The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners approved a contract with Bolton & Menk Inc. for the Zimmerman Interchange design at Hwy. 169 and Co. Rd. 4 during their last meeting in January. The contract price tag is $1,727,895.
The road project, considered to be one of the largest undertakings in the county, will require collaboration between MnDOT, the City of Zimmerman and Sherburne County.
The county received bids from two other consulting firms: WSB $1,868,165 and SRF/TKDA $1,936,691.
Director of Public Works Andrew Witter called the project schedule “more aggressive” than some others.
“We’re going to continue to work as hard as we can to move forward as quick as possible. We’ve identified right of way limits which would allow us to get into the property acquisition phases of the project,” he said. “We will continue working on the final plans and look for (plan) completion in and around late summer early fall of 2023. This will allow us to get back to the public to provide ample public input on a number of different options that will likely be discovered as we start digging back into this.”
Under the contract, Bolton & Menk is proposing to complete the final design, right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation by late 2023, as well as bidding out the project in 2024.
Witter said the artist’s design drawing on the cover of the plan is just a concept and not necessarily a representation of the final plan.
“It’s just one concept. It hasn’t been vetted. It hasn’t been through any engineering studies,” he said. “It’s just a concept.”
In Oct. 21, 2020, Gov. Walz signed HF 1 into law, which appropriated $2,000,000 for a Local Road Improvement Program grant to Sherburne County for work associated with the project.
ARPA Funding
The board approved American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for a tape backup system for the Sheriff’s dept. ($25,700.04), SARS-COVID test kits ($10.078.54) and jail touchpad cleaning ($45,150).
Other Business
In other action the board:
• Approved the appointment of Greta Stark-Kraker to the Sherburne County EDA to fill out the remaining five years of Tom Hammer’s term;
• Authorized the Auditor-Treasurer to submit an application for a Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Grant from the State of Minnesota to assist with election security in the coming 2022 election. It has been determined that the county will qualify for approximately $40,523 in election grant funds;
• Approved donations from various donors to Health & Human Services totalling $26,103.43;
• Approved the final contract payment to Knife River for the Co. Rd. 42 project from Co. Rd. 1 Co. Rd. 9 and Co. Rd. 70 pavement resurfacing. The original contract amount was $1,209,310.15. The final contract amount: is $1,324,439.26.
• Approved the appointment of Dispatch Supervisor Matthew Paumen as the designated alternate representative for the 911 Technical Operations Committee through the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board;
• Approved a $25 donation to the Sheriff’s Office Mounted Patrol, made by The Stein Financial Group in memory of Mounted Patrol member Kelly Gretton, who passed away on Dec. 17, 2021.
