On Tuesday morning, the Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center for a regular meeting.
HIGHWAY-RICHARD SANDERS
County Engineer Richard Sanders approached the board with a Maintenance Request repairing some erosion in County Ditch 99, located by Crookston Township Road near the Red Lake River that happened during last year’s spring flooding. “Back in April of 2022, we had the spring flooding, and as part of that, erosion happened south of the Crookston Township Road down to the Red Lake River. We are working with FEMA, and they have allocated about $120,000 worth of funding, $60,000 in regular funding, and $60,000 in mitigation to repair that part of the ditch from the Township Road past the next property,” said Sanders. “So, we’re going to bring that grade back to legal Ditch Grade, rip-wrap and seed it, and then the watershed is going to take the Ditch from the end of the property down to the Red Lake River and use some One Watershed funds to prepare the rest of it.” The board approved the requests unanimously.
2024 Single Axle Diesel Truck
Sanders asked for approval for the purchase of a new 2024 Single Axle Diesel Truck from Boyer Ford Trucks in Duluth at the cost of $83,495.15. The board approved the purchase.
ADMINISTRATION-CHUCK WHITING
Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting then joined Sanders with an update on an inner-city bridge study the city of East Grand Forks was leading in coordination with Polk and Grand Forks Counties. “The city of East Grand Forks and Grand Forks are looking at having a consultant perform a feasibility study on an intercity bridge, and Grand Forks County and Polk County have always had it in the back of their minds to build a Mayerfield Bridge Crossing,” County Engineer Richard Sanders explained. “So, the four entities got together and made a Request for Proposal (RFP) and negotiated a consulting agreement with SRF Consulting out of Minneapolis as the consultant to do the feasibility study and study how and where we can find funding to construct those two bridges.” The study will focus on intercity bridge options that address bridge crossings and intercity crossing options with a total cost not exceeding $151,170.33. Staff from the two counties had met and recommended both counties commit to the study cost share with no more than $20,000 each, with the other half of the study being paid by the cities. The board approved their share amount for the study.
Juvenile Detention Facility Construction Payment Change Order
Whiting next shared a change order report for the payment for the construction of the Red River Valley Juvenile Center. As the project is close to completion, the Building Committee grouped all the minor changes in one change order for the board. Items included rough carpentry, plumbing/HVAC systems, painting/wall coverings, and security glazing. “We have a few bills less that set us aside by $18,391 on a $1,337,191 project, but they’re all pretty minor items,” Whiting explained. With the items and inspector approvals, the facility hopes to reopen during the week of March 6.
SOCIAL SERVICES-KAREN WARMACK
Polk County Social Services Director Karen Warmack approached the board with the request to approve a contract with Sanford Health Network North to provide Crisis Services and behavioral health crisis services for $686,882 for 2023 and $785,059 for 2024. Warmack also requested a similar contract with Alluma to provide the same services during 2023-24 for $1,160,826 for 2023 and $1,338,980 for 2024. The board approved both contracts.
CONSENT ITEMS
The board’s Consent items included approving the board minutes from their meeting on February 7 and the Commissioner Warrants and Sign Audit List. The other item included approving a payment to US Bank, St. Louis, for $263,505.56 for procurement card purchases. The board approved the items unanimously.
The Polk County Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, February 28, in the Polk County Government Center at 8:00 a.m.
