Justice Center bids coming in June

After years of planning by the Carlton County board of commissioners and county administration, major bid packages for the county’s justice center are scheduled to be released June 10, closing June 30. A guaranteed maximum price for the justice center will be presented to the board at its July 12 meeting by construction manager Adolfson & Peterson.

There are many contractors involved in the project, which has grown to an estimated $73 million with an estimated 15 percent inflation rate built in. The final cost won’t be determined until after the bids come in, and shouldn’t exceed the confirmed maximum price.

During Monday’s committee of the whole meeting, commissioner Marv Bodie said he thought bidding will be competitive because there are no other large construction projects in the area. This project will be built with labor that is covered by the prevailing wage.

The construction site northeast of the county transportation building has seen positive results from the test drilling. The sand and gravel subsoil showed that it's a quality site to build on. Drilling has shown that the bedrock is at a depth of 44 feet.

Equipment and furniture for the building will be purchased under the contract the state of Minnesota has had every year. The items purchased fall under the three categories of good, better and best, determined by funds available and the quality of the item.

The construction of the building will be from east to west in sequence. A 50- to 75-foot buffer of trees will sit between the west parking lot and the high line which skirts along the east side of Olsonville. Lighting will be placed at 100-foot intervals around the building and in the parking lots.

Final costs for actual operation of the building are still in the works. Jail administrator Paul Coughlin said the new jail complex will be easier to staff. The current jail has a ratio of 1 staff member to 25 inmates because of the outdated configuration of the cells. The new jail will enable a staff-to-inmate ratio of 1:40.

Sheriff Kelly Lake is negotiating with the Fond du Lac Band for a monitoring plan, in case any cultural artifacts or human remains are discovered when the site soil is disturbed during construction. It is known that the area was heavily excavated when the Northern Pacific was built starting in 1869, and that area shows the spoil ridges from the steam shovel excavation at that time. Coughlin said the county is making this move out of respect for the Band’s concerns.

Coughlin laid out the construction schedule during Monday’s meeting:

• May, site work, removing vegetation and topsoil

• May 26, design development ends.

• June 30, deadline for bidding on the major work for the building

• July 12, final bid packages approval by county board

• August 15, construction starts

• September, below-grade concrete installation starts

• January 2023, installation of precast panels starts

• July 2024, complex completion date

• Summer 2024, junction of Old Highway 61 and MinnesotaHighway 210 reconfigured to accommodate traffic to the new building.

Up in the air is the county’s $22,511,000 bonding proposal for the Regional Female-Oriented Justice Program. State legislators are considering whether to include it in the overall state bonding bill or not. If approved, the $22.5 million amount is 29.5 percent of the current building proposal. The women’s program has been promoted as a regional initiative which will provide services not available in northern Minnesota. Once construction has started, state bonding money cannot be used.

Carlton County residents will vote on a new half-percent sales tax to fund the justice center construction in November; otherwise, payment for the new justice center construction most likely would come from increased property taxes.

People will be able to follow progress during the construction of the complex; drones with photo capabilities will scan the site regularly to provide the programming for the website.