(Arnolds Park)– A project to build a decorative retaining wall at the Okoboji Cemetary and to reconstruct a war memorial in Arnolds Park is finally about to get off the drawing board. A bidletting on the project was held earlier this summer, but it came in much higher than the engineer’s estimate. Only one firm, Mark’s Lawn Service, submitted a bid. Efforts to negotiate a lower price failed. The council then opted to scrap the bid and start over. While Mark’s Lawn Service re-bid the project, another firm, Valley Contracting of Estherville, was the low bidder this time around at 458,517-dollars. That’s still over the engineer’s estimate of 406-thousand. The council Wednesday awarded the bid to Valley, but certain parts of the project will be scaled back to reduce the cost. Completion is still slated for this fall.
The council also Wednesday awarded a bid on a drainage project in the Forest Park Addition east of the post office. IT was awarded to Cohr’s Construction…low bidder at 18,789-dollars…below the engineer’s estimate of 23,330. The project has an October 1st completion date.
Council members reviewed preliminary plans to revamp Carita and Katrina Streets next construction season. The streets will be re-surfaced and widened to 26 feet with curb and gutter and storm sewer along with sidewalks on each side. Portions of the projects will be assessed to property owners. A public hearing on the combined projects is set for 7:00 p.m. September 10th.
The council decided to hold a special meeting in late September to talk about the ordinance requiring all parking lots in Arnolds Park be hard-surfaced by December 15th of this year. At issue is how to penalize those that fail to meet the requirement, and to establish criteria for granting extension requests.
The council also set 15 dollars per item as the charge to dispose of white and brown goods; and they decided to join a law enforcement high risk entry team being formed by various law enforcement agencies in the region. It will cost the city 400-dollars a year.
