At the Cook County Board of Commissioners’ December 22 meeting, Highway Department Engineer David Betts announced he had hired Adam Nelson to fill the engineering technician position vacated in 2013. However, Nelson’s starting date is dependent upon finding housing, said Betts.
“If I have him by May 1, I will be happy,” said Betts.
Nelson has worked the past three summers for the city of Wisconsin Rapids while he has been in school, said Betts. He will start as an engineering technician, step 1 rate of $20.69 per hour.
The next step will be to replace Assistant County Engineer Sam Muntean who left eight months ago to become the head county engineer for Lac qui Parie County. Because of a lack of interest in the position the county will conduct a wage comparison study to see how Cook County’s pay scale compares to other counties.
Betts said he got word from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) that Cook County was nominated to receive $1.3 million in federal funds in 2020. It was an unexpected but welcome surprise, but left his staff scrambling for a project to nominate because of the amount of money. Betts said the last federal grant the county received was $500,000.
Because federal funding covers a maximum of 80 percent of construction costs, the minimum project cost for this funding is $1,625,000, said Betts, which eliminates most projects he and his staff have planned for because they are too small.
After reviewing five or six potential projects Betts said he recommended pavement replacement with limited subgrade correction, new culverts and shoulder paving on the Gunflint Trail from the west intersection of County Road 92 to the east end of County Road 92.
“We reviewed upcoming needs and identified this section as the best candidate. This section of the road was constructed in 1965 and was overlaid in 1986. Currently, the traffic volume on this roadway is 530 vehicles per day. The existing pavement has deteriorated with extensive cracking, raveling and potholing.”
When asked about installing new guard rails and signs, Betts said these would be included in the upgrade, and sturdier guard rails would replace what is on the corners now. Adding chevrons to corners has already caused concern for the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway Committee, and Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk sensed this coming project would also bring complaints from some people in her district.
“I know you’re going to work really hard on this,” said Doo-Kirk. “I would like to oppose this. …”
“We are trying to balance values,” said Commissioner Garry Gamble. “The road is the road and the aesthetic is the aesthetic. We want to protect that [aesthetic], but within the priorities. The primary is the road.”
“The Gunflint is not just a road to people in my district,” said Doo-Kirk, who nevertheless voted with the other four commissioners to nominate that section of the Gunflint Trail for federal funds.
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