Kossuth County opens bids for Long Rock culvert and Big Six Road bridge; staff to verify low bids

Kossuth County supervisors opened sealed bids at the 9 a.m. meeting for two infrastructure projects: a box culvert replacement north of Long Rock on P30 and the Mike Marsh bridge on Big Six Road.

County staff read three bids for the culvert: Midwest Contracting of Marshall, Minnesota, bid $174,672.80; Peterson Contracting bid $163,849.00; and Rognas Brothers submitted $165,404.00. "It appears that the low bid is going to Peterson Contracting," staff said, adding the county will verify unit-price extensions and other paperwork before presenting a resolution to award to the board.

For the Mike Marsh bridge project — identified in the bid package as using urban renewal funds — the board heard three bids: Dixon Construction ($965,803.90), Graves Construction ($1,082,760.99) and Marman Bridge Construction ($897,618.92). Staff said Marman appears to be the low bidder and noted the county's internal estimate cited in the meeting materials was substantially higher; staff will check arithmetic, unit prices and bid bonds before bringing resolutions to award the work.

At the meeting staff also reported there were good competitive responses for both projects and that the board would be presented with resolutions to award if the post-bid review confirms compliance. "We will check those extensions, the unit prices times the pay quantities and verify that everything is satisfactory and bring that back for the board to award," staff said.

In related business, staff reported the landfill postclosure fund balance was $441,369 thirty days after the close of the last fiscal year, while the four‑year estimate to maintain postclosure care is $430,162; staff said no additional transfer to that fund is needed at this time and asked the board to finalize the paperwork next week.

The board took no final award actions at the meeting; staff will return with recommended resolutions after verifying bid documents and calculations.