TOWER — The city council on Monday rejected the four bids it had received for new infrastructure and soil mitigation needed for both the planned harbor development and the ongoing work at the nearby Marjo RE property.
The lowest bid came nearly $600,000 above engineers’ estimates for the utility extension, which left the city well short of funding, not including the cost of the soil mitigation needed at the harbor site. The city has since been awarded a $180,000 state housing grant for infrastructure, but that still leaves the price tag well above available funds.
City officials were hopeful that a new round of bidding could yield better pricing. The city is also planning to bid the soil mitigation work separately in hopes of attracting some smaller scale bidders who might be able to do the work for less than initial bids received last month.
City officials are planning to meet with Breitung Township representatives in the next few days to discuss reallocating mineral bond funds previously earmarked for a new water main for the city of Tower to the infrastructure work for the harbor and Marjo properties. Those mineral bonds were also earmarked for the new drinking water plant and the rapid infiltration basin, or RIB, a wastewater treatment facility that is expected to increase the two communities’ wastewater treatment capacity by at least 50 percent.
Mayor Dave Setterberg said the wastewater board likely won’t know how much funding may be available for reallocation until the board receives bids on the RIB project, which isn’t expected before February. Currently, engineers’ estimates suggest a few hundred thousand dollars may be available, but those estimates have proven to be unreliable on recent projects. Councilors seemed to concur that the harbor and Marjo infrastructure is the top priority for funding should the funds be available.
Clerk search
The council briefly discussed their ongoing clerk-treasurer search but seemed to disagree on how many candidates have submitted applications, ranging from six to ten. Councilor Joe Morin said three candidates have been interviewed, two from the area and one from out of state.
“One of the candidates has some relevant experience,” he said. “They all bring in some good talent and energy and … experience, I guess, to the table,” he added.
Morin suggested at least one more interview before deciding on finalists, who would then presumably be interviewed by the full council in a public meeting.
Setterberg said that interview will likely take place at a special meeting, since he said the council likely would not want to wait until their next regular monthly meeting on Dec. 8. The council, after some comparison of calendars, settled on Nov. 19 as a possible date for a special meeting to interview clerk candidates, with a potential backup date of Dec. 1.
The application deadline closed Nov. 7, and Setterberg noted that another application did arrive in the evening of Nov. 7.
“We’ll talk about that after,” he said.
In other business, the council:
• Approved Option 1 from the proposal from American Tower, with the change that the signing bonus is increased from the original offer of $25,000 to $30,000. The offer from American Tower will keep the annual lease rate the same, while adding three ten-year extensions.
• Discussed but took no action on approval of a resolution supporting an application for state Local Road Improvement Project, or LRIP, funds for improvements to Marina Drive. That proposal did receive some pushback from council member Bob Anderson, who questioned whether the city might be better off cutting back on new projects for a while.
• Approved the creation and posting of a new assistant ambulance director position, with a salary range to be determined.