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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Council has questions on engineering fees

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 1/26/22

TOWER— The Tower City Council, at Monday’s meeting, approved engineering fees for a modest project at the Tower Airport, but not without raising questions about the high cost. The airport …

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Council has questions on engineering fees

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TOWER— The Tower City Council, at Monday’s meeting, approved engineering fees for a modest project at the Tower Airport, but not without raising questions about the high cost. The airport upgrades include replacing a culvert, installing a new automatic gate to the facility, and repaving the main vehicle parking lot and access road. Engineering fees for the project total $36,700, a figure that caught city officials by surprise.
“It just sounds like an awful lot of money for installing a gate and a culvert and repaving a parking lot,” said Mayor Dave Setterberg. The fees did not include any of the construction cost of the project, but federal and state dollars will make up 95 percent of the total cost, leaving the city on the hook for $1,835 for the engineering.
“Someone still has to pay that,” noted Setterberg. Other councilors questioned the numerous charges that the city’s engineering firm, SEH, included in its service agreement. Those included hourly rates ranging from $31.06 to $76.60, along with a 35-percent salary “overhead” charge, and a 137-percent general and administrative overhead charge. On top of that, SEH, also charges a 15-percent “fee.”
“We get the overhead costs, but then the 15 percent is tacked on top?” questioned council member Joe Morin. “Is this the industry standard?”
“That’s my understanding, but I can follow up,” said Sarah Mattes, who was representing SEH
and spoke to the council through GoToMeeting. Mattes also noted that the engineering fees included hiring a subcontractor, Braun Intertec, to conduct soil borings ahead of repaving the parking lot.
The council initially seemed reluctant to approve the SEH proposal, but later relented when Mattes said any delay would make it difficult to meet an April 11 deadline for awarding the project. While the council approved the project proposal, they indicated they still wanted an explanation of the charges.
“We just want to be sure we’re doing our due diligence,” said Setterberg.
In other business, the council heard a report from wastewater manager Matt Tuchel, who outlined the latest test results for the community’s drinking water. The Department of Health notified the city that it remains in violation for trihalomethanes, a byproduct of the disinfection of the wells that serve both Tower and Soudan. The latest test results showed the levels were slightly below the maximum allowable level of 80.4 micrograms per liter, although higher numbers earlier in the year contributed to an annual average of 91.1 micrograms/l, which slightly exceeded the allowable annual limit.
Tuchel told the council that the wastewater board removed four beaver dams along the East Two River this fall and that he expects the trihalomethane numbers will fall some more when the next tests are run in February. Meanwhile, haloacetic acid levels, another byproduct of disinfection, remained within the allowable limit, with the latest result showing just 3.8 micrograms/l, well below the maximum limit of 60.4 micrograms/l.
The levels of the two chemicals have fluctuated in recent years due to the presence of beavers near the wells that serve the two communities. Beavers have raised water levels near the wells, causing some contamination from surface water, which has forced the wastewater board to disinfect the well water. The disinfectants, in combination with organic compounds found in the surface waters, are known to produce byproducts like trihalomethanes and haloacetic acid.
In other action, the council:
• Heard an explanation from Setterberg about snowplowing in the city. He said the decision when and how to plow the city is left to the public works supervisor and that he will sometimes delay plowing after a light snowfall, particularly if additional snow is in the near-term forecast. Setterberg said plowing generally starts on the city’s northwest side and moves to the southeast. Outlying areas, such as Lake Ave. and Eales Rd. are plowed later, with the airport plowed once everyplace else in the city is cleared.
• Gave final approval to appointments to city boards and committees, with no changes from what was previously reported. The council also appointed the Timberjay as the city’s official newspaper for 2022.
• Announced that they plan to hold a meeting of the forestry board, which has been inactive for several years.
• Approved an additional $2,500 in funding for sewer cleaning and televising as well as for routine “exercising” of water valves as preventative maintenance.
• Authorized the purchase of wetland credits related to the harbor trailhead project, which is being funded by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, or LCCMR. That project is finally back on track after years of delay due to previous city hall mismanagement.
• Agreed to request restitution for vandalism at city hall two years ago. The county is now prosecuting the case and the city has estimated the damages at $2,649, which included damage to the city hall elevator and the smashing of a glass panel in the city hall’s front door.
Council member Sheldon Majerle asked if the individual could do community service in lieu of have to make cash restitution. Clerk-Treasurer Michael Schultz said he’d check with the county to see if that could be an alternative.
• Heard from Schultz that he is researching the accuracy of city water and sewer bills after some questions were raised about some of the line item charges. (The Timberjay has also been investigating this issue recently and expects to have a report soon, possibly as early as next week.)
• Opted to continue to hold council meetings at the Herbert R. Lamppa Civic Center, at least for the time-being. The council moved to the civic center shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic since it allowed for more social distancing than in the council’s traditional chambers at city hall. Schultz said holding meetings at the civic center constitutes a little extra work for him, but said that effort was pretty minor. “And there are advantages to being here,” he said.