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Codington County approves 30% local match to boost bid for state bridge grant, awards engineering contracts
Summary
Codington County commissioners voted to set a 30% local match for a state bridge improvement grant to increase scoring competitiveness and approved Banner Engineering contracts for two separate bridge projects with combined engineering caps of $264,000.
Codington County commissioners voted Dec. 2 to increase the county’s local match to 30% for a state bridge improvement grant application for Bridge 15‑157‑025, a step officials said will improve the county’s competitive score. The board also approved bid‑ready engineering contracts with Banner Engineering for two other bridge projects.
The vote followed staff and consultant presentations that explained the state grant scoring favors projects with bid‑ready plans and a larger local contribution. County staff said the grant program is competitive: roughly $15 million is available statewide and scoring thresholds have trended upward. Commissioners approved a substitute motion to set the local match at 30% to boost the county’s points in the scoring matrix.
Mark, a consultant with the engineering team, told the board that increasing the county share raises the project’s score and enhances its chance of selection. He laid out options ranging from a 20% standard match to a 50% match in a best‑case scenario; staff estimated a 30% match would increase the county’s point total meaningfully without committing excessive local funds.
Separately, the board approved Banner Engineering agreements to produce bid‑ready plans for Bridge 15‑215‑230 (177th Street over the Big Sea River), with a maximum fee not to exceed $189,000, and for Bridge 15‑242‑145 (Oak Street over Willow Creek), with a maximum fee of $75,000. Commissioners emphasized the need to secure landowner easements before spending significant design dollars on the 177th Street project.
The actions taken were procedural approvals to advance planning and grant competitiveness; the county did not adopt a construction contract or commit final construction funds at this meeting. The board approved the resolution and contracts by voice vote.
The next steps are to finalize the grant application, pursue required easements for the 177th Street project, and proceed with design work under the approved engineering contracts.
