Last week Cook County commissioners received an invoice from the Meyer Group that was significantly higher than anticipated for architectural work on a proposed recreation field house on community center grounds. The invoice received was for $16,000 rather than the expected $5,000. Commissioners asked for more information—what was the original agreement on price? And what work was done to make the invoice so much higher than expected? Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers brought that information to the board meeting on Tuesday, February 21 and commissioners continued discussion on how much the architectural firm should be paid.
Powers read the motion that was made at the November 8, 2011 board meeting, which approved a proposal for the Meyer Group to “provide limited architectural services as outlined to plan for a warming facility at the Community Center, at a cost not to exceed $5,000.00, to include a pre-design and two meetings.”
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said he had “a long talk with Tim Meyer” the night before. Sobanja said Meyer told him that in a meeting with the ice group, he had been asked to “pull this out, put this in.” Sobanja said Meyer felt that was what the group wanted and he felt there was “momentum.” Sobanja said Meyer reiterated what he had written in a January 30 letter to Community Center Director Diane Booth, that he wanted to get the fourth design down on paper. In the letter, Meyers said stopping and requesting an adjustment would have caused a 30-day delay in the commissioner’s review of the proposed recreation building concept.
And, said Sobanja, pointing to the breakdown of charges, “He is showing us what he would have billed out. He would be comfortable with another $5,000.”
Indeed Meyer’s letter does not specifically ask the county board to reimburse the entire $16,000. He asked that some of his company’s “addition[al] costs be covered.” Meyer wrote, “The remainder we will absorb in good faith as we are committed in assisting the county move the Community Center project forward.”
Commissioner Jan Hall said the Meyer Group should have contacted the county board before incurring the additional costs, delay or not. “The Meyer Group knew the scope. They knew the direction. They should have talked to us,” she said.
During the discussion, Gail Anderson, a hockey association representative, repeatedly raised her hand to speak. Board Chair Hall called on Anderson, who said, “I was at all of those ice meetings. When we looked at the plans, yes, we wanted to make changes. I told Diane Booth we could take the plans and ‘cut and paste’ and do some of the changes ourselves. Tim Meyer said, ‘Oh no, I’ll do it.’
“There was no discussion of this costing more. If there had been, Diane would have put the brakes on. Diane would have said, ‘No, we need to get approval to spend more money.’ I was an eyewitness to that,” said Anderson.
Commissioner Sue Hakes said she appreciated Anderson sharing the “back story.”
Commissioner Bruce Martinson asked Sobanja, “If you feel there is some justification to pay something, I would say, no more than 1/3 of the cost. They were asked to do three designs for $5,000 and they did one more, so 1/3 would be it—$1,667.”
Commissioner Hall said no. “I believe we should stay with our original plan. We pay what we said we would and that’s it.”
Martinson then made a motion to do that—to pay the original $5,000 plus reimbursables, which brings the total to $5,444.80. Commissioner Hakes seconded, but before the vote was called, Commissioner Sobanja suggested that the board consult the county attorney.
“There may be some responsibility here. The work was done and we did receive some deliverables,” he said.
His colleagues agreed and the motion was amended to make the payment, subject to review by the county attorney. The motion was called and passed, with Commissioners Martinson, Hall and Hakes voting aye and Commissioner Sobanja voting nay.
Commissioner Jim Johnson was absent but sent an e-mail to Board Secretary Janet Simonen stating, “Hopefully the agreed upon amount of $5,000 plus expenses ($5,444.80) is what we actually owe them.”
Sobanja explained his no vote. “The reason is, if I was the architect, I would say said yes, I could work on plan 4. If I was the architect, and not a county board member, I may not understand the difference in getting direction between the county board and the ice committee. It’s a gray area.,” said Sobanja.
Paul Sporn, the newly appointed chair of the Cook County Community Center Steering Committee, updated the board on its recent discussion with School District 166 on possibly attaching the proposed community center to the west end of the Grand Marais school building.
Sporn said he, School District 166 Board Member Jeanne Anderson and Superintendent Beth Schwarz and Andra Lilienthal of Community Education had met with Chris Francis, CEO of the Duluth YMCA. Sporn said Francis would be spearheading the process of seeing whether the YMCA wanted to partner with Cook County on its community center project. On his recent visit, the group toured the west wing of the school and Sporn said Francis was “very excited” about the possibilities.
Sporn said the steering committee was at the point where it needed—if that is what the county and the school district want—a letter of support for continuing to work with the YMCA. Sporn said if the county gave its goahead, the YMCA would bring in its financial officer to take a look at community needs to determine if the Y would be a good fit for Cook County. That would take two to three months. If the YMCA study showed that it was feasible to work with Cook County, an outside firm—SEER Analytical— would then be hired to conduct another, independent analysis. The cost for that study is $5,000, said Sporn.
Commissioner Martinson said, “It’s hard to pass up the assistance of the YMCA. They certainly could provide information on use and maintenance issues.”
However, Martinson asked, who pays the $5,000 fee? Sporn said the county could pay it or the YMCA could pay part of it. He said if the YMCA decided to do a fundraiser to pay for the study, it could slow things down.
Commissioner Hakes said, “This is exciting. We’ve had community members ask, ‘How do you know if you’ll get the users?’ and ‘How do you know this fits?’ This could answer those questions.”
Commissioner Sobanja agreed, “This could be a jewel in our community, but it’s a big undertaking. It’s not something we are accustomed to. I’m not afraid to ask for help.”
Martinson nodded, “I think it would be money well-spent. The Y will give us honest answers.”
Hakes asked Sporn if the Y does its own feasibility study before hiring SEER Analytical. Sporn said yes. “If they complete their study and the answer is no, no one needs to pay the $5,000 for the other study,” he said.
The board agreed to continue to work with the YMCA. They asked Sporn and Board Secretary Janet Simonen to put together a letter to that effect.
Sporn also told commissioners that he was scheduling a work session with the school district and the steering committee to discuss attaching the community center to the school. He asked commissioners whether or not they supported this concept.
Commissioner Hall said, “I think there should be some public input, rather than putting this on the county board. “
Sobanja, a county board representative on the steering committee along with Sue Hakes, said, “I’ve been dealing with this… The community is waiting for a decision to be made somewhere. You’re not going to please everyone. Every time we think we’ve solidified it, someone comes and says, ‘I want a blue-green whatever’ or something and off we go in another direction. What they’re asking is—is this going to be a good use of their time?”
Auditor-Treasurer Powers noted that commissioners had agreed to support working with the YMCA and that included looking at the school scenario.
Sporn said, “On the public concerns— what the steering committee heard was don’t build new things when we’ve got buildings that are not fully utilized. The steering committee has listened to public comment.”
Martinson said at the last joint governmental meeting of the city, county, school district and Grand Portage band, there appeared to be consensus for at least exploring the idea of attaching the community center to the school building.
Any citizens with
questions for the
Cook County
Community Center
Steering Committee
are encouraged to ask.
Questions may be sent
to County Commissioner
Sue Hakes at
hakes@boreal.org
(218) 387-2111
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