Working Session of the Mazeppa City Council
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
The Mazeppa City Council held a Working Session meeting to discuss expectations for bid opening and the next steps.
The Working Session of the Mazeppa City Council was called to order at 6:30 PM.
The Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Present: Mayor Chris Hagfors. Council Persons Michael Hammes, Dustin Wiebusch, and Erica Young.
Others Present: City Engineer Matt Mohs, Project Engineer Jake Pichelman and City Administrator-Clerk Karl Nahrgang.
Absent: Councilperson Steve Liffrig.
City Engineer Matt Mohs gave an overview of the process to date. He stated that the location change that occurred when the original proposed location was in the floodway as determined by the Army Corp of Engineers caused a delay when the City had chosen a different location and the plans had to be re-engineered for the new location.
Mr. Mohs explained that the bid opening would be electronic, but paper bids would be accepted. Electronic bids are submitted to the CPM website, designed to provide information to and collect bid submissions. He said when bids are submitted by paper, each is reviewed for required information is included in the submissions. The electronic bids will be all displayed at once and all required documents will already be checked as included and any bidders will be present by electronic meeting if they choose.
Mr. Mohs stated that the USDA Rural Development, the primary agency issuing the loan and majority grant for the project requested that bid opening be move from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on July 24, 2024, to accommodate review of 2 addendums to the bid information. Both had to be reviewed by USDA Rural Development. He explained that addendums are issued due to contractor requests for material or equipment substitutions. The first was approved by USDA Rural Development on July 12, 2024. The second was pending. To give contractors time to update their bids upon approval of Addendum #2, USDA Rural Development requested that the City move the bid opening from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on July 24, 2024.
Mr. Mohs reported that 4 contractors were listed as Prime Bidders held plans. A prime contractor holds the contract, and subcontractors will work under the Prime Contractor. Bolton and Menk have worked with all the contractors submitting bids on past projects. The lowest responsive bid from a responsible bidder will be accepted and sent to USDA Rural Development for review. A responsive bid meets the criteria laid out in the bidding document and a responsible bidder has been determined to have the experience, personnel, equipment, and financial backing to perform the requirements of the contract.
After bid opening, the low bid will be sent USDA Rural Development for review, then be reviewed by the City Council, contracts will be issued, reviewed, signed, and pre-construction meeting will be scheduled.
The project will be permitted through the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.
If the bids come in over the Engineer’s estimated budget, it would be decided if the project should be re-bid, if the estimated contingency funds will cover the higher bid, or if the collection system projects associated with this project would have to be downsized. The City would work with USDA Rural Development to determine wat would be downsized or cut from the project. If the collection system project were to be downsized, the City would determine at what point in the future to do and how to fund these additional projects.
The City and its engineer will put into place a system for financial tracking and change orders that may happen,
If all bids are higher than planned and the project is re-bid additional money from USDA would be subject to a higher interest rate and new federal “Build American, Buy American” rules and increase the cost of the project further.
Since USDA Rural Development and Minnesota Public Facility Authority are both part of the funding stream, each had different rules about how grant reimbursement is done. USDA Rural development will determine funding splits on pay submissions.
The project rules require an 8-foot by 4-foot sign to be displayed at the site.
Motion by Hammes, second by Young to recess the meeting until July 31, 2024, at 6:00 PM to accept a project bid. All in favor, none opposed. Carried.
Meeting recessed at 7:49 PM. _______________________________________
Administrator-Clerk