The Pine River Bridge near the end of the Arrowhead Trail has three to four more years of life in it, according to an inspection by Erickson Engineering of Bloomington, MN, if it can get some new decking to hold it over.
On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, County Engineer Shae Kosmalski presented the county board with two options.
One option would be to replace deck planks at a cost of $8,000. Fully loaded dump trucks or fuel oil trucks would not be able to cross the bridge, however. Kosmalski said counties commonly post weight restrictions until new bridges can be constructed.
The second option would be “glulaminated” deck panels at a cost of $14,700, which would not require any weight restrictions. The glulaminated panels could be reused after the bridge is replaced.
Commissioner Jim Johnson said he wanted to make sure emergency vehicles could cross over the bridge.
The board voted unanimously to go with the glulaminated deck panels.
By January, Kosmalski will generate a report on the state of all county bridges.
Plowing and grading private
roads
With the addition of the Rosebush Subordinate Service District (SSD) to three other private roads the county has agreed to grade and plow, County Engineer Kosmalski is hoping the county board will adopt a policy on how those districts will be managed.
Kosmalski proposed a policy that would have the county perform only grading and plowing on private roads, but no other maintenance, culvert replacement, or repair. Fees would reflect the costs the county incurs for the work it does.
Commission Jim Johnson said he values the cordiality that has existed between the SSDs and the county in the past and hoped that the formality of a policy would not ruin that.
The board discussed various ways to administer the SSDs and how to charge for the county’s work. Kosmalski proposed charging each SSD the amount the county incurred doing the work the previous year. Johnson suggested calculating the total cost for all four SSDs every three to five years and then dividing that by the number of parcels on those roads.
The Rosebush SSD will be charged $600 for the work that is done through 2010. Kosmalski and Commissioners Johnson and Fenwick will meet to discuss the details of the policy and bring the discussion back to the board. Improved emergency
communication
Thanks to Secure Rural Schools Title III funding from the U.S. Forest Service, emergency communication will be improved along the Gunflint Trail.
Radio repeaters will be installed on towers mid-Trail and near Gunflint Lake at a cost of $49,800.
No one registered opinions on the proposed use of the Title III funds during a 45-day public comment period that ended October 19, 2009. The county board approved a motion Tuesday, October 20, 2009 to use the funds for the repeaters.
Snowplowing bids
Maintenance Director Brian Silence reported that the county received five bids for snowplowing county parking lots, skating rinks and sidewalks. Bids ranged from $40 to $80 an hour.
Silence recommended against going with the lowest bidder because some plowing did not get done by that bidder in the past.
Carl Foster was awarded the contract with a bid of $50 an hour for plowing with a pickup and $55 for plowing with a skid steer.
On October 15, Cook County
Engineer Shae Kosmalski issued
notice that the load limits on
the Pine River Bridge on County
Road 74 (the Arrowhead Trail)
have been increased to five tons
effective immediately. The Pine
River flows between McFarland
Lake and Little John Lake at the
end of the Arrowhead Trail.
Anyone with questions is asked
to contact the Highway Department
at (218) 387-3014 for more
information.
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