Supervisors accept bridge repair bids, discuss equipment purchases

GRUNDY CENTER- The Grundy County Board of Supervisors approved low bids for three bridge repair projects and discussed the possibility of delaying equipment purchases due to the COVID-19 situation during Monday morning’s regular meeting.

On bridges F-12 and B-10, Cunningham-Reis of Van Meter submitted the low bid on each ($51,740 for F-12 and $57,155 for B-10), and Boulder Contracting of Grundy Center submitted the low bid on Bridge B-03 at $58,271. The board voted unanimously to approve the bids after County Engineer Gary Mauer had time to review them.

Mauer went on to discuss how the COVID-19 outbreak could affect road use tax fund revenues from the state and the possibility that a decrease in revenues could in turn affect purchasing power for new equipment like a skid loader and a box culvert project in the county. He also noted that summer hours are about to begin for the secondary roads department.

Supervisor Jim Ross told the board that he didn’t believe the county should be buying new equipment—including a truck that had already been quoted from Rouse Motors—at this time.

“Things like this ought to be put on hold. In terms of people paying their taxes and then us buying a new truck, I don’t like the look of it,” he said.

Supervisor Mark Schildroth countered that supporting Rouse, which is based in Grundy Center, was more important than ever in light of the circumstances.

“We have a local businessman who gave us a good faith bid that’s now public. I think we should support Marty,” Schildroth said.

The board eventually settled on a motion to wait until May 7 before officially approving the truck quote, which includes a trade-in for a current vehicle.

Later in the meeting, Supervisor Heidi Nederhoff asked if the board should enact a formal policy on the conduct of employees who are working from home, as she noted that some local teachers have been instructed not to be seen out in public during the day. After some discussion, the supervisors agreed to put an item on next week’s agenda that would instruct work from home employees not to leave the house unless they face an “emergency situation.”

“I think we should have some expectations of how these people should be conducting themselves when they’re working from home, but I don’t think we should get too demanding or explicit,” Schildroth said.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, the board:

·      Approved the final plat of the Back Nine Addition in Dike.

·      Approved replacing Gale Peterson with Kelly Dinsdale on the county compensation commission.

·      Approved a letter of support for the Black Hawk Creek watershed project.

·      Approved a designation of essential services and workers.

·      Approved the veterans affairs quarterly report.