Carver County Current

Highway 212 Costs, Carver County Levy & Nov. 3 Election Results

Carver County Current — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 14:37:44 -0600

A published meeting summary says the Carver County board has doubled the Highway 212 change-order cushion. This episode covers that, the county's third straight large levy increase and unofficial results from the Nov. 3 election, then goes town by town through Chaska, Chanhassen and Waconia.

In this episode:

Highway 212 Change Order No. 40: according to a third-party summary of the Oct. 6 meeting, the board raised total change-order authority from $3M to $6M, with one commissioner voting no. It also turned down a $3.5M contractor quote for lightweight-fill work so county crews can do it, and the revised construction budget is about $64.5M.
The plan to hand county parks operations to Three Rivers Park District: residents raised concerns about 2027 custodial cuts and unsettled employee terms. No agreement was approved.
The 2027 preliminary county levy is up 8.5%, after 6.8% in 2025 and 8.0% in 2026. District 3 Commissioner Matt Udermann argues for a 3.5% cap in his Oct. 14 column.
Unofficial election results: Tom Workman leads Chrissy Ahola 4,671 to 4,562 in District 2. John Fahey won District 5, Jessica Heger won sheriff, Taylor Hubbard won Chaska mayor and Mark von Oven won Chanhassen mayor.
Chaska plans a new downtown library next to the current 8,000 sq. ft. space in City Hall, with construction expected in spring 2028. The city's parks, human rights and heritage preservation commissions are taking applications through Dec. 18.
Chanhassen named Brian Heck interim city manager starting Dec. 7, since Laurie Hokkanen is leaving to become Edina's city manager. The council also approved nine Avienda amendments 5-0 (Coborn's Market & Table is the grocery anchor). The 2027 levy is $17.6M, up 7.1%, and Truth in Taxation is Dec. 14.
Waconia is looking for a state lobbyist at up to $40,000 a year, with proposals due Nov. 23. Winter parking rules run Nov. 1 through April 1, and City Conversations drop-in hours are Nov. 19.
Highway 5 construction: Highway 41 north of Highway 5 has reopened, and the south section stays closed for the season. At Lake Minnewashta Regional Park, about 12 acres of woodland are being restored.

Sources:

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Full transcript

Ingrid Haugen: Six million dollars. That's the new ceiling on change orders for the Highway 212 project... and until last month, it was three.
Ingrid Haugen: Okay so, here's what happened. At the October 6 county board meeting, according to a published summary of that meeting, commissioners approved Change Order Number 40 on Highway 212. That one item raises the project's total change-order authority from three million dollars to six. One commissioner voted no. The revised construction budget now sits at about sixty-four and a half million.
Ingrid Haugen: A change order is what happens when the plan meets the actual ground. The soil isn't what anybody expected. Something has to move. Something costs more than it was supposed to. Every big road project has them. What matters is how big the cushion gets... and this one just doubled.
Ingrid Haugen: There's a detail in there I really like, honestly. A contractor quoted three and a half million dollars for lightweight-fill work. The board turned that quote down. And staff recommended that county crews do the work instead. So somebody looked at a number and said, wait, we can do that ourselves. Worth watching. If it comes in under that quote, that's real money staying in the county.
Ingrid Haugen: Same meeting, different subject, and no vote. People came to the podium with questions about the plan to hand county parks operations over to Three Rivers Park District. Their worries were specific. Custodial cuts in 2027. And employee terms that aren't settled yet. No agreement was approved. So that question is still open, and if you use county parks, you still have time to speak up about it.
Ingrid Haugen: Then there's the levy. District 3 Commissioner Matt Udermann wrote a column on October 14, and he lays out the numbers. The county's preliminary levy increase for 2027 is eight and a half percent. That follows six point eight percent in 2025 and eight percent in 2026. He voted no every time. He wants a cap of three and a half percent.
Ingrid Haugen: Now, that's his column and his argument, and you can agree with him or not. But the numbers themselves are worth sitting with. Three years in a row. Every one of them above six and a half percent. Whatever you think the county should be spending on, that's the trend.
Ingrid Haugen: And the board may look a little different soon. Tuesday's results are unofficial, so hold them loosely. In District 2, incumbent Tom Workman leads Chrissy Ahola, four thousand six hundred seventy-one to four thousand five hundred sixty-two. That's a hundred and nine votes. A HUNDRED and nine. John Fahey won District 5. And Jessica Heger won the sheriff's race, twenty-eight thousand two hundred thirty-eight to twenty-four thousand six hundred twenty.
Ingrid Haugen: Okay. Three towns. Let's start in Chaska.
Ingrid Haugen: The county and the city are planning a new downtown library, right next to the one you've got now. If you've been in the current library, you know it's tight. About eight thousand square feet, tucked inside City Hall, serving more than forty thousand people. Construction is expected to start in spring 2028. So not tomorrow. But it has a date now, and that's how these things go from an idea to a building.
Ingrid Haugen: Chaska also picked a new mayor Tuesday. Taylor Hubbard, seven thousand nine hundred thirty-three to four thousand seven hundred seventy-nine. And if you've ever thought about serving your city in a smaller way, there are openings on the parks commission, the human rights commission, and the heritage preservation commission. Applications are due December 18.
Ingrid Haugen: Chanhassen. At its October 12 meeting, the council named Brian Heck interim city manager, starting December 7. That's because City Manager Laurie Hokkanen is leaving. She's headed to Edina to be their city manager. That same night, the council voted five to nothing on nine amendments for Avienda... the development near Highway 212 and Powers Boulevard, with Coborn's Market and Table as the ...

Carver County Board: Highway 212 Costs, 2027 Levy & Chaska Library

Carver County Current — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 11:49:44 -0600

Highway 212 project costs keep rising in Carver County, and the 2027 county levy has a public hearing coming up. This episode covers recent county board votes and news from Chaska, Chanhassen, Waconia, local parks, farms and schools.

In this episode:

On Oct. 6 the board voted 4-1 to raise the Highway 212 Benton Township change-order limit from $3 million to $6 million. Commissioner Matt Udermann voted no. Soil and utility problems pushed completion to Aug. 3, 2027, and left a $2.33 million gap that the county transportation sales tax will cover.
Today's agenda (Nov. 3) asks the board to approve up to about $7.5 million more for the Highway 212 Dahlgren Township work between Cologne and Carver. Repairs to dips in the pavement are scheduled for November.
The board approved $198,400 in opioid settlement money: $175,000 for addiction medication treatment in the county jail through 2027 and $23,400 for three field drug-testing devices for the Sheriff's Office.
The draft Oct. 20 minutes show a 5-0 vote to put aquatic invasive species boat inspections back into the 2027 budget after state funding was cut from $140,000 to $70,000. The board also voted 4-1 to cut two custodian positions, which staff say saves $89,294 a year.
The proposed 2027 county levy increase is 7% plus a 1.5% surcharge. Commissioner Udermann proposed a 3.5% cap. The public budget and levy hearing is Dec. 1 at 6 p.m.
Chaska and Carver County are planning a new downtown library to replace the 8,000-square-foot library that has been in City Hall since 1988. Construction is expected to start in spring 2028.
The Chanhassen council approved nine changes to the Avienda plan, which includes a Coborn's Market & Table. The council also hired Brian Heck as interim city manager to replace Laurie Hokkanen.
Waconia's winter parking rules run Nov. 1 to April 1, 2027. Lake Minnewashta Regional Park received about $265,000 in grants to rebuild a staircase. Schram Vineyards was named the 2026 Carver County Farm Family of the Year, and the ISD 112 school board election is today.

Sources:

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Full transcript

Ingrid Haugen: Six million dollars. That's the new ceiling on change orders for one stretch of Highway 212 out in Benton Township... and it used to be three. The county board doubled it last month. And today? They're looking at a different stretch of the same highway, with a request for up to about seven and a half million more. So, yeah. Let's talk about 212.
Ingrid Haugen: Okay so, first, the Benton Township piece. On October 6th the board voted four to one to raise that change-order limit from three million to six million. Commissioner Matt Udermann was the no vote. Staff said soil and utility problems are the reason. Those problems pushed completion back to August 3rd, 2027, and they left a gap of about two point three three million dollars. The plan is to cover that gap with the county transportation sales tax. So it's not coming straight off your property tax bill... but it's still money that could've gone to some other road.
Ingrid Haugen: Now, the second piece. This one's in Dahlgren Township, between Cologne and Carver. The county calls that project "nearing completion," and repairs to the dips in the pavement are set for November. If you drive it, you know the dips. On today's agenda, the board is being asked to approve up to roughly seven and a half million dollars more for that work. That vote hasn't happened yet. It's on the agenda, not decided. Keep that straight, because I will.
Ingrid Haugen: Two segments, two different townships, one highway, a lot of extra money. That's the item I'd watch this week.
Ingrid Haugen: Alright. The rest of the county business... and there's a fair amount of it.
Ingrid Haugen: Also on October 6th, the board approved one hundred ninety-eight thousand, four hundred dollars from opioid settlement money. Here's where it goes. A hundred seventy-five thousand pays for addiction medication treatment in the county jail, through 2027. The other twenty-three thousand four hundred buys three field drug-testing devices for the Sheriff's Office. That's settlement money, so it isn't levy dollars.
Ingrid Haugen: Then October 20th. Quick note before I go on... the minutes from that meeting are still a draft. The board is set to approve them today. So what I'm about to tell you comes from the draft.
Ingrid Haugen: The board voted five to nothing to put boat inspections for aquatic invasive species back into the 2027 budget. Here's why that came up at all. State funding for that program gets cut in half in 2027. It goes from a hundred forty thousand dollars to seventy thousand. So the county is choosing to keep inspectors at the landings even with less help from the state. If you launch a boat around here, you'll notice whether they're there or not.
Ingrid Haugen: Same meeting, a four-to-one vote to hire out more of the cleaning work and cut two custodian positions. Staff say that saves eighty-nine thousand, two hundred ninety-four dollars a year. Not a huge number in a county budget. But it's two jobs, and that's worth knowing about.
Ingrid Haugen: Which brings us to the levy. The proposed increase for the 2027 county levy is seven percent... plus a one and a half percent surcharge. In an October 14th column, Commissioner Udermann called the increases, quote, "unsustainable," and proposed capping it at three and a half percent. That's about half of the base increase, and he's the only one on the board putting a number like that out publicly in that column. Whether anybody joins him... we'll see.
Ingrid Haugen: Here's the date to circle. The public budget and levy hearing is December 1st, at 6 p.m. That's when you get to say something before it's locked in. If you've got thoughts on seven-plus-one-and-a-half, that's the meeting to go to.
Ingrid Haugen: And one more item on today's agenda. There's an update on letting Three Rivers Park District run the county's parks. It's listed as "board direction only." So, no vote expected today. It's a conversation, not a decision. But it's a big conversation, and I'll keep watching it.
Ingrid Haugen: Okay. Let's go around the cities.
Ingrid Haugen: