Committee decides to bid County M and proceed with seal coats; G G resurfacing depends on FLAP funds

Ashland County highway staff told the committee that a planned re-surface of County Highway G G (Spider Lake Road to County M, roughly 6.5 miles) is contingent on Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) funds that DOT applied for in September but had not released; DOT shifted the project's bid date from March to May or later pending funding.

Staff proposed proceeding with a March bid for County Highway M (to be coordinated with Bayfield County) regardless of whether the G G FLAP funds are released, and recommended moving forward with planned seal coat projects on parts of G G (south of Clam Lake to the Sawyer County line) and County N to preserve pavement life. "If GG comes in over budget, we either have to decide to not take the bids and rebid it again next year or use some of our improvement fund dollars to pay that difference later on in the season," staff said.

A committee member asked about the scale of the G G project; staff said the FLAP-funded resurfacing is roughly a $2,000,000 project. The committee voted to proceed with bidding County M and to advance the seal coat projects; the motion was carried by voice vote.

Staff also reported that Larson Construction won the bid for the McCarthy Creek bridge on County G G and that the bridge work will likely close G G for at least a month when in-stream restrictions allow (anticipated around June 1–15), with detours using Highways 13 and 77.

Next steps: staff will advertise bids for County M, solicit oil and chip bids for seal-coat work with Washburn County’s chip-spreader support, monitor FLAP funding decisions with DOT and adjust projects if federal funds are delayed.