The Polk County Commissioners met on Tuesday at the Polk County Government Center.
NIELSVILLE, HENDRUM, AND GEORGETOWN BRIDGE UPDATE
Polk County Engineer Richard Sanders asked the commissioners to be the lead applicant for the 2024 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Grant Program. The county, along with Norman and Cass Counties, are teaming up to group three bridge projects into the proposal, looking to strengthen the package proposal. The bridges are 5767 (Nielsville), 6676 (Hendrum), and 6646 (Georgetown). “Since 2016, the Nielsville Bridge has been closed due to structure failure/concrete deck failure, so we continue to look for Federal funding to help replace the bridge, and as part of that, it became apparent that the Hendrum Bridge and Hendrum Bridge between Norman County and Trail County, and Clay County and Cass County (in North Dakota) needed to be replaced so we have bundled all three bridges together to help strengthen our application and Polk County is leading the way,” said Sanders. “We hired the consultant, Widseth, to help us with the grant application, stating we are the lead agency and have the ability to get the Federal funds and spend the Federal funds, and we will work with the other counties, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), and North Dakota Department of Transportation to come up with our matching funds.”
The cost of the grant application for the three bridges is $36,000, and they will get $30,000 from the state. The five counties would split the $6,000 left for Widseth to put together the RAISE Grant Program application.
POLK COUNTY BRIDGE PRIORITY LIST FOR 2024-2026
Sanders also presented the 2024 Bridge Replacement Priority list for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026. “Each year, we have to send MnDot a list of bridges within Polk County as a priority list so we can get them funded with state funds, either town bridge funds or bridge bonding, so we had the board approve the resolution this morning listing the bridges in our system and the township system,” said Sanders. “Now the state will see we have the bridge on the priority list, and they can go ahead and fund it.”
The Polk County priority list for 2024-2026 is below.
EAST GRAND FORKS RAISE GRANT APPLICATION UPDATE
Polk County, Grand Forks County, the City of East Grand Forks, and the City of Grand Forks have worked on a Merrifield Bridge and/or Inner City Bridge for several years. East Grand Forks is the lead agency, and they are applying for a planning grant via the RAISE Grant. East Grand Forks has requested a Letter of Support from Polk County for the application. “They are looking at bridges over the river between the two cities or the two counties, so we are putting in a planning grant to help pay for the planning to get it to the point where it could be shovel-ready,” said Sanders.
SOLID WASTE FEE ADJUSTMENT COMING
The commissioners received an update on a possible adjustment of Solid Waste Facility fees after an entity backed out, causing Polk County to receive about 25 percent less waste coming in in 2023. The loss of the additional wastes occurred in November and December of 2023, resulting in a financial impact, costing Polk County over $800,000 less in income. That loss will have to be incurred in 2024. “We had anticipated 25 percent more waste coming in based on an agreement that we had in place that the other entity later renigged on,” said John Steiner of Polk County Environmental Services. “That puts the budget in a tailspin right now. It is more of a formality, and we brought it to the six-county group that we are working with, and now that we are no longer working with that entity, it was likely going to impact the fees. I wanted the public to know that we will likely be making some changes yet this year and get that out as soon as possible.”
POLK COUNTY LANDFILL EXPANSION FINALLY GETS FINAL PERMIT APPROVED
Steiner gave an update on the Polk County Landfill wetland permits, a process that started in 2018. Polk County is looking to expand the landfill to the east, and some wetlands, which the state and federal governments regulate, will be impacted. The permits will allow the county long-term growth for the next 50 to 70 years, and the last permit was received in January of 2024. “We started this in 2018, and it took on a life of its own as one permit became two, then two became four with everything from plants that weren’t supposed to be there to rare natural plant communities and the State and Federal Wetland permits,” said Steiner. “Last year, we saw some breakthroughs, and we were just dealing with the Federal permits last summer, and then on January 26 of this year, the Federal Army Corp of Engineers issued the permit.”
Steiner said the long-term viability of the landfill is in great shape with the final permit approved. “Long-term viability was the primary goal because six counties rely on it. We have had other counties ask about it, and all sorts of counties in the Twin Cities are asking about it because they have all kinds of issues down there. A group is trying to shut down the Hennepin County Energy Facility, which would fill up all the landfills a lot faster. We are just trying to set up Polk County and this region to be in the best position possible.
