The county board approved final payment to Northland Constructors December 22, 2009 for reconstruction of the east end of County Road 7. The cost of the project was $2,672,889.27, about 12% over the bid, according to County Engineer Shae Kosmalski. The extra cost was due to increases in the cost of blacktop and design changes that had to be made once the project was underway, Kosmalski said.
The cost of striping along seven county roads last summer came in 1.5% under budget at $176,916.27. Almost 92 miles of striping was laid down on county roads 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 15, and 16. Thenew six-inch fog lines are two inches wider and more reflective than standard fog lines. Kosmalski said she has heard positive comments about the improved fog lines.
Kosmalski and Highway Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad requested the county board’s permission for Klegstad to drive a county vehicle to his home in Lutsen when bad weather is expected the next day.
In an email to the board, Klegstad wrote, “My job requires that I be in many areas of the county, sometimes in the same day, during the snowplowing period mostly. … During inclement weather I need to be up checking the status of the roads at around 2:00 a.m. so I can call the guys out by 3:00 a.m., so that they can be moving out to plow by 4:00 to 4:30 a.m. and beat the bus schedule.”
Klegstad said having a county vehicle at his home could save gas, mileage, and payroll since he could start inspecting conditions on various county roads from where he was rather than from the county garage in Grand Marais or Tofte. “I think it would be beneficial to the county and to myself to allow me to have discretionary use and drive the pickup home. I am in no way trying to acquire personal use time of this vehicle,” he wrote.
“My position does warrant the use from the standpoint that 40 to 50% of my time is out of the officeand my pickup then becomes my office,” he continued.
Commissioner Jim Johnson said he was concerned that an employee could abuse permission to use a county vehicle in this way. Klegstad said that if, for example, he needed to go to the Tofte shop first thing in the morning, having a county vehicle already in Lutsen would save the county time and money.
At Johnson’s request, Klegstad agreed to keep a log of his use of the county vehicle whenever he drove it home at night.
The board agreed by consensus to Klegstad’s request.
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