Committee approves Minn Kota reimbursement estimate and awards Raymond Township mobility contract to low bidder

The Metro Flood Diversion Authority Finance Committee on July 23 approved two contracting actions tied to ongoing diversion work: a reimbursement authorization for Minn Kota Power and the award of a Raymond Township mobility contract. Chris Beykegard, the authority engineer, told the committee the Minn Kota item corresponds to the previously approved Minn Kota budget change and represents Minn Kota’s estimate to construct the Oxbow substation relocation at roughly $3,400,000. "This is work that Minn Kota will be self performing," Beykegard said, and the authority will reimburse the utility for its costs rather than conduct a public bid for that portion of the work. Beykegard also described the Raymond Township mobility project, a roughly 2.5-mile segment of township road regrading and graveling intended to restore access to fields west of the diversion channel. The authority received five bids; the low responsible bidder was RJ Zaveral & Sons with a bid of $579,297.51, compared with an engineer’s estimate of just over $700,000. Beykegard recommended awarding the contract to RJ Zaveral & Sons. Mayor Mary Mahoney moved to approve contracting actions 8A and 8B as presented; Commissioner Capitan seconded. The committee voted unanimously in favor on a roll-call vote. The Minn Kota reimbursement and the Raymond Township award were approved; staff said the Minn Kota work will be self-performed by the utility and the Raymond Township project will proceed with the low responsible bidder.