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Highway updates: county signs updated sales‑tax agreement, awards $1.84M bridge contract and approves state‑bid pickup
Summary
The Koochiching County Board approved updates to the county’s transportation sales‑tax agreement, accepted a state‑bid pickup, and awarded a $1.84 million contract to replace the County Road 101 bridge after rebids came in over the engineer’s estimate.
Koochiching County’s highway department reported multiple actions and updates, including a sales‑tax administrative agreement, equipment purchases, a bridge contract award and a competitive grant application.
Local option sales tax: Staff asked the board to authorize signatures on an updated agreement with the Minnesota Department of Revenue for the county’s 0.5% local option sales tax for transportation. The agreement reduces the state’s administrative fee from 1.35% to 1.0%. The board approved signatures.
Fleet purchase: The county authorized purchase of a small fleet pickup from North Country GM via state bid for $42,040.96. Staff compared local dealer quotes and state‑bid pricing and recommended the state bid as the lower cost option. The truck will be assigned to the Lowman shop.
County Road 101 bridge (SAP 0365‑98‑032): The board awarded the bridge replacement contract to Northland Constructors of Duluth at $1,838,850 after two bidders responded to a rebid; bids were higher than the engineer’s estimate of roughly $1.4 million. MnDOT increased the local bridge replacement grant to $1,240,984.21, leaving an estimated local share of approximately $589,765.79; staff said that local option sales tax reserves would cover the county portion and that the county will pursue value‑engineering and negotiations where possible. Staff noted the project is in a remote location and that removing a proposed bypass could create long detours for local residents and commercial traffic, so the bypass was retained.
MPCA clean equipment grant: Highway staff reported that the county applied for an MPCA Clean Heavy‑Duty Off‑Road Equipment grant for replacement of a 1989 CAT 140 motor grader. Staff stated the new grader’s estimated cost is about $424,000 and that the county requested a grant portion in the staff remarks; grant awards are competitive and, if received, would require decommissioning the old engine block in accordance with the grant rules and a future resolution.
Board approved the highway department motions and asked staff to return with negotiated contract language and schedule details.
