The Sherburne County Board Tuesday approved the final bid package for the Government Center Expansion Project in the amount of $13,995,806. Bid Package #3 covers 18 different individual scopes of work, and except for one more bid, is complete.

 

Construction Manager Patrick Sims of Adolfson & Peterson said the only contract that isn’t final is the bid for installation of miscellaneous metals, for example, interior staircases, ladders and railings. He said they didn’t receive a bid for that work, although they requested a figure from the structural steel contractor to use as a guide for establishing the final budget.

 

That amount was about $540,000, which Sims said is higher than expected. That work will be re-bid to bring the numbers down.

 

The board also approved quotes from VTI Security and Stanley Convergent Security Solutions for extension of existing security components and new installations on the project.

 

Both companies already provide security services for the county. VTI provides access control and cameras for the Government Center and jail. Stanley provides security electronics, including door lock control, intercoms and duress alarms for the jail.

 

Sims said the work was not competitively bid because if a new company came in to do the work, the entire existing systems in the Government Center and jail would have to be replaced.

 

Security is part of “soft” costs for the project, which also includes technology, furniture and miscellaneous products. Currently, the soft costs are budgeted at $8,188,505.

 

With all the bids in, the total project budget is currently $59,232,949, which is under the budget goal of $60 million and more than $3 million below the $63 million estimated late last year.

 

Administrator Steve Taylor said that number might be reduced more after he works with the construction manager to reduce some of the soft costs.

 

The board approved a 10-year, $50,500 tax abatement for Zablocki Roofing, Inc. The company is relocating from St. Cloud and is building a new 15,500 sq. ft. facility in Haven Twp. that will bring 10 existing jobs and two new jobs. A tenant that will be leasing approximately 40% of the space is expected to add five additional jobs.

 

In other action the board:

 

• Approved an interim use permit (IUP) for Knife River Corp. to expand a gravel mining operation from seven to 26 acres on the John Herbert Stommes property on Co. Rd 17 near Hwy. 25 in Big Lake Twp.;  

 

• Approved an IUP for Solarstone Properties to place 19 electrical utility poles on a 47-acre parcel between 211th Ave. and 205th Ave. just west of Co. Rd. 15 in Big Lake twp. for the interconnection of a five-megawatt solar garden to Xcel’s energy grid.