Posted: 5/10/06
Commissioners lower retainage fee on La Crescent road project
Former engineer hired as interim
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
County commissioners voted 4-1 on May 2 to reduce the retainage fee for Road Constructors Inc. from five percent to two percent.
It means that the county will pay the company $121,967.30 and will withhold $51,583.00 until all work is completed on the County Road 29 project in La Crescent.
County engineer Tracey Von Bargen recommended the reduction, saying the money will more than cover the remaining work.
First district commissioner Larry Graf, who opposed the motion, objected to paying Road Constructors the $121,967.30. ìThatís my opinion and itís a strong opinion,î he said. Withholding retainage gives a strong incentive to get the job done right, Graf said.
Von Bargen said such reductions have been done before. Reducing the retainage two percent was part of the bargaining chip for getting the work done, and the two sides could not talk about it anymore, he added.
ìIím still going to vote against it,î Graf said.
ìThatís how we do all the contracts,î fourth district commissioner Dave Corcoran said.
Von Bargen said the county didnít administer the contract and county inspectors werenít out there inspecting the work. The project was done jointly by the City of La Crescent and Houston County. Yaggy Colby or Rochester was the engineer for La Crescent City.
Interim engineer approved
Commissioners also voted to hire Von Bargen on an interim basis as they look for a replacement. Von Bargen resigned effective May 5 to take a job with engineering firm Widseth, Smith and Nolting.
Von Bargen will be paid $7,410 per month as interim engineer. In May he will work 3-1/2 days a week, and in June two days a week.
Graf said the price seemed high. ìThatís what weíre paying now for a full-time engineer,î he said.
Personnel director Tim Comstock said paying for someone from an engineering firm on an hourly basis would be a lot more expensive.
The county is advertising for both a county engineer and an assistant engineer.
Other personnel items
Commissioners approved three other personnel items.
Mike Olson was promoted to the position of lead jailer/dispatcher effective May 2. The position was approved at an earlier meeting, and is intended to take some of the work load from jail administrator Mark Schiltz, who has been working a lot with the proposed criminal justice center. Olson will be paid $19.49 an hour. That is 12 percent higher than the top pay step for the jailer/dispatcher classification, which the board approved in March.
Cole Kelleher was hired as a casual and temporary worker with the surveyorís office at a rate of $9.13 per hour. Kevin Kelleher abstained from the vote; Cole is his son.
Pat Lemke and Kurt Kuhlers were approved for transporting jail inmates.
Other news
ï Bid rescinded: The board voted to rescind a bid that was awarded to Widseth, Smith and Nolting (WSN) for designing an new intersection on Highway 44 and County Road 12. County attorney Rick Jackson told the board that the bidding had occurred when Von Bargen was the engineer, but was let after he had tendered his resignation. That creates an appearance of a conflict of interest, Jackson said, since Von Bargen is going to work for WSN.
Jackson said there are also some changes in potential traffic loads at the intersection, and that Von Bargen feels it would be in the countyís best interest to put a hold on the project. WSN is in agreement with that, Jackson added.
The countyís motion stated that WSN would be paid for work already done. Von Bargen added that WSN would not bid on any part of the project in the future.
ï Aerial photography: The board approved hiring ImageAmerica of Clayton, MO to take aerial photographs of Houston County at a cost of $45,000. It was presented to the board for consideration on April 12.
Several county employees supported the idea at that meeting. They said the six inch digital photos could be used for abstracts, feedlots, and updating parcels.
ìThis is really a good planning tool,î Corcoran said.
ï The board approved renting office space for two county social workers at the Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center in Caledonia. The cost will be $972 per month.
Human services director Beth Wilms said there was no space for a new social worker in the courthouse.
ìIt kind of fits in with need for more space in this courthouse, doesnít it,î commissioner Ann Thompson said.
ìI have three social workers sitting in one office,î Wilms responded. ìItís bad business, itís very bad business.î
ï Wetland exemption: The board approved a wetland application for a certificate of no loss or exemption for Jeff Weibel in section 11 of La Crescent Township, on the pike between La Crosse and La Crescent. Township.
Graf asked how the site would be monitored. Ralph Tuck, Root River Soil and Water Conservation District director, said that is normally done by a conservation officer. He said authorities have to wait for a violation before anything can be done.
ìWe take it seriously, and we want to be consistent in the enforcement of this process,î commissioner Kevin Kelleher said.
ï Interviews starting: After the meeting ended at 10 a.m., the board interviewed four construction management companies for the proposed criminal justice center. They were Bor-Son Construction, Bossardt Corporation, CAM, and 3DI.
Commissioners will interview four bonding companies for the project on May 9: Ehlers and Associates, Northland Securities, PFM Group, and Springsted, Inc.
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