Board approves timber auction sales, reforestation quote and engineering design work for regional park project

Corey, Natural Resources staff, asked the board to approve three items: (1) offering 12 timber tracts (10,726 cords) for sale at the April 14 timber auction with an appraised base value of $289,690.18; (2) awarding a planting contract to a low quote from Thomas Forestry to plant 78,525 containerized seedlings on 90 acres (mix of pine and spruce); and (3) accepting a $73,539.75 SRF engineering/design quote to complete phase‑1 design work for a regional parks and trails grant project (site design, parking, drainage, utilities and signs).

The board approved each item. On the timber sales, the Natural Resources presenter said regional timber prices remain favorable and loggers often stockpile sales during wet ground seasons; the timber appraised value is a base that will be bid up at auction. On reforestation, the presenter said containerized seedlings (two‑year stock) typically survive better than bare-root stock and will be planted by crews using hand spades; the contract price was presented in the staff memo as "72 60 per thousand trees planted" (as recorded in the meeting transcript).

On the parks grant, the presenter said the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails grant has been executed but ground‑disturbing work is contingent on completing required archeological work. SRF’s quoted $73,539.75 will be paid from the grant’s design and engineering budget to advance site and road design work in phase 1; the board approved proceeding with the SRF design contract.

All three motions passed without recorded dissent. The board and Natural Resources staff noted the archaeology requirement as the remaining constraint before ground‑disturbing construction activities can begin.