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Story County Conservation Board approves DNR grant and building contracts but fails to award Dakins Lake cabin bid
Summary
The board approved a $190,000 Water Trails Development Program grant and contracts for a walleye-rearing pond design and an IRVM pole building, but did not approve the Dakins Lake cabin bid after a roll-call vote produced no majority; the Dakins Lake item will return to the May 11 meeting.
At its April 26, 2026 meeting, the Story County Conservation Board approved a $190,000 Water Trails Development Program grant agreement with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and authorized multiple construction and design contracts, but failed to award the Dakins Lake cabin construction contract after a tied roll-call vote.
On the consent agenda, the board approved Grant Agreement #26-01 with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for $190,000 to support water-trails development. The board also approved a $21,100 design-services contract with Snyder & Associates for the Hickory Grove Park walleye-rearing pond after Board Member Judy Levings asked for additional information; Director Michael Cox and staff member Ryan Wiemold provided project details.
In additional business, the board approved a contract with Next Generation Buildings to construct an Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management (IRVM) pole building for $159,973. Cox said the structure replaces a building destroyed in a storm several years earlier and described operational needs that justified replacement.
The meeting’s most contested item involved awarding the Dakins Lake cabin construction bid to Harold Pike Construction for $640,000 and authorizing Conservation Director Michael Cox to sign the contract. After discussion of project history, bids and the project budget, Jim Colbert moved to table the item. The board chair found Colbert’s motion out of order because an approval motion and second were already on the floor. The board then voted on the original motion; the roll-call result recorded in the minutes was Colbert Yea, Meyers Nay, Levings Nay, Laumer Yea. Because that tally produced no majority, the motion failed and the board did not award the contract. The minutes state the item will be brought forward again at the May 11 board meeting.
Actions and motions recorded in the minutes included formal motions and seconds for the consent agenda, the Snyder & Associates design contract, the IRVM pole-building contract and the Dakins Lake bid award; several approvals are noted as carried unanimously (MCU) in the minutes.
What’s next: The Dakins Lake cabin bid award will be reconsidered at the May 11 meeting. Other approved contracts and the DNR grant will proceed per the agreements recorded in the minutes.
