Members of the Palmer Town Board and a consulting engineer were on hand at the Palmer Town Hall Wednesday afternoon to answer questions in regard to a planned road construction project on 48th st. SE.

 

On hand at the event were Palmer Board Chairman Mike Ganz, Supervisors Richard Larson and Steve Demeules, Clerk Kathy Miller and Terrence Vander Eyk from the Bogart-Pederson engineering firm in Becker that will handle the design work and post bids for the project.

 

A small group of residents turned out for the session, and primarily had questions about tree relocation and the type of preparatory work in the right-of-way for the proposed project.  Plans call for the existing roadway to be widened in the course of the project, Vander Eyk said. 

 

Resident Becky Fleck had a question concerning a line of evergreen trees which she said she would be willing to replant if they were in the construction zone, and Alan Peterson had questions regarding the slope of the ditch as it impacts fields he has planted with corn.  Overall, there were no objections to the plan as it now stands during the session.  Asked if the project would raise taxes, Demeules said that the work will be funded through the township road and bridge fund, and that no special assessment is expected for this project.

 

A legal description of the property involved will be created, Vander Eyk said, and Ganz stated that signatures of approval from all property owners along the project route will have to be collected by the township before the project can begin.

 

Earthwork may be completed yet this year, depending on the bids received, and paving and asphalt reclamation will be scheduled for early next year if no problems arise.  According to the current engineering estimates, the first portion of the project will carry a cost of $28,000 and a cost estimate of $42,000 for the second phase next year.

 

Oil prices have affected the cost of paving projects this year, Vander Eyk said, and he told the board members that he will prepare a new design reflecting the concerns of residents on the site and place a notice for bids on a construction industry website shortly.

 

Ganz said that the township would handle brush removal at several points on the site, saving the cost of having a contractor in to handle the “clearing and grubbing” involved in preparing the site.