The St. Louis County School Board agreed 6-1 on Monday to let bids for the construction of two new schools although the district has not yet obtained the necessary permits to build them. Board member Andy Larson, who represents the Tower-Soudan attendance area, voted against the action.

The district is still in the environmental review process for the construction sites — one located between four to five miles north of Cook in Field Township and the other near Alborn — and also must receive conditional use permits from St. Louis County before work can begin. It could take until July or August before work could start on the south school if the permit is granted and could conceivably delay construction on the north site until September and possibly even December.

Audience members Marshall Helmberger and John Hess said that both projects may have to be modified to obtain permits and said calling for bids now may prove costly to taxpayers if bid specifications need to be revised by the district.

“You are incurring additional risks of spending taxpayer dollars...by essentially putting the cart before the horse,” said Helmberger, who added that it also seemed to run roughshod over the county’s legal process by soliciting bids before the Planning Commission acted on the permit requests. “It’s surprisingly disrespectful. They should have the same prerogatives that this board assumes for itself.”

Hess said that contractors who spend time and money analyzing and preparing bids might pursue repayment through litigation if the district is forced to alter the specifications or locations of the schools and toss out the bids.

Gary Zifko, project manager for the Kraus-Anderson Construction Co., said the wording on the call for bids stipulates that the district can reject any and all bids and contractors would not be able to resort to any legal action.

Board member Zelda Bruns, of the Orr attendance area, said the district would not award any bids until it was able to proceed with construction, but was letting the bids so it could begin construction as soon as possible if the county authorizes the permits to build.

The St. Louis County building trades sent a letter in support of the board’s action.

“Delaying the bidding process until the permit process is complete may jeopardize full utilization of this year’s construction season, delay construction of the schools and keep too many of our workers on the bench longer than necessary,” wrote Craig Olson, president of the Duluth Building Trades.

Olson added that his interest in the projects isn’t just professional. “I live one mile from the site of the proposed new south school and eagerly anticipate it as a vital institution for rural southern St. Louis County,” he stated in the letter.

In related action, the board agreed unanimously to receive bids for remodeling and construction of an addition to the Cherry School.

Board members also accepted Mesabi Bituminous Inc.’s low bid for the demolition of a portion of the Cherry School. The Gilbert-based contractor bid $53,500 and was recommended by Kraus-Anderson to receive the bid from a field of six contractors, with bids ranging from $53,500 to $107,500.

Board members briefly discussed having a groundbreaking ceremony at Cherry, which will be the first project started since voters approved the $78.8 million bond issue in December 2009. The details of the groundbreaking, which would likely occur later this month, were left up to Cherry community members and the district superintendent.

In addition, board members awarded the chimney demolition project at Babbitt-Embarrass School to Hibbing Excavation Inc., whose bid of $13,800 was the lowest of five received. Board member Gary Rantala, who represents that attendance area, said his only concern was that Hibbing Excavation’s bid was so much lower than the others, which ranged from $32,125 to $144,000. But Zifko, of Kraus-Anderson, vouched for the company’s experience with similar demolition projects.