The Sherburne County Board Tuesday approved a loan agreement with Palmer Wireless to assist the company in bringing broadband to the Big Lake Industrial Park.
In September 2016, the board approved committing loan funding for three broadband projects. One of those projects is Palmer’s effort to run 100 Mbps fiber to the Big Lake Industrial Park at a total project cost of $211,600.
The county will loan Palmer $35,000. Palmer’s cost is $85,612. The remaining $90,988 will come from the state’s Border to Border Broadband Grant.
Under the agreement, the county will receive 100 Mbps service at the 10 Mbps rate. Starting in year eight, the loan will be paid back at a rate of $6000 per month with the full amount being paid off in year 11.
Work on the project is slated to begin in early May, with completion in June.
Road Projects
The board awarded the contract for overlays and surface improvements on Co. Rd. 3 and Co. Rd. 24 to Knife River Corp. at $2,666,594.89.
Other bidders were Hardrives ($2,849,077.97) and North Valley ($3,658,206.78). The engineer’s estimate was $3,548,709.87.
In a separate bid, the board awarded the contract for overlays on various county roads to Knife River at $3,878,958.35. The work includes overlays include on County Roads 6, 8, 72, 75, 11 and culvert modifications on Co. Rd. 16.
Other bidders were Hardrives ($3,915,795.22 and North Valley ($4,999,280.96). The engineer’s estimate was $4,376,611.53.
The board approved an agreement with Wideth Smith Nolting & Associates for design services in the amount of $35,606. The firm will design the new bridge on Co. Rd. 3 over the Elk River. The project is scheduled for 2018.
Proposals from other firms included Erickson Engineering ($38,925), SRF Consulting ($42,191) and WSB & Associates ($125,286).
