Lino Lakes Ledger
Council Awards Regional Trail Contract
W.B. Miller of Elk River was the low bidder for the city of Lino Lakes' Regional Trail Improvement project, bid on March 15. The City Council voted unanimously to award the $99,585.15 contract, which was about $85,000 below the Engineer's Estimate, at its meeting of March 26. "We had a great turnout on the bid - 16 bidders," Community Development Director Michael Grochala said.
He explained that the Engineer's Estimate was considerably higher than the low bidder's estimate because of concerns about "the difficulty of the work." Staff was concerned about some of the subsoil, and the ability of the contractor to access the trail alignment with construction equipment.
The bid was reviewed by city staff, the project engineers, and Anoka County Parks staff. The conclusion was that the bid, although considerably lower than city estimates, adequately addressed the scope of the project.
Community Service Officer Hired
An offer of employment will be extended to Kevin Stringer for the position of part-time Community Service Officer with the Lino Lakes Police Department. Stringer is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in law enforcement at Century College.
The offer of employment, contingent upon completion of background checks, was approved by the council 5-0.
County Cooperative Agreement Approved
As part of its consent agenda, the Lino Lakes City Council approved a cooperative agreement with Anoka County which allows the city to participate in the county's qualification to receive and administer U. S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds for the years 2008 through 2010.
"Some entities just automatically receive entitlements," said City Administrator Gordon Heitke at the council workshop preceding the meeting. "Anoka County is one of them."
By executing the agreement, Lino Lakes preserves its ability to apply for and possibly receive grants which are awarded on a competitive basis within the county.
The city could apply directly to the state's Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs for grants. But that is labor-intensive, Heitke said.
"[That] is an extremely complex, time-consuming application process," said Heitke. "It is a major undertaking, and we simply don't have the staffing required to do that right now."
By choosing to apply for grants within the county, he explained, "We think we have a better shot to compete . as a participating member of the Anoka County certification."
Resolution 07-50, Approving and Authorizing Execution of the Anoka County Community Development Block Grant and Home Investment Partnership Program Cooperation Agreement was approved 5-0.
In other action, the council:
. Approved Resolution 07-48, approving a traffic signal agreement with MnDOT for the Lake Drive/I-35W Interchange project. The agreement specifies the parts MnDOT, the city of Lino Lakes, and Anoka County will play with respect to operational and maintenance responsibilities for the project's three new traffic signals and associated street lighting. The vote was unanimous.
. Approved Resolution 07-49, which approved a cooperative construction agreement with MnDOT for the I-35W/Lake Drive Interchange project. The agreement states that MnDOT will fund $576,000 of the costs of construction of the roadway, bridge and signals as its cost share in the project.