The county board continues to discuss its hiring of ORB Management to oversee the 1 percent sales-and-use-tax-funded projects currently underway throughout the county. On Tuesday, March 8, 2011, Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said the Grand Marais Library Board is afraid private donors will not want to help fund the library addition if they think the county is wasting money on a consultant.
In the case of the library, said Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers, ORB Management would be the project’s construction manager, helping the county be its own general contractor. Commissioner Bruce Martinson said ORB’s fee will be paid out of tax revenues and will not require extra fundraising.
Some believe that if a general contractor were hired, it might come from outside the county and be likely to bring its own choice of subcontractors from outside the county as well. With a construction manager assisting the county, Commissioner Sue Hakes said, the county will have more control over the subcontractors it hires, enabling local contractors to get in on the project.
Commissioner Jan Hall supported ORB’s role as well, saying that every year, more and more non-local crews are living in Cook County doing building projects for cabin owners.
Hall indicated that a lot of people are complaining about the county hiring ORB instead of a county administrator. A county administrator would be “a 15-year job,” she said, and would require paying benefits, whereas payment to ORB will be time-limited. “I think we’re on the right road,” she said. “I think we’re doing the right thing.”
County revisits golf course consultant plan
ORB president Tom Wacholz informed the board at that meeting that requests for proposals (RFPs) would be sent out to potential golf course consultants regarding a study of Superior National at Lutsen operations, finances, and infrastructure. Capital improvements at the countyowned course have been approved for 1 percent tax funding.
RFPs for the study were sent out previously, but because of the winter conditions, several firms said they could not complete the study in the time frame allowed. A revised, more specific RFP with a different turnaround timeframe will be sent out.
According to Wacholz, “The RFP was revised to include more clarity in scope of services, schedule of activities, deliverables and selection criteria. The main deliverable is a comprehensive study report addressing operational, financial, and physical components of the course and providing recommendations accordingly. The schedule changes will allow the selected consultant to perform the tasks necessary to complete this report during the peak operating season of the golf course.
“Some firms declined to respond to the previous RFP due to some of the issues that have now been clarified and/or changed. The right course of action was to re-issue the revised RFP with the expectation that there will be more responders and the responses will be more clear, complete and competitive.”
Wacholz anticipated recommending a firm to the board at its April 12 regular meeting, with the work to be completed by early summer.
Commissioner Sue Hakes said the RFP asks the firms to investigate whether more income could be generated from being an average, more affordable golf course or a premier, more expensive golf course.
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