Supervisors award bids for Public Safety Center project

by Jason Meyer

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, January 25. Handling the routine business of perfection and approval of the agenda, and approval of past meetings’ minutes, the Board moved quickly in to public comments before proceeding in to the posted agenda.

Public Comments
During public comment time the Board heard from resident Bruce Palmer in opposition of the discussed ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) trails in the county. Palmer noted that with the construction of the Public Safety Center and other obligations, the County has plenty to focus on in terms of expenditures. He also voiced concern that allowing ATVs free rein may open up previously undisturbed areas of the county to damage.

Funding Requests
The Board heard funding requests from the Allamakee County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Northeast Iowa Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
Jack Knight, Vice-Chairperson of the SWCD, requested $2,000 in funding for the upcoming year to be used for wages connected with an upcoming project. The SWCD Project Coordinator, Sara Berges, will receive a salary for the project from a Leopold Center grant, but additional funds are needed. Beginning in February and lasting up to three years, the Leopold Center’s goals are to educate producers about converting cropland to pasture, implementing small grains as a part of cropping rotation, making cover crops work with manure application, and implementing conservation plans as part of lease agreements.
Kathy Barloon, Northeast Iowa RSVP Director, shared with the Supervisors the impact RSVP has on northeast Iowa and Allamakee County. Overall, the organization had 311 volunteers in 2014-15 at 55 non-profit agencies in Allamakee, Howard and Winneshiek counties, clocking 27,491 hours of  service. The breakdown for Allamakee was 60 volunteers at 4,856 hours, estimated at a total value of $105,618 based upon the Independent Sector of Iowa value of $21.75 per hour for volunteer time. In the previous year, Allamakee County provided $1,500 in funding; for the 2016-17 budget Barloon requested $2,000.
The Board will take both requests under consideration during their budget sessions.

Compensation Commission
The Board appointed Dean Schellhammer, Jeff Lange and Tom Regan as Agriculture Property Owners/Operators, and Sherry Strub as City Property Owner to the Compensation Commission, filling vacancies under those categories. Vacancies still exist in the categories of Licensed Real Estate Salesperson or Broker, and Bankers/Auctioneers.

Makee Manor Demolition
Receiving eight bids for the demolition of Makee Manor in preparation of the Allamakee County Public Safety Center, the Supervisors awarded the contract to Quad County Excavating of Dorchester in the amount of $60,500.
Other bids received were from Bacon Concrete, $62,150; Key City Excavation, $76,850; JDA Construction, $79,000; Clayton County Recycling, $88,200; Lansing Brothers Construction, $95,600; Ron Heim, $160,000; and Kelly Demolition and Excavating, $291,700.

Public Safety Center
Michael Hart of Northland Securities was on hand for the Public Hearing regarding the Allamakee County Public Safety Center project to discuss the County’s bond rating and financing.
The County received a Long-Term Rating of AA– / Stable from Standard and Poors for $5.1 Million, General Obligation, for the Public Safety Center. Hart noted that it is as good a rating as he’d seen any rural county receive, noting the County had performed “very strong” in many areas that could be directly controlled, such as budgetary flexibility, liquidity, and debt and contingent liabilities. With the favorable rating and current market conditions, Hart stated the County could expect an interest rate on the sale of bonds in the area of 2.5%.
In a preliminary Debt Service Schedule, Hart estimated the annual repayment by the County at approximately $320,000 per year.
In finalizing the plans and receiving bids John Hansen of Midwest Construction Consultants, the general contractor for the project, advised the County through correspondence to borrow only $4.8 million of the $5.1 million allowed as the recommended bids placed the total project cost around $4.4 million. After the Underwriter’s Discount and Costs of Issuance are paid out from the bond sale, the County will be left with roughly $4.7 million in capital, allowing a $300,000 contingency for unforeseen expenses.
Closing the Public Hearing, the Board made final approval of the plans, specifications, forms of contract, and estimate of cost for the Allamakee County Public Safety Center, and proceeded to award all contracts with the exception of Contract 3 - Plumbing, which will be awarded at a later date, as the current low bidder was not licensed in the state of Iowa.
The contracts awarded included the following:
Contract 1 - General Construction was awarded to Olympic Builders of Holmen, WI in the amount of $1,768,196. Other bids received were Larson Construction, $1,837,000; Cresco Builders, $1,878,568; Henkel Construction Company, $2,062,000; Wieser Brothers GC, $2,075,728; Woodruff Construction LLC, $2,235,500; and Brickl Brothers, Inc., $2,478,857.52.
Contract 2 - Detention Equipment was awarded to Noah Detention of Niceville, FL in the amount of $277,020. Other bids received were WDSI, $282,014; Valley Security, $284,539; Cornerstone Detention, $296,940; Sweeper Metals, $300,175; and Design Supply, $309,575.
Contract 4 - HVAC was awarded to Winona Controls, Inc. of Caledonia, MN in the amount of $390,000. Other bids received were All Season Heating & Cooling, $399,909; Casper Plumbing & Heating, $458,425; and Proctor Mechanical, $491,800.
Contract 5 - Electrical was awarded to See Electric of Decorah in the amount of $662,654. One other bid from Decorah Electric was received in the amount of $671,820.
Contract 6 - Fire Sprinkler  was awarded to Midwest Automatic Fire Sprinkler of Davenport in the amount of $80,430. Other bids received were Viking Automatic Sprinkler Co, $82,744, and Blackhawk Sprinklers, $90,250.

With the contracts awarded, the Supervisors set by resolution the General Obligation Public Safety Center Bonds principal amount at $4,800,000 and set February 8 as the deadline for bids. The Board, working with Northland Securities, will review and take action on the bids that same day.

Other Business
In other business the Supervisors:

  • approved the use of a special prosecutor by the County Attorney’s office due to a potential conflict of interest in pending litigation;
  • proclaimed the Lansing Winterfest Chili Cook-off as the Official Chili Cook-off of Allamakee County;
  • heard from Kim Waters, Coordinator of Disability Services in Allamakee County for County Social Services (CSS), regarding an upcoming CSS Board Meeting to be held Wednesday, January 27 in Humboldt;
  • approved quarterly funds transfers to Secondary Roads from the Rural Services Fund for $110,143.50, and from the General Fund for $9,171.40.