The county board had a tough decision to make on June 11, 2013 after being presented with only one bid on some summer road maintenance work and finding out that another bid had been delayed because of a problem with the mail.
Two bidders vied for summer maintenance of the Evergreeen Road, Mile-O-Pine, and Voyageur’s Point special service tax districts, but one arrived late because of an unexpected delay in delivery by the U.S. Postal Service. Mike Rose of Mike Rose Excavating mailed his bid on May 25 but it didn’t get to the county until June 3, five days after the May 29 deadline and nine days after it had been mailed.
A letter to the board from Lutsen Postmaster John Groth verified that Mike Rose had handed him the letter personally on May 25. “I recall the letter because I remember the writing on the bottom stating that it was for a bid,” he said, “and also that Mike Rose commented that it was important to get it in the mail that day due to the upcoming holiday.” Groth suspected the delay had something to do with mechanized handling of the envelope.
Commissioner Jan Hall said late mail is now the norm. Commissioner Bruce Martinson took issue with this, saying she was “slandering the post office.”
The board deliberated over whether to re-bid because of this. While they were sympathetic with Mike Rose and talked about the value of having at least two competing bids, they decided that the bidder is responsible for getting the bid to the county and the county cannot take responsibility for the post office’s speed or lack thereof.
Dennis LaBoda of LaBoda Grading, the other bidder, said that he brings bids in personally to ensure that things like this don’t happen. He added that he has no animosity toward the other bidder. He was awarded the bid.
No one bid on the West Rosebush Lane district, so that will be re-bid. Highway Engineer David Betts said Mike Rose Excavating’s bid would be returned unopened.
In other Highway Department news:
. The Highway Department received a grant of $4,925 through the Minnesota Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) for a vehicle speed readout sign facing westbound drivers on County Road 7 between First and Third avenues east. A match of $603 in labor and materials will be required. The Highway Department will maintain the sign and the city of Grand Marais and the county will cover the cost of electricity to the sign.
A 2010 study revealed a daily average of 2,100 vehicles traveling County Road 7 between the Old Gunflint Trail (Fifth Avenue West) and Broadway and 1,250 between Broadway and the new Gunflint Trail.
Regarding the sign that has been installed on County Road 7 facing eastbound drivers near Fourth Avenue West, the grant application quoted Sheriff Mark Falk: “I think what is most noticeable is the drop in the number of traffic stops that occur in the school zone. I think speeds have decreased significantly and noticeably, …and general comments are that the radar speed sign, along with enforcement actions, has caused people to take notice of their driving conduct, specifically their speeds.”
. The board approved the hiring of Rick Motz as a maintenance worker to replace Gary Blomberg, who retired on April 30. He will be paid a starting wage of $17.65/hour. Motz was in his third year as a seasonal employee of the Highway Department, and Highway Engineer Betts said he came with many years of experience the lots of skills useful to the department.
Personnel Director Janet Simonen said applicants were ranked on a point scale based on various factors, including experience, the types of driver’s licenses held, and veteran status. Choosing whom to hire in this department is difficult, she said, because Cook County has a “plethora” of highly qualified equipment operators applying every time they have an opening. Regarding their efforts to be fair, Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad said the scoring procedure during interviews is “really clean and nice.”
Assistant Mechanic Scott Corwin submitted his resignation on June 10. Engineer Betts asked the board for approval to advertisement for his replacement. The board asked about possible alternatives to replacing him in order to save money, but both Betts and Klegstad said the mechanic and assistant mechanic are extremely busy. Mechanic Steve Butz has been putting in 120-130 hours per pay period, Klegstad said. “I can’t say enough good about our mechanics and the job they’ve done.”
. Numerous cost-saving measures are being taken on the County Road 7 project, including keeping an existing guardrail and replacing just the ends with safer ones that are less prone to causing rollovers, repairing some pipes instead of replacing them, and reclaiming some pavement.
Engineer Betts said he was debating whether to cut $30,000 off the cost by not paving all the driveways to where the right of way ends, but paving them would reduce washouts.
The contractor has requested that, in order to speed up the project, they close the road for about a week between County Roads 44 and 45 (local traffic would still be allowed). It will not be done over the 4th of July weekend.
Because County Road 6 is still not in good enough shape to handle heavy loads, gravel for the project is being carried across the top of County Road 6 to the Devil’s Track Lake Road and down Highway 61. It adds considerable time, Betts said.
Neighbors had expressed concern about trucks potentially speeding down 6, but the turns in the road will preclude this from happening, Betts said. Calcium chloride will be put on the lower portion of 6 before trucks use it to reach 7. Reclaiming some of the County Road 7 surface will decrease the amount of gravel needed for the project.
. The Highway Department submitted a list of requests in a federal giveaway of good used military equipment, but it was not able to get any of it. Engineer Betts said the state of Minnesota got almost none of what it requested. He believed that in order to be fair, the government gave it to other states that had not received much in the past.
. The board approved an expenditure of $160,000 for calcium chloride for the county’s gravel roads this summer. Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad said the department used to spend $80,000 on calcium chloride just for the Sawbill Trail, which has a lot of dust because it was topped with Class I gravel, which would have been appropriate if it had been blacktopped according to the plan at the time. Several miles of paving are planned for the road in upcoming years.
Edwin E. Thoreson submitted the lower of two bids for next year’s salt/sand and was awarded the contract with a bid of $27.39/cubic yard for 2,500 cubic yards of salt/sand. The other bidder was Isak Hansen & Sons with a bid of $27.45/cubic yard.
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