Supervisors consider Secondary Roads bids
by Bob Beach
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met Monday, May 4 with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour during its regular weekly session to discuss upcoming projects and purchases for the Secondary Roads Department, beginning with the opening of bids for the resurfacing of County gravel roads. Bruening Rock Products of Decorah submitted the lowest bid for each of the five divisions, ranging from $8.4399 per ton for Division Four to $8.4899 for Division Two. Also bidding were Paul Nieman Construction of Sumner for Division Two ($8.61 per ton) and Wiltgen Construction of Calmar for Division Four ($8.53 per ton) and Division Five ($8.50 per ton). Ridenour said that this year’s gravel resurfacing includes 112,613 tons of rock on 388 miles of County roads and that he would review the bids and make a recommendation for the Board’s consideration next week.
Ridenour next presented the Board with price quotes from Ziegler Cat in Postville and Martin Equipment of Dubuque for the replacement of two motorgrader machines. Martin Equipment’s total cost for two Deere motorgraders was quoted at $242,640, including trade-in and warranty, while Ziegler’s total cost for two Cat motorgraders was $275,200. Despite the price difference of over $30,000, Ridenour recommended the purchase of the Cat machines, citing higher resale value, the proximity of the Cat dealer, dealer services, parts availability, fuel efficiency and familiarity with controls (all motorgraders currently used by Secondary Roads are Cats).
Ridenour said that he would rather continue to use the older machines currently being used than to purchase the Deere machines. Supervisors Dan Byrnes and Dennis Koenig said that given the significant price difference, they would like to invite representatives from both dealerships to meet with the Board before making a decision.
Ridenour also presented the Board with price quotes for a replacement “lowboy” trailer from Scott Van Keppel of Cedar Rapids, Martin Equipment of Dubuque and Ziegler of Postville. The Board accepted Ridenour’s recommendation to purchase an XL Specialized trailer from Scott Van Keppel for $49,140 after trade-in. Martin Equipment quoted a Talbert trailer at $69,500 after trade-in and Ziegler quoted $79,995 after trade-in for a Trail King trailer.
The Board also set Monday, May 18 at 9:30 a.m. as the date and time to open bids for approximately 1,600 square yards of full-depth concrete pavement repair in various locations throughout the County. A public hearing was also held at Monday's meeting regarding the closure of a segment of McCabe Drive (Road #128). Hearing no public comments, the Board approved of the closure with Supervisor Byrnes abstaining from the vote as an adjacent landowner.
In other business, Supervisor Koenig asked the Board to reconsider its decision not to submit a proposal to act as the employer of record for HAWC Partnerships for Children, saying that the health insurance benefit included in the only proposal HAWC received does not include coverage at Gundersen or Mayo, the two major health care providers in the area. Supervisor Byrnes said that his main concern about the County acting as the employer of record for HAWC is the County’s potential unemployment compensation liability if a HAWC employee were to be laid off. He also suggested that HAWC should look at the health insurance policies available to small groups. Board Chairman Larry Schellhammer said that he doesn’t think it would hurt anything to continue discussions with HAWC but that HAWC may have more options to consider.
The Board also agreed to increase the total maximum flex plan contribution amount from the current $2,000 to $2,550 and appointed Jan Ellingson to fill the vacancy on the County's Board of Health caused by the retirement of Betty Howe.
