The county board is working on setting aside a sinking fund to pay for replacing Highway Department equipment in a systematic way. On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad talked with the board about options for financing capital purchases that have been identified in the Highway Department’s longrange plan.
The board discussed using $600,000 of its reserves on capital improvements approved for this year and then bonding for seven to ten years for other equipment replacements that will be needed. Commissioner Bob Fenwick said he believes interest rates are probably as good as they ever will be.
Replacing everything over an eight-to-10-year cycle would cost about $4.1 million. Klegstad said trucks usually need to be replaced every eight years and graders, every 10 years.
Commissioner Bruce Martinson suggested replacing equipment as mileage or hours of usage called for it rather than after a certain number of years. Klegstad indicated he would postpone selling equipment that was still good, saying he has taken some vehicles off this year’s sale list because they have lots of useful miles in them yet. He commended mechanic Steve Butz for keeping meticulous records on vehicle maintenance. “I can’t say enough good about him,” Klegstad said.
Commissioner Fenwick wondered if Highway Department bonding would conflict with the potential need to bond for airport, public safety radio system, or 1% sales tax infrastructure projects.
Thecounty can bond up to 2% of the value of the property contained within it, Auditor- Treasurer Braidy Powers said, which would be $36,000,000 for Cook County. All the above-named projects would not total that much.
Klegstad said he did not want to project the amount the department could get from equipment and vehicle sales planned for this year. Commissioner Fenwick said that the income could go into the Highway Department’s sinking fund or reduce the county levy.
Maintenance Worker II
vacancy
Brian Houglum has resigned and will be moving to Alaska, Klegstad reported. Bill Bohnen has requested a transfer to Houglum’s spot in the Grand Marais shop, leaving a Maintenance Worker II vacancy in Tofte.
Culvert grant from
Forest Service
Klegstad discussed with the board an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to replace a culvert in Durfee Creek under County Road 60. Thegoal is to improve passage for aquatic organisms, trout in this case.
The cost of the project is estimated at $74,933, with 20%—$14,795—to be provided by the county in labor and equipment and the rest to be paid for by the Forest Service which was provided funding through federal stimulus dollars. Klegstad thinks the county’s in-kind work will total more than $14,795, but “I think it’s potentially a good project,” he said.
Commissioner Jan Hall said she is concerned about language in the agreement that refers to Forest Service control of the watershed. The agreement says, “The Superior National Forest (SNF) manages water resources on the Forest and is charged with managing the ecological function of streams within the Forest. Streams and watershed boundaries are independent of property limits. …In an effort to provide improved connectivity of aquatic systems, it is in the best interest of both parties to manage aquatic organism passage within the boundaries of the Superior National Forest on a watershed scale. … Addressing passage issues on roadways that are not on the SNF road system is needed to accommodate passage along a stream system and fully realize the benefits of the SNF activity.”
The agreement cites the Forest Service Plan, which says, “Hydrologic connectivity of aquatic ecosystems and wetlands is maintained or restored to assure passage of water, sediment, nutrients, wood, invertebrates, and fish and to facility freshwater mussel dispersal….”
“We have a lot of concerns about signing this contract before we see the designs,” Klegstad said, but the document needed to be signed and sent that day.
Soil and Water Conservation Technician Tristan Beaster said that engineer Keith Anderson would be doing the project’s design work afteradditional surveying. The project was identified by the Soil and Water Conservation District in an inventory of culverts within the Lake Superior Coastal Zone.
The exact cost of the project will not be determined until after the design work is completed. Commissioner Fenwick said that the county could refuse the money being offered by the Forest Service if the county’s match turns out too be too great.
The board approved the contract unanimously.
Leave a Reply