The first of the seven potential capital improvement projects to be funded by the new county 1% sales and use tax is about to be launched.
At the Tuesday, September 21, 2010 county board meeting, commissioners authorized county Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers and Attorney Tim Scannell to start work on negotiating a contract with an “owner’s rep” that would walk the county through the process of building a new community center and pool. On behalf of a community center steering committee, current Community Center Director Diane Booth recommended Orb Management Corporation out of Alexandria, Minnesota. Commissioner Jim Johnson (or alternate commissioner Fritz Sobanja) and a committee member will be involved as well.
The committee based an estimated facility cost of $8-12 million on what the City of Grand Marais, ISD166, and the county spend to operate existing recreation facilities. The committee anticipates hiring both an owner’s rep and a construction manager for a total cost of 4½ to 5½ percent of the project. A subcommittee will be pursuing the possibility of grants and a capital fundraising campaign to help pay for the facility.
The committee interviewed numerous firms that could act as owner reps. Booth distributed a document indicating that Orb was their first choice because the company “1) has team-building and relationship skills that set them apart from other firms…, 2) their organizational skills, both on paper and in person, were extraordinary, [and] 3) they have a lot of experience working in rural communities and have a track record of being able to award 70-80 percent of the work that could be locally done to local contractors.”
Still being considered are various options for location of the building, including adding on to Cook County High School, attaching it to the school via an indoor walkway, or having it stand alone on county property just west of the school.
In an information packet prepared for the county board, the steering committee stated that Cook County Community Education might be a good candidate for running the community center. It also suggested the possibility of forming an advisory council comprised of the Community Education Advisory Council, the Cook County Community Center board, and Friends of the Pool.
In the official application for 1% funds, the steering committee described its vision of the economic or social benefits the facility would provide the county. “A facility that can accommodate large groups and conferences comfortably could serve as a gathering location for both local and visiting groups. Grand Marais does not have current access to such a facility. Recreation facilities attached in and surrounding the building would only enhance guests coming to the area and provide added local family benefits for health and fitness.”
The committee believes that if the project starts now, the facility could be up and running by fall of 2012.
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