Co. Highway Committee Awards Bids For Projects The Marinette County Highway Committee meetings involve careful consideration of every detail and possible ramifications of every agenda item, and the Thursday, Sept. 3 meeting was typical and lasted for over three hours. Administrator Mark Desotell believes his committee members should be treated as partners in the decision-making process.
The meeting began with DOT Project Leader Russ Flynn explaining the plans for the County Highway T project and the Cleveland Avenue closing on Tuesday, Sept. 8, that will restrict access to the Holiday Gas Station at the US 41 and Co. T intersection. That stretch will reopen Oct. 1, and the entire project is slated to be completed Nov. 13, Flynn said.
Tom Westlund whose buses serve the Marinette School District had a number of questions about alternate routes.
The committee also examined bids for gravel crushing and screening and screened sand. Bid Package 1 was Pembine gravel crushing, resulted in choice of a low bid from Payne & Dolan of $78,000 using the Spikehorn Pit. There were other bids, including Biehl Construction, Duffek Sand and Gravel, Peters Concrete, and T& T Custom. The bids ranged as high as $112,000.
Bid Package 2 was Winter Control Sand, and Peters Concrete won out with a $53,750 figure. Other bids came from Biehl, Duffek, Mike’s Materials, and Peters Concrete. The bids ranged to $167,000.
Bid Package 3 was winter control sand for the Crivitz area, and Peters Concrete also got this with a bid of $32,250. The highest was $100,500.
Bid Package 4 for winter control out of Pembine, and Payne and Dolan’s bid of $12,600 using the Spikehorn Pit was low. Duffek, Peters Concrete and T&T Custom also bid. The highest bid was $27,750.
Bid package 5 was for the Co. C area 3/4 inch dense aggregate brought only two bids and low bid $58,500 was from Duffek. Only Payne & Dolan had a competing bid at $66,000.
The next topic was budget review, a complex one, with no easy solutions. Mel Sharpe thought the snow and ice control total was perhaps not high enough. Desotell said he uses a five year average to arrive at a total.
“Why don’t we raise it right now?”persisted Sharpe. Desotell said he prefers using a five year average, adding, “Last year was one of the highest on record.”
“Winter maintenance is the easiest way to make people happy”, Sharpe said.
Desotell said he will reduce the use of salt. He added that drivers take time to adjust to winter driving conditions, and added that salt doesn’t work well at temperatures below 20 degrees.
If the budget for winter maintenance is too high, he added, it takes away from summer construction.
Russ Bauer felt the tax levy for construction is too low, and Sharpe said, “We’re getting ‘‘hit’ more than somebody else.”
Switching to the ongoing push to have towns and villages give the Highway Department their summer projects in return for the county’s commitment to plow their snow, Desotell said snow removal will continue this winter, but they must do a good faith effort for summer work.
The discussion hit the high spots on various budget categories: County L Construction, County S construction, Co. S STP projects, and routine maintenance.
Desotell said, “We’re trying to ‘squeeze’ asphalt. Many roads have needs, but. We’ll have to adjust some downward to make the budget fit. We’ll need $200,000 for County I. The Co. L project will be costly. We need more investment in our roads, but we can’t ‘print’ money to do it.”
He ended the discussion at 10:45 a.m., saying, “We’ll review the budget in more detail at our next meeting.”
The committee approved his suggestion to transfer two vehicles from the motor pool to capital outlay, a ‘buy back’ at $24,000 each.
In the discussion about asphalt prices from Northeast Asphalt which came next, Desotell said the question is “Shall we lock in prices with another multi-year agreement?” The current price is $40.55 a ton, he said, and there is a risk if it drops. Sharpe said he thought it would go up, and felt they should lock in for the County I, OO, L, and U projects. The committee voted approval for his motion to that effect.
Also approved was a stump disposal offer from Mike Mans for the Co. L reconstruction. His 40 acre parcel fronts on a northbound stretch of Co. L. His $3500 charge is only a third as much as a prior one. Clearing trees from needed land for a curve improvement will involve removal of trees, which will be cut into usable lengths and will require stump removal.
The date for the surplus equipment auction is Thursday, Oct. 10.
Maintenance foreman Joe Baranek explained a plan to improve long term maintenance of roadside ditches and save long term costs by earlier and more frequent mowing of brush before it gets too mature and dense. His four-year plan will mow about 90 miles per year to stay ahead of the growth of brush. Also included is removal of trees close to the roads to eliminate the canopy over them that prevents the sun from melting away snow and ice during the winter and present hazards for vehicles that leave the roadway, and signage improvements for Co. O ATV access in the Town of Dunbar were approved.
After review of activities and approval of vouchers, the meeting adjourned.
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