Before leaving the area upon completion of Highway 61 roadwork, KGM Construction patched some potholes along the Sawbill Trail at the request of the Cook County Highway Department. The holes were transformed into mounds, however, but the road is better than it was before, Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad reported to the county board Tuesday, July 13, 2010. He does not see it as a problem. “I was very satisfied with it,” he said. In a separate conversation, Klegstad said patches would never be as smooth as an overlay.
Klegstad successfully negotiated with KGM for repair of Springdale Road leading off the Sawbill to the old Tofte airport site where the construction company recently stockpiled some gravel. KGM put down a heavier mix than Klegstad had expected. He is waiting to see if they do the shoulder work on the short section of road, but if they don’t, he will have county workers do it.
Calcium chloride is being applied on portions of the county’s gravel roads, but it’s not enough for some residents who don’t like to see dust kicked up near their homes. Since the calcium chloride budget has been cut, application has been selective. Klegstad will be suggesting an increase in the budget next year. “I think we need to be doing double what we’re doing,” he said, “to even get reasonable coverage.”
The City of Grand Marais will be getting a pothole patcher for a very good price, thanks to the county. The county Highway Department purchased a new one last year because the old one did not meet Minnesota Department of Transportation specifications for travel at highway speeds. In addition, the thermostat did not bring the temperature down properly during transport. These issues would not be a problem for the city since it wouldn’t need to transport the patcher at highway speeds and would use the asphalt on the spot when it was at the right temperature.
The city has been borrowing the new pothole patcher, so owning the old one would result in less wear and tear on the county’s new one. Because of its condition, auctioning it off to an entity outside the county would be unlikely.
County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers asked Klegstad if the old patcher was fully depreciated. “Yes,” said Klegstad.
“It sounds good to me,” said Mayor Sue Hakes, who was observing the county board meeting. The city will be offered the patcher for the price of the LP in its tanks.
At Klegstad’s request, Powers will take over discussion with the U.S. Forest Service regarding the county’s $25,000 match in a 2008 $250,000 Federal Highway Administration grant for Ham Lake fire recovery. The Forest Service also committed to a $25,000 match.
Instead of asking the county to come up with the cash, the Forest Service talked to Klegstad about using $25,000 of county equipment and personnel to haul gravel along the Seagull Lake Road near the end of the Gunflint Trail. Klegstad asked the board for direction, saying in a memo, “I do not have the time or material to provide in-kind services through the Highway Department. I would really like to see the Highway Department more focused on maintenance work and less on volunteer or in-kind services that are so often being requested of us. It takes a lot of planning and prep work to stay on top of the crew and maintain our 300 miles of roads, and I feel this needs to be my top priority at this point.”
No one at the meeting remembered the Forest Service having made a formal request for the matching funds. Auditor-Treasurer Powers will ask the Forest Service for an accounting of how the grant money was spent.
The county board is considering upping the amount departments can spend without having to make capital purchase requests of the board. Right now, any expenditure over $500 other than supplies or repairs must get board approval. Thiswas good news for Klegstad. He recently rented a piece of equipment for a job that needed to be done in the three weeks between the last board meeting in June and the first board meeting in July. If he had not needed board approval, he would have purchased the equipment instead.
Requiring board approval for purchases is “a great oversight,” commented County Attorney Tim Scannell, “but it’s really inefficient.”
Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers will investigate the purchasing policies of other counties and bring the information back to the county board.
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