County adopts bridge priority list, accepts seal‑coat contract and gets updates on airport hangar and Brownsville intersection options

The Houston County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 14 adopted an updated bridge replacement priority list (Resolution 25‑35), accepted final certification for a seal‑coat contract and received multiple road and airport project updates from county engineering staff.

Bridge priority list: County engineering staff told the board the list is an update of a prior resolution and that the primary change is the addition of West Beaver Road to the top of the list. The problematic structure on West Beaver was replaced decades ago with a pipe under 10 feet long and has struggled with capacity; staff and the Black Hammer Township have secured concurrence to replace it with a 10×6 box culvert. Staff said timing for construction depends on eligibility and availability of state and town bridge funding, and that some projects might wait two to three years for bonding or state aid.

Seal‑coat contract final acceptance: the board accepted final certification for Contract No. 340 with Scott Construction / Petula SealCoat for work on County 13 and County 4 at $506,558.62, about $11,005 over the original award. Staff said overruns are common in seal‑coat projects because oil usage can exceed estimates once applied; the county required the contractor to correct the most severe striping errors and staff suggested adding objective striping performance and penalty language to future contracts.

Airport T‑hangar project: the county held a pre‑construction meeting; site excavation will begin in the next weeks and the building structure is scheduled for delivery late January–February with an optimistic completion target around July 4 (subject to weather and delivery timing). County staff will follow up with hangar owners by letter and coordinate a pre‑con meeting with the committee.

Brownsville intersection and HOKA sinkhole: engineering staff summarized recent work with MnDOT and the City of Brownsville on the intersection of Trunk Highway 26 and County 3. Three high‑cost redesign options (estimated $3.5–$5 million) were pared down in discussion and staff proposed a lower‑cost “Option 4” (~$0.5 million) that modifies local connections to reduce the skew and keep turning movements near existing commercial properties. MnDOT does not favor lowering the posted speed on Trunk Highway 26, so the county and city are pursuing dynamic speed display signs (staff said a partner could fund 90% of a sign). For HOKA, staff reported a sinkhole likely caused by a bored conduit through the storm pipe and said the county believes the city/city contractor’s conduit installation damaged the pipe; staff will provide photos and pursue repairs with the city.

Next steps: finalize design for the West Beaver replacement, pursue funding channels, add striping performance language to future seal‑coat contracts, and complete the airport hangar schedule and communications with hangar owners.