Decisions on water projects continue to be on city agenda
At their Monday evening, February 1st meeting, the Enderlin City Council had big items, dollar wise, on their plate once more. The completion costs of the lagoon project and 9th Avenue street improvement project, and the upcoming water system improvement at the water plant.
The council dealt with motions and approvals on the above projects before the Moore Engineering people arrived at the meeting. They were late due to another meeting in Leonard.
Mayor Deon Maasjo reported that the bid opening on the Water System Improvement District #2009-1, Phase 1 water treatment plant upgrades was held on Friday, January 29th. Six companies submitted bids and were present at the bid opening. None of the council or the mayor were present at this meeting.
Bidders were PKG Contracting, Inc., Fargo, Wick Construction, Inc., Valley City, Magney Construction, Inc., Chanhassen, MN, Industrial Contract Services, Inc., Grand Forks, Northern Plains Contracting, Inc., Wolverton, MN and JDP Electric, Inc., Fargo, ND. Some of these companies bid the entire project which included general construction, mechanical construction, electrical construction and total electrical construction-alternate.
After certifying that all of the bids were in order, Moore Engineering announced that the bid of PKG for a total combined total of $1,418,690 was the lowest bid and would be recommended to the City of Enderlin as the winning bidder.
Questions of the engineer following the bid opening were fielded concerning why PKG had not broken down their bid into different compartments, to which the answer was that the law provided bidding both ways.
Moore Engineering, when questioned by the Independent, supposed that PKG’s bid was lower than the rest of the bids because they were also working on the city’s other water project and could do both jobs without the necessity of moving equipment and men around.
The council approved PKG’s bid contingent on approval from the State Health Department.
Also approved before Moore Engineering people arrived was the Council approved a bid by Kvamsdahl Construction, Willmar, MN for their low bid of $71,790 for the transfer lift station rehabilitation project.
Upon the arrival of Moore Engineering, after 9pm, Tracy Eslinger reported that a complaint had been received concerning PKG’s bid. Upon the reading of the law on bidding by Attorney Fallon Kelly, the Council asked him (Kelly) to further research the complaint and the law and report back to them. In the meantime the bid would be filed with the State Health Department for their approval.
Eslinger said it would be ideal to have one contractor for this large project, but not necessary. Eslinger also submitted Moore Engineering’s bill for the work done on this project so far for $144,212.50, which was approved by the Council. Eslinger told the council that they have a ‘pro-active Mayor’ who worked hard on this project, even though he ruffled some feathers of the participating engineers.
Eslinger told the Council that a cost of $250,000 for work on the City’s dike system was possible. He said that a 50/50 maintenance grant from the state is possible. He said some of the City’s portion could possibly be done ‘in-kind’. He felt that the project would probably not run that high, but felt he should present the full amount just in case.
The Council was not happy about another bill, but Eslinger reminded them that if the dike is not approved by FEMA, Enderlin citizens would be required to purchase flood insurance for protection. The Council approved allowing Moore Engineering to go ahead and apply for funding for this project.
Discussion concerning the possibility of the city drilling a well on the Ron Leidall property, Council member Maynard Torbenson had visited with Leidall via telephone, and learned that Leidall was concerned that the State had drilled wells on his property without permission. The City and Moore Engineering were not aware that the State had drilled on the private property, only that test wells had been drilled in the right-a-way along the road. Maasjo said Leidall had every right to be upset.
Torbenson said Leidall wanted to know what the plan was for gaining access to the test well areas with the water pipes and electricity, if approved.
Eslinger will get more definite information on the well sites and report back to the Council.
Sara Dixson, Community Affairs Advocate, reported that the Energy grant application that she has been working on resulted in two options that were outlined for the Council for the City Auditorium building. Initially the City Auditor’s office was also on the list, but it did not qualify for the energy grant. The energy grants are up to $100,000 per request.
Dixson told the Council that since the audit of the auditorium had been made it was suggested that the City Swimming Pool might also be qualified for an energy grant. The Pool uses over $7,000 a season on fuel oil for the furnace.
The grant application deadline has been postponed for two weeks, so the Council will attempt to add the Swimming Pool to the applications.
The auditorium audit done by Lucas Evenson of Schwab Vollhaber Lubratt of Fargo, showed a possible annual energy savings of $5,000 on a $40,500 project. The City’s match would be $4,050. The Council voted to go ahead with the application for the auditorium and also approved getting an audit of the pool and applying for it also.
Council member Ben Trottier, who is a member on the Housing Authority, reported that the Authority will no longer ask for a loan from the City. Their plan is to pay the note on the property with cash received from rentals, minus expenses. Chesley, as asked, reported that as of January, 2010, the Housing Authority had borrowed $26,277.43 from the City of Enderlin.
Torbenson reported that Jerry Gilmour of Arizona has agreed to come back to Enderlin and manage the Enderlin Municipal Golf Course on a contracted basis, the same as last year. The contracted amount for the 2010 season will be $32,000. Gilmour reported to Torbenson that he will be back in Enderlin by the end of March and open the course April 1st.
In other business, Maasjo reported that the City has stockpiled 20,000 sandbags and sand and gravel for the spring. The Mayor told them that they are going to hire Dwight Fraedrich to remove trees in the Maple River that are lodged on a sandbar in the middle of the river. He also stated that the City is working on removing high banks at intersections. He said applying salt to the icy streets is futile when the temperatures are so low. Trottier suggested that sand be applied, to which Maasjo said it just blows away. He said problem areas should be reported to either Rick Gillund, Cyndee Chesley or himself.
In final business, the Council adopted the Cafeteria Plan for employees.