Architectís bill remains unpaid

By MaryHelen Swanson
Chisago County owes architectural firm KKE $98,000 for work done on projects the county started last year including the proposed new government center and a new nursing home.
In December the board agreed to pay the bill, after county staff reviewed it with the firm for accuracy.
Commissioner Ben Montzka believes the bill should be less, or at least negotiated lower.
Twice during the March 5 meeting, in discussion of this issue, County Attorney Katherine Johnson told the board they had no legal basis for not paying the bill.
Montzkaís concern centers around some $71,000 of the bill that was incurred in the days following the November general election when two new commissioners were elected. It is apparently his belief the work should not have continued.
On a motion by Commissioner Rick Olseen, with a second by Commissioner Lora Walker, the board voted 3-1 to not pay the bill but to have an appointed person meet with a KKE representative about the bill .
Commissioner Mike Robinson was the dissenting vote. He believed the bill should be paid.
Commissioner Olseen was appointed to meet with KKE.
In other business last week, the board:
ï Moved to have Honeywell look at the present Green Acres Country Care Center facility to see if a program could be initiated there for energy conservation and to have Hortz and Elving Associates conduct a survey of the nursing home facility to see if it could be converted and used as an office building. The board allowed up to $2,000 for these services.
ï Approved parks director Laird Mork submitting applications for grants: one to purchase 40 acres of land adjacent to Checkerboard Park east of North Branch, and one to make improvements to the Dennis Frandsen Park on the north shores of Rush Lake.
ï Moved to award the $2 million general obligation bond sale to Morgan Stanley DW, Inc. at 3.2856 percent interest. The proceeds from the capital improvement bonds will be used for county roadwork as matching funds for state aid roads 23, 37 and 7.
Financial consultant Carolyn Drude, of Ehlers and Associates, said one of the reasons the county received such a good interest rate was its A-1 bond rating which it received two years ago. There were 12 bidders, Ehlers said that was a significant number.
ï Set a special meeting for March 12 to discuss issues surrounding the interviews for county administrator. The board will be apprised of open meeting law requirements, also.

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