By MaryHelen Swanson

On the night before Thanksgiving, the county commissioners spent hours deciding to move to the next step in the new jail project with the hiring of an architect, construction manager and project manager.

In the end, on 4-1 votes, with Commissioner Lynn Schultz opposing, the board hired Klein McCarthy Architect Services for a full contract of $1,700,000 with $170,000 of that total for the schematic design.

They hired, 4-1, Contegrity Construction Services for a full contract of $1,125,000 with $14,600 of that total for the schematic design.

And they hired David Prachar Construction Management/Owners Representative Services for a full contract (effective Jan. 1) of $270,000 with $22,500 of that total for the schematic design portion of the project.

Prachar has already been working for the county as a jail consultant since last year at $3,000 a month plus expenses.

The schematic design will give the board and the public full information on what is being proposed to be constructed in the jail project, options the county may have, the potential savings costs and the expected cost of each component.

The remaining portion of the contracts (the biggest part) will be the construction documents, construction services and building occupation.

All contracts were reviewed by the county attorney's office and each can be cancelled without incurring any additional cost.

What was not provided to the commissioners on the night of the board meeting was a copy of the contracts.

When the discussion included that fact, County Administrator promised that he would get copies of the contracts to the commissioners and that the county attorney's office would provide a summary.

That seemed to appease Commission Schultz who said she wanted something "written" to review.

Not all the commissioners felt they needed to view the contracts, however, including Commissioner Gustafson who felt the commissioners should do their homework.

He said these people are the experts, give them the contracts and let them do their work, he said.

Schultz was concerned with entering into contracts based on a specific scope (for current purposes, that is based on a proposal that the entire project will cost $40 million. What if that scope changes, she asked, what will the contract be then.

When a motion was made to only approve the schematic design portion of the full contract, Commission Gustafson asked what message that is sending to the vendors.

Prachar encouraged the approval of the contracts saying they had the best prices for schematic design they were ever going to get.

He strongly felt that the construction management figure of $14,600 would go higher if separated from the full contract.

After two hours of discussion, the motions were made and approved to accept the contracts.

Prachar then said he'd be back in four months with some results.

In other business, the county board:

• Approved a final plat for F. Willard Carlson of two lots on 6.7 acres in Chisago Lake Township.

• Approved the preliminary plat of William and Jennifer Adams of two lots on 25 acres in Chisago Lake Township, with conditions.

• Approved the preliminary plat of Dan Harrington for one lot in Sunrise Township, with conditions.

• Adopted a resolution approving the revised Park Policy Manual, the vote was 3-1-1 with Commissioner Bob Gustafson opposed and Commission Ben Montzka abstaining.

• Acknowledged the 28 years of service to the Chisago County Park Board by Steve Kruse and awarded him a certification of appreciation.

• Approved three contracts for water plan project concerning the Sunrise River Watershed.

• Was updated on the third quarter financial status by Treasurer Lee Olson who noted that with 3/4 of the year gone, 68 percent of the levy has been spent.

• Approved 5-0 a tax abatement request for Chisago City to assist with debt service payments on the city's infrastructure bonds to assist a business to come into the business park. Kendall Howard is building a 50,000 sq. ft. manufacturing business. They currently have 15 employees and plan to bring in 25 more all with benefits. The company will not receive an abatement or refund on the taxes they pay, the funds will be used by the Chisago City to pay for infrastructure improvements associated with this development. The county will abate approximately $114,310 for a period or five or three years whichever can be worked out.

• Approved a revised Abatement Procedure Policy.

• Approved building a carport at Uptown Maple Commons for the Veteran's Service van.

• Appointed Doug Chaffee of Harris as the EMS Advisory committee alternate.