A Poplar River sediment reduction project has been redesigned after bids came in over the amount budgeted in a Great Lakes Commission (GLC) grant. The project is called the Ullr Tightline and would disperse water flowing down Ullr Mountain, part of Lutsen Mountains Ski Area.
At the August 1 meeting of the Poplar River Management Board (PRMB), Cook County Soil & Water District Manager Kerrie Fabius outlined the changes made before the bids were let for the second time.
Some of the cost reduction was made by obtaining a more accurate list of the materials that would be needed to complete the project. Fabius said she tried to be more specific in her bid requirements so bidders would be more accurate in their bids.
The new design reduced the number of pipes and replaced one with a graded and seeded channel to direct water flow. The depth of a pit was reduced from 11 feet to seven feet, and a pipe was drawn deeper into the ground to reduce the amount of fill required over it.
The first design included “all the bells and whistles,” Fabius said. “We can’t have all the bells and whistles.”
Fabius said she hoped bids on the new design would come in at $300,000, but she thought they might come in closer to $400,000.
PRMB engineer Curt Sparks said that if the design were downsized, larger floods such as 100- year events would result in higher maintenance costs. He gave Fabius some suggestions on how to deal with this issue.
Karen Evens of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said grant money might be available from the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Fund to cover some of the costs of the Ullr Tightline project. She suggested that they consider a second phase to the project that could replace some of the significant amount of fill that was taken out of the second design. Bids come in
Just before press time, Fabius reported, “We received only two bids for the second round of bidding (we had received five bids in the first round). The apparent low bidder is Thoresons ($188,439.04), and the contract is currently being drawn up. The high bidder was KGM at $393,657.00.
“Thoresons will complete the project by July 15, 2012. We were very happy to have a local contractor bid on the project and are excited that the bid is within the budget of the GLC grant. It looks like the idea to give the contractors the option to build next summer paid off!” Caribou Highlands pipe
Lutsen Mountains Co-Owner Tom Rider said he and Lutsen Resort owner/PRMB board member Scott Harrison would be meeting with Caribou Highlands owner Bob Ryan about moving Caribou Highlands’ wastewater pipe off the Megaslump in order to avoid erosion at that location. Water weeps off the pipe, and an end cap has the potential to fall off, he said.
Curt Sparks said the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Fund might be available for a project like this. Rider said he has talked to Ryan about the project already, and Ryan expressed willingness to participate in a match if they could get a grant.
Other options would be to move the pipe closer to the water’s edge and install a dissipater or obtain an easement and relocate the pipe onto ski hill property.
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