 2019.

Tim Krohn is Stand In Ask Us Guy. Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.