County Engineer David Betts told the county board last fall that he didn’t think a proposed joint maintenance facility to be shared with other governmental entities such as the school, the City of Grand Marais, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was in the best interests of the county.
Despite that recommendation, Betts pointed out at the Tuesday, April 26, 2011 county board meeting numerous problems at the county garage site, saying that they have been addressing some of them but don’t want to do too much without a better vision of how to plan for the future. He asked for approval to solicit a proposal from ORB Management for its assistance in creating a master plan for the Highway Department’s facilities.
An April 20 memo from Betts to the board states that their vehicle servicing area is too small and their office space is inadequate, including having to use the men’s restroom to store file cabinets and the computer server. Having a wash bay for county vehicles would reduce repairs and prolong the life of the department’s trucks and equipment. They currently wash vehicles inside the Goble building, but it gets so humid that they sometimes need to leave the garage doors open in cold weather to disperse the humidity.
Drainage problems exist outside the main building, and they could use more space to store county vehicles and park employee vehicles. The ability to cover the salt/sand inventory would reduce negative impacts on the environment and keep the inventory under better control. They also need to plan for repairs and any required upgrades that might be needed as the fueling station ages, Betts wrote.
Energy efficiency is an issue as well. Betts said the department spent almost $14,000 heating just the main building through January, February, and March.
“We’ve been working to address a number of these issues,” Betts wrote, “but we’ve discovered that planning is difficult without a concept of how many facilities this site can house or how our site should be configured. Because of these concerns, we’ve put several improvements to the existing buildings on hold.”
Betts wrote that his department is not equipped to create a master plan on its own, and having the plan would not obligate the county to construct any of the outlined improvements. “Rather, it would provide us with a framework to use when planning for the future,” Betts wrote.
Betts told the board he thinks a study of the site and creation of a master plan would cost between $20,000 and $40,000, which he hoped could be paid out of the county’s Building Fund.
Betts formerly worked for an engineering firm that provided consulting services for the City of Vadnais Heights and on the phone said he believes that hiring a consultant is sometimes the most efficient and cost-effective way to accomplish a task.
Commissioner Sue Hakes asked if they would be able to not approve ORB’s proposal and solicit others instead if they weren’t comfortable with ORB’s proposal. Betts said yes. The board passed a motion authorizing the Highway Department to solicit a proposal from ORB for its help in creating a master plan for department facilities and grounds.
“ORB is going to…” Commissioner Hakes said, and Commissioner Jan Hall finished the sentence, “…take over the county!” This was followed by laughter.
In other news:
The county Highway Department is gearing up for a busy summer season. At the Tuesday, April 26, 2011 county board meeting, commissioners approved numerous plans and contracts proposed by Engineer Betts.
. County gravel roads will receive more calcium chloride this summer than last. According to a memo to the board from Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad, “This will enable the Highway Department to better fulfill the public’s expectations in terms of road stabilization and dust control.”
In a phone interview, Engineer Betts said that calcium chloride helps bind small particles of dirt to the road, which would otherwise fly away, leaving larger, loose rocks that decrease traction on the road.
. The board approved going out for bids on crushing 18,000 cubic yards of gravel in the Paradise Pit, the Airport Pit, and the Caribou Pit. It also approved going out for bids on summer maintenance of four special service tax district roads, to be paid by the Evergreen, Mile-O-Pine, Voyageur’s Point, and West Rosebush Lane road associations. The maintenance to be done on those roads will be grading, gravel hauling, and debris cleanup.
. The board approved a grant agreement with the U.S. Forest Service for new Little Devil Track River culverts under County State Aid Highway 6 and County Road 75. The agreement states, “The roadway crossings that are outlined below are inconsistent with present standards to accommodate aquatic organism passage and they reduce the ecological function of stream systems by interrupting the stream continuum.”
Engineer Betts said his department will be very busy with routine maintenance over the summer, but because the Forest Service grant calls for a 20 percent county match rather than a 50 percent match if the county does the work itself instead of contracting out, the Highway Department will perform the work. The total cost is projected at $249,565, leaving the county responsible for $49,913. The work is expected to take about three weeks.
The crossing on County State Aid Highway 6 (CSAH 6) washed out on April 26, requiring temporary closure of the road. The road was fixed enough to be passable until the culvert work is done, probably in July.
. The board approved revision of a contract with Braun Intertec Corporation for geotechnical evaluations at four stream crossings, needed in order to properly design new culverts. The crossings include the two Devil Track River crossings described above, the Flute Reed River crossing on County Road 70, and the Durfee Creek crossing on County Road 60. Grant funding will pay for much of the work.
The original contract with Braun Intertec included an evaluation on CSAH 1, the Cramer Road. Betts told the board that funding changed on the Cramer Road project and that the other projects planned for this summer would keep his crew busy.
. The board authorized the Highway Department to upgrade its accounting software at a cost of $8,500, the first upgrade since 1983. The department will purchase a new package from Affiliated Computer Systems, which provides a uniform cost accounting system for 66 Minnesota counties. This purchase was in the department’s budget for 2011.
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