Council reviews multiple procurement items including $2.3M DEED cleanup grant subrecipient agreement and Sixth Avenue East reconditioning contract

The Duluth City Council reviewed a series of procurement and infrastructure agenda items that included contract authorizations, equipment purchases and grant subrecipient confirmations.

City staff described a subrecipient agreement with Sofitel America Corp. tied to a $2,300,000 cleanup grant awarded by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) last year. Administrator Staling said the agreement confirms the city's subrecipient relationship and Sofitel’s commitment to follow state grant requirements; staff characterized the paperwork as an update to ensure the project complies with DEED guidelines.

The council also considered equipment and contracts listed together as Items 17–25. Highlights included authorization to purchase a 2025 Case 621G wheel loader and bucket attachment from Titan Machinery Incorporated for $202,009.74 and $0.89 (as read into the record), and an agreement with Evergreen Energy Inc. for a customer portal to benchmark real-time energy usage for an amount not to exceed $96,500. The council approved (read as an item on the agenda) multiple engineering-service agreements: a $195,260 contract with MSA Professional Services for the 2025 street preservation project; a $631,804 MSA contract for design work on the Spirit Valley and Central Hillside 2 lead service line replacement projects; a $362,590 LHB Inc. contract for the Denfeld lead service line replacement design; and SEH Inc. contracts for East Hillside 1 ($381,000) and another East Hillside/Endion project ($309,420) for lead service-line design.

Item 20, resolution 4-26, would award a $2,984,400 contract to Northland Constructors of Duluth (a division of Mathey Construction Company) for the Sixth Avenue East reconditioning project. Councilors asked staff about what the reconditioning work entails; Administrator Staling said it is “a little more intensive” than a typical resurfacing and includes lead service line replacements, signal-light upgrades, curb and sidewalk replacements and street surfacing. Staling said he would check with the engineering department on the project timeline and try to provide an expected start date by Monday.

Councilor Swenson asked about a structural-parking-ramp repairs contract with Scicon Inc. described as “not to exceed $244,000” with an unclear additional line item read in the record; staff said they would check with parking staff to confirm whether the amount has changed since parking-grama funding was secured. On a related point, Councilor Mayo asked about the Hart Ramp reengineering; staff said they would follow up with Mr. Bauer and provide an update before Monday’s meeting.

The council also reviewed an exclusive-use permit for the Bentleyville Tour of Lights at Bayfront Festival Park for the 2025 season. The event contract indicates the city is responsible for the first $10,000 of safety or police costs; councilors asked whether additional costs in past years exceeded that amount. Staff said they would check past records to see whether costs beyond $10,000 had been billed and how those were shared with the event operator.

Several items were presented as routine agenda matters; staff answered council questions and committed to follow up with clarifying information. No final votes on these items were recorded in the meeting excerpt; most items were introduced and read as resolutions or contract authorizations for subsequent action.

Councilors said they expect staff to return with project timelines, historical cost-sharing figures for recurring events and confirmed contract amounts where the record was unclear.