JACKSON -- Jackson County will pay $36,201 for asbestos abatement in the Jackson County Resource Center, which would need to be done whether or not part of the building is demolished.
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners accepted the lowest of four bids for asbestos abatement at its meeting Tuesday. The abatement will cover the 1938 building as well as the removal of the choir risers in one room of the 1962 part of the Resource Center.
"Early on when we came to the board with those different options, we had a total of $84,000 (estimate)," said Pete Filippi of Contegrity Group Inc., which is performing construction management services for Jackson County. "You're under budget by $32,000."
Given the shaky economy, some construction and construction-related companies are just trying to maintain what they have and keep their workers busy and employed, Filippi said.
Assessco Environmental, of Sauk Rapids, offered the lowest bid for the project, and while in previous years such a drastically low bid -- $33,132 less than the next lowest bid -- would be a cause for concern, Filippi noted that Assessco Environmental was fully licensed, insured, and had worked with Contegrity in the past.
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"You're not going to see numbers like that again," Filippi said. "Once again, we hit that at a perfect time. A lot of these contractors are busy in the summer months... right now, a lot of that stuff is winding down from them."
The abatement will begin in the last week of September or first week of October.
Jackson County commissioners also hired a contractor for $2,500 to walk through the Resource Center and determine whether it is eligible for designation as a historical building.
The county will begin making a list of items that can be salvaged from the 1938 part of the Resource Center that can be sold to citizens when it is demolished.
In other news Tuesday, the board:
* Set a preliminary not-to-exceed 2011 levy of $8,395,374, representing an increase of 2.7789 percent over the 2010 levy. The final levy will be set in December, and cannot exceed the preliminary levy, though it can be decreased.
* Sold two parcels of tax forfeited land to the city of Heron Lake, which will then likely sell the parcels to neighboring landowners in an effort to remove blight from the city.
* Asked county staff to get estimates for a new chiller for the Jackson County courthouse, which developed a leak in the refrigerant lines.
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Replacing the condenser bundle to repair the leak would cost $25,000, or approximately half the cost of a new chiller, and could only extend the life of the 18-year-old chiller by about five years at best. In contrast, a new chiller would last about 20 years.
* Approved the purchase of a new phone system for county offices for $88,110, less than the $110,500 estimate for the system.
County Coordinator Jan Fransen will attempt to find grants and alternative funding sources for the system.
* Learned the city of Jackson is interested in collaborating on the building and use of a proposed new county highway facility. The project is not in the design stage.
