Roscommon commissioners outline bidding plan for lake‑level control structure; engineer likely to manage project

County staff presented an outline for procuring a lake‑level control structure and discussed options for project management, bid scope and funding.

The chair explained that the engineer will prepare the design and bid documents and that the board should retain the right to accept or reject bids and to set who serves as the project manager. “Normally, you would hire the engineering firm to do that since they made the specs and any change orders that come through, they need to sign off on an approval,” the chair said, outlining common practice and suggesting engineers usually oversee day‑to‑day activities. Commissioners debated whether to require statewide bidding to broaden contractor interest, whether to include daily fines for missed deadlines in contracts, and how to ensure funds are in place before award. One commissioner warned of a limited pool of contractors willing to take on this type of work due to litigation and complexity.

Next steps: staff will post the bid documents, put a date on the public copy, and return to the board for final approval; the item was scheduled for further consideration at a subsequent meeting.