The Cook County Community YMCA swimming pool has water in it and a punch list of final tasks for the new facility is being addressed, Wade Cole of ORB Management reported to the county board on December 18, 2013. He anticipated receiving a certificate of occupancy from the state no later than December 30.
“This is a very busy week. There is a lot of transition happening,” Cole said. “It feels really good.”
The $568,812 in contingency funding is expected to come up an estimated $8,320 short. Cole went over additional changes and additions for the board to consider adding to the project. They include relocating an overhead duct in the old Jane Mianowski Conference Room (an estimated $1,200), mullions (window bars) and door closers to increase safety on the glass gym doors (an estimated $2,250), a new soundproof door leading into the former band room (an estimated $1,450), flooring in the kitchen area off the new teen room (in the old district office area at an estimated $200 to $1,800) and sun-blocking film to reduce glare on the pool (to increase visibility for lifeguards in sunny conditions at an estimated $750 to $3,200).
One problem Cole discussed with the board was the appearance of the colored concrete installed by K Johnson Construction. It’s “not the best-looking floor,” he said. He described it as having a bit of a yellowish color and burn marks. Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers said basically it looks like a concrete floor. Commissioner Bruce Martinson said the floor has a lot of imperfections.
Original specifications called for acid-etching the floor, Cole said. He suggested several options for improving the appearance of the floor including polishing part of it, which would cost about $10 a square foot, and installing other flooring over the rest. The edges and corners would not look the same as the main part of the floor, however, because the polishing machines could not reach those spots now that other things have been installed. Polishing the lobby, game room, and party room floors would cost an estimated $15,500 and covering it with ceramic tile would cost an estimated $12,440. Covering the rest of the concrete around the gym and offices with vinyl composition tile would cost about another $10,500.
Commissioner Hakes suggested keeping the flooring the same throughout and said, “We have too many different floors in there now.” She said she thought the burn spots demonstrated a workmanship problem and $10 a square foot for polishing the floor was a lot of money. She said they had had other problems with K Johnson Construction in regard to concrete work.
To polish the floor now would be to take a risk, said Commissioner Martinson.
Cole said he had told the contractor that the YMCA floor would be a problem. The vestibule flooring is important, he said, because that will be what people see when they first walk into the building.
Commissioner Jan Hall said colored concrete is difficult to do. She said she wasn’t sure the same company should do more work on the floor.
The flooring in the kitchen area by the old district office has an empty spot where a piece of equipment was removed when that portion of the building was renovated, and dealing with that would cost an estimated $200 to $1,800.
Duluth Area YMCA Executive Director Chris Francis said unpolished concrete is not what they want. He said he thought tile would look the best.
Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk said that when she visited the YMCA in Alexandria, she saw rugs all over the floors because of the snow. Francis said they have big mats on the floors in the wintertime at the Duluth Y.
“It does look bad, and I love concrete floors,” said Commissioner Hakes. It would have been fine if they had done it right and then waxed it, she said. “I think K
Johnson owes us,” she said.
Communi t y member Stan Tull recommended rubber rock flooring, a non-slip product that has a nice appearance.
“There are a myriad of options for floor covering,” said Cole.
The board passed a motion authorizing a committee overseeing the project to spend up to $16,000 from the unallocated county 1 percent recreation and infrastructure tax to do something about the floor. The committee includes Chris Francis and Emily Marshall of the Y, Cook County Community Center/ Extension Director Diane Booth, and representatives of ORB Management, the city of Grand Marais and Cook County. The motion passed 3-2, with Commissioners Hall and Garry Gamble voting no.
By a vote of 4-1, with Commissioner Gamble voting no, the board passed a motion authorizing the purchase and installation of mullions and door closers for the gym doors and sun-blocking film for the pool windows. Also by a vote of 4-1, with Commissioner Gamble voting no, they passed another motion to put $10,000 into the contingency fund from the unallocated 1 percent tax.
Francis said he was grateful to the county for giving the YMCA the opportunity to serve this community. “We are going to have an awesome facility,” he said.
An opening celebration for charter members (people signing up before the end of the year) will be held Friday, January 3, 2014, and a grand opening for the general public will be held Saturday, January 4.
The Grand Marais Municipal Pool will be closing its doors forever on December 31, 2013. Before that, however, a celebration of 36 years of fun, socialization, and relaxation will be held there from 3:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, December 27. Admission will be free and cake will be served.
In other county news:
. The board authorized Assistant County Attorney Molly Hicken to advertise for a temporary victim/witness coordinator 20 hours a week at a wage of $13.77 an hour. Victim/Witness Coordinator and Paralegal Jeanne Smith, also a licensed attorney, is doing legal work in the County Attorney’s Office while County Attorney Tim Scannell is out on medical leave.
The victim/witness coordinator is a state-grant-funded position and the county is required by Minnesota statute to provide the services.
. The board chose the option of a Secure Rural Schools Act formula for determining payments from the state next year for federal nontaxable land within the county rather than 25 percent of the revenue generated on that land.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Under the Secure Rural Schools Act, counties with federal lands may elect to receive payments to help stabilize revenues lost because of declining federal timber sales.”
County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers said that 25 percent of the revenue would bring in about $150,000, whereas the formula would bring in about $422,000. The money will be divided up, with 85 percent split between Independent School District 166 and the Cook County Highway Department, 8 percent going to a regional advisory commission, and 7 percent going to the county for certain projects related to wildland fire and emergency services on federal lands.
. The board approved an expenditure of $1,515 for wireless headsets for dispatcher/jailers in the Law Enforcement Center. This will enable them to carry out dispatching duties while away from their desks doing inmate cell checks and conducting business at the lobby window. This will also free their hands for typing while talking. Lake and St. Louis counties use the headsets. The purchase was budgeted.
Dispatch Supervisor/Jail Administrator Judy Sivertson said a new Minnesota rule would require the Law Enforcement Center to have two dispatchers on duty if they have five or more inmates.
. The board authorized Emergency Management Director Jim Wiinanen to advertise for a grant-funded, timelimited, contracted Firewise coordinator. The contractor would work from February through December 2014.
The board also authorized Wiinanen to apply for an Integrated Emergency Management Course for training area emergency responders in coordinated response and mutual assistance. Thunder Bay and Neebing, Ontario would also participate in the training. Wiinanen said Thunder Bay wants to provide mutual aid and asked why they weren’t called to help with the condominium fire at Bluefin Bay earlier this year.
The cost of the training would come from department training budgets.
Wiinanen was also authorized to apply for a Polaris Foundation grant to fund placement of emergency locator signs on recreational trails in Cook County. According to the request, “The blue and white emergency signs have been installed in Lake County and are based on the U.S. National Grid system.” They display coordinates so responders can locate people more easily.
. The board unanimously passed a motion to ask the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office to cover the cost of investigator Thomas Heffelfinger’s services investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by Cook County Attorney Tim Scannell.
Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers said the county’s Minnesota County Intergovernmental Trust attorney, Dyan Ebert, looked for precedent that would support the request but did not think she had found any irrefutable cases that would do so. Assistant County Attorney Molly Hicken said she also did not think precedent existed to support the request.
Commissioner Bruce Martinson said going to trial would be costly.
. A public hearing on efforts to slow the spread of gypsy moths will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 21 during the regular county board meeting.
The courthouse will officially close at noon on Christmas Eve, December 24. Employees may remain working through the end of the day or take personal leave if they wish to leave early.
The county board’s first meeting of the New Year will be an organizational meeting starting at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 7, 2014.
Leave a Reply