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The city received three proposals from architectural firms for design services for a new City Hall and Liquor Store with attached public restrooms. Council discussed those proposals at the board’s September 28 meeting.
The three firms were LHB Inc, TKDA, and ARI. City Administrator Mike Roth told council members “These are reputable firms either the city or county has worked with in the past.”
Depending on the proposals, costs ranged from the mid to high $300,000 range, said Mayor DeCoux.
The city began looking at replacing the city hall/ liquor store several years ago, narrowing the scope from 16,000 square feet to 14,400 square feet to lessen the cost. In 2019 LHB started the predesign process for the project before it got put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council talked about bringing in two firms and interviewing them, but Roth asked, “The big question for me is do you have anything to ask?”
That prompted more discussion about the companies and which one councilors felt most comfortable dealing with. LHB was the architectural firm for the city on the Public Works Facility, with McGough acting as the Construction Manager at Risk. In their proposal to the town, LHB said McGough once again would be the construction manager for the city hall/liquor store project. Because of the familiarity with LHB, the council voted unanimously to give them the contract for the city hall/liquor store.
Administrator Roth said LHB asked why the city was again asking for proposals, wondering if they had done something wrong when the program was stopped.
“For me,” said the mayor, “I have no hard feelings for LHB, but everything got derailed with the pandemic. It was two years ago.”
Councilor Craig Schulte said, “I think it’s a good idea to talk to them. Ultimately when we get a bid on a piece of paper, we have to decide whether we will go ahead with this or not.”
Jay motioned to approve LHB to move forward on the project, and the vote was unanimous.
Snowmobile pull-tabs
The Cook County Snowmobile Club requested to have pull tabs sold through the Birch Terrance Lounge. Currently, the proceeds from the pull tabs go to the Brainerd Hockey program. Anton Moody made a motion to approve the request, which the council seconded and approved unanimously.
Council approved the purchase of a replacement for the 1979 General Safety International 50’ Telequirt used by the Grand Marais fire department. The new aerial apparatus comes from the City of Richfield and is a 204 Pierce Enforcer 75’ Saint with 78,000 miles and 753 hours on the aerial and costs $75,000. Mayor Jay DeCoux said, “This is a long-term vehicle. We’re looking at 15-20 years of service.”
Next, council approved the purchase of a skid steer and blower from Tri-State Bobcat for $76,670.95. The city’s current skid steer was purchased in 2001 and is used by all departments year-round. In the winter, the skid steer is used to clear sidewalks.
Mayor DeCoux commented, “This is a new skid steer from Bobcat, a bigger machine than we have, has more capabilities, meets our needs, and has a few bells and whistles.”
Council then weighed the request by the street department to purchase a new loader. Currently, the city rents a loader from Edwin E. Thoreson, Inc. seasonally. Because the loader is slightly undersized and underpowered for the work and getting older, the street department has been looking to replace the rental by leasing/ renting or purchasing a new loader.
Rent or lease a loader costs range from $36,000 to $50,000 per year.
After doing some sleuthing, the street department found a used 2019 JD 644K loader from McCoy in Duluth that meets the city’s requirements for $167,000. Council unanimously approved the request.
Alley improvement
The alley behind the Gunflint Tavern, Visit Cook County, Dairy Queen, etc., will be paved this week by KTM contractors for $55,000. The city will cover half of the paving expense while the adjacent businesses will cover the other fifty percent based on their alley frontage. In all, ten companies will share in the paving cost.
Visit Cook County Executive Director Linda Jurek was in attendance at the meeting. She said Visit Cook County would collaborate with other businesses to eliminate some of the six or seven dumpsters in the alley.
North House Discussion
Council discussed when to bring North House back to get an update on future plans for the folk school.
Mayor DeCoux excused himself because he works for the folk school at least part-time.
The school’s main campus is on land leased from the city at a nominal rate. Last summer, the council nixed the school’s variance request to build a new 2,400-square-foot classroom building on its land adjacent to the main campus on the shore of Lake Superior. Since then, the two parties have discussed ways to collaborate and work together. As a result, the council set its first meeting in October to invite representatives from North House to come and present their ideas for building into the future.
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