Marquette selects
contractor for stormwater project

By Trudy Balcom

Marquette will begin construction on The Bench stormwater infrastructure project this spring. At the city council meeting held
on January 19, the council selected the wining bidder for the million dollar project.

But it wasn’t the lowest bidder.

Tim Cutsforth of Howard R. Green, engineering contractor for the project, told the council that seven bids were submitted,
and that all but one came in below the estimate. But a paperwork glitch on the part of the lowest bidding contractor eliminated
that company from consideration.

Badger Environmental and Earthworks of Westby, Wis., was low bidder on the project with a bid of $997,742. But the
company failed to place the bid security document in a separate envelope as directed in the city’s request for proposals (RFP).

The next lowest bid was from Pirc-Tobin Construction of Alburnett, Iowa, at $1,117,017.

Cutsforth advised the city in a letter dated January 15 that both bids were below the engineer’s opinion of probable
cost—Badger was at 23 percent below and Pirc-Tobin at 12 percent below. The difference between the two bids was $137,000.

City Attorney Jim Garret told the council that they opened the city to legal challenges from other contractors if they
accepted the Badger Environmental bid, since the company failed to submit a bid that was complete and according to
instructions. In fact, he told the council that he had already received word from Pirc-Tobin that they would challenge the city if
Badger was selected.

Representatives of Pirc-Tobin were in attendance at the meeting. Principals of the company are related to council member
Mary Jo Pirc.

Garrett advised the council that they could reject all bids and start the bidding process all over again, if they chose.

City Manager Dean Hilgerson told the council that he felt that time is an important  factor in the project right now.

“Let me be very clear. Our hope was to start the project as soon as possible…before the threat of Mississippi River
flooding. The time constraints are real,” Hilgerson told the council.

He said that the loss of $137,000 was regrettable, but that with new bids, costs could go up. He explained that the bid specs
were very specific, and that he advised that the city go with the next lowest bid and get the project started.

Council members Tracy Melver and Jason Winter reluctantly agreed.

“As much as I hate to spend the extra $137,000, what’s fair is fair and some didn’t make the bar,” Winter said.

McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce President Patti Campbell addressed the council about an
opportunity for a downtown assessment for both Marquette and McGregor.

A downtown assessment is conducted by development professionals from the Iowa Department of Economic
Development’s Downtown Resource Center. A team of professionals make a two day visit to the community and speak with
community members, business owners and representatives of local government. The team then makes recommendations
to the towns on how they can improve.

“This is a free service, most communities have to pay for this,” Campbell told the council. According to the Iowa
Department of Economic Development Web site, the normal cost for this service is $2,500. Campbell said the communities
could get it for free because they were named a Great Place. The council agreed to assist with the assessment as necessary.

Campbell also invited the council to select two council members to serve on a Chamber conference committee. The
committee would consist of members of the council from both Marquette and McGregor and members of the Chamber Board of Directors. The committee will meet as needed to address issues of mutual concern. Rinda Ferguson and Tracy Melver agreed to serve
on the conference committee.

The council also discussed  a request for road maintenance from residents of the Roundhouse Addition.

There was some discussion of whether the city formally agreed to provide these residents with road maintenance back in
1994 when the area was annexed. City Attorney Garrett said he could find no clear evidence that the city had made this promise.

But he told the council that if they wanted to extend these services, that they should get an easement to the property to be
maintained. The issue was tabled for further research.

In other actions, the council:

• Appointed Maryanne Trudo city clerk for two years

• Tabled a vote on a zero lot-line ordinance until after a public hearing

• Approved the bylaws and a resolution of support for the Driftless Wetland Centre.

McGregor begins new year with new council

By Trudy Balcom

Two new council members were sworn in and seated for their first meeting of the McGregor City Council at the Jan. 20
meeting.

Jason Bogdonovich, who was elected last fall, and John Brady, who was appointed by the council to take the seat
ormerly held by Jason Solberg.

Former City Clerk-Aministrator Norm Lincoln has stepped in to help run the city and prepare the annual budget  at the
request of the Mayor Gay Hallberg. Former City Clerk-Administrator Tom Meyer resigned and his final day was Jan. 19. The
council approved a contract for employment for Lynette Sander, who will take up the position in mid-February.

“We’re very fortunate that Norm is willing to step up,” Hallberg told the council.

Bill Nelson of Vierbicher and Associates again made an appearance before the council to make a final pay request
for the Ohmer Ridge project. He was seeking $18,274 for final quantities and work completed by Skyline Construction.

The payment is in consideration of work on the new section of Center Avenue that the contractor completed last year.

The road has since developed some cracks, which city crews tried to repair in the fall. Some of the cracks will still require
major repairs in the spring.

Nelson told the council that in the places where the cracks are the worst, near lots#19 and #11, the road is on a steep grade.

“These areas were difficult to compact due to topography,” Nelson said. Settling of the underlying fill has caused the cracks.

The council expressed their displeasure with the cracks, saying that the work should have been done right the first time. They voted to pay $11,687 and to withhold $6,587 until the cracks are repaired in the spring.

Confusion about the details with the solid waste contract with Waste Management and the whether or not the city had
approved a new roof for the Turner Park picnic shelter will bring these agenda items  to the council again.

McGregor considered bids for the solid waste contract beginning last November. Mayor Roger Knott vetoed a vote by the
council for low bidder Town & Country. Councilwoman Rogeta Halvorson noticed two inaccurate dates in the current
contract with Waste Management, and council sent the contract back for corrections and asked that it be added to the agenda for next month.

Park Board member Maria Brummel first approached the council about the roof for the Turner Park shelter last summer, and another Park Board member, Dave Breitbach, returned in the fall to again make a request for funds to replace the roof. At one meeting,
the council recalled, there was discussion of using TIF funds to replace the roof. The council thought that they had already
approved the repair, but they could not be sure without checking the minutes, so the item was tabled.

Lincoln informed the council that he would be working on the city’s budget for the next fiscal year. The council plans
to complete some upgrades at City Hall in the coming months, with new carpet and desks and a new exterior paint job.

In other actions, the council:

• Approved a raise for Street superintendent Brian Hamann

• Appointed Ryan Johnson to serve as the city’s representative on the Wetlands Centre Board

• Approved The Outlook as the city’s newspaper of record for the 2010 calendar year.

Man charged 
with vehicular homicide in accident near Monona

Chad Robert Feller, 21, Prairie du Chien, has been charged in Allamakee County District Court with one count of homicide
by vehicle and one count of serious injury by vehicle. The charges are a result of a motor vehicle accident on Sept. 14, 2009 in
Allamakee County on Suttle Creek Road.

An investigation into the accident by the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office determined Feller to be operating the vehicle in a
reckless manner at the time of the accident.

The accident resulted in the death of one passenger, David Kirschbaum, 27, who was ejected from the vehicle. A 22-year
old passenger also was injured.

Feller is being held in the Crawford County Jail.