She hasn’t started yet, but when Laurie Orr begins work as the county highway engineering technician, on Feb. 4, 2019, she will fill a position long advertised for.
It’s been about two years since the last county highway tech resigned to take a job elsewhere, and the position has been open ever since.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved Orr’s hiring at the board’s Dec. 18 meeting.
Also approved for hire was April Zimmer. Zimmer will take the position as the administrative assistant, filling a vacancy left open by a recent retirement.
Donations accepted
The county board approved two donations. One, for $500 by the Cathedral of Pines to the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office and the second came from Karen Osowski of Lutsen, who gave $200 to the Sheriff ’s Office Search and Rescue Unit.
County Emergency Operation plan updated
Cook County Emergency Management director Valerie Marasco submitted an update of the county’s Emergency Operation Plan.
On November 13 Marasco and Lake County Emergency Management underwent a required detailed review of Cook County’s emergency plan with Roy Holmes, Homeland Security Emergency Management Region 2 RPC.
The update passed the inspection, and the county board approved the revised plan.
Architectural services contract approved
The Meyer Group from Duluth was hired to revise the contract documents and bid specifications to conduct a second bidding process in 2019 for the Hovland Public Works facility at the cost of $12,000.
Meyer Group did the original plans for the design, development and bidding for a new Hovland public works facility in 2018 at the cost of $78,000, but the bids came back too high in June 2018, and the project was put on hold.
The Highway Advisory Committee and highway county staff reviewed the original specifications and considered alternatives to see if the cost could be brought down.
The Hovland Public Works project was included in the Capital Improvement Plan for the 2018A bond issuance, so if acceptable bids are received, there is enough money to complete the project in 2019.
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