Stairs For Rock Island Swing Bridge Approved ... Narrowly

The Inver Grove Heights city council narrowly approved building a set of stairs for the Rock Island Swing Bridge at Monday night's council meeting. 

One of the first issues on the agenda, the Swing Bridge stairs proved to be one of the most contentious, garnering 'Yes' votes from only Mayor Tourville and councilors Piekarski-Krech and Madden.

The council awarded the building contract to St. Louis Park-based Tree Trust, a nonprofit landscaping company that partners with youth programs to keep costs low.

One exchange between Parks & Recreation Director Eric Carlson and councilman Bill Klein demonstrated the tension in the room. 

"Personally I'm not wild about these stairs at all," Klein said. "I would rather have seen a trail to a scenic overlook ... why do we need these stairs?" 

"There are an awful lot of people using a rather steep embankment to get up and down. Providing them a safe way to get up and down seemed to make sense to the Parks Commission," Carlson answered.

"Put a fence in," Klein replied tersely.

During another exchange, Carlson explained the handrails would come after the stairs are built to ensure the measurements are aligned with city and state building codes. 

"I'm totally against it," Klein said. "If [Tree Trust] is going to do the stairs they should do the handrails at the same time. It's a public safety issue. How are you going to keep people from using those stairs?" Klein asked rhetorically. "If somebody gets hurt, you know who is gonna get sued." 

Mayor Tourville appeared to ignore Klein's comment.

"My feeling is that it would be a major mistake not to put in the stairs, so I'll be supporting it. You don't have to. That's your right," Tourville said, directing his comments toward Klein. 

Councilman Madden's comments were short but poignant: "I'll make a motion to approve because it's the right thing to do. Let's move on." 

Carlson explained that the stairs—not including the handrails—will be funded part of a from the State of Minnesota.