Bids were accepted by the Custer County Board of Supervisors for highway gravel and asphalt as well as an electrical project at the courthouse during Tuesday morning’s meeting.
Asphalt material bids from Asphalt & Fuel Supply and Jebro, Inc. were accepted on four different products by the board, ranging in price from $1.69 per gallon to $3.28 per gallon.
Gravel bids for township areas throughout the county were also accepted during Tuesday’s meeting. Overton Sand & Gravel, Paulsen Inc., Ulrich Gravel, and Jeffres Sand and Gravel all had bids accepted among the 31 line item list for delivery in addition to pit prices for pickup.
Discussions on the new electrical transformer installation continued ahead of a decision on bid acceptance. During the March 25 meeting, Supervisor Barry Fox told the board that the city’s power upgrade timeline had been accelerated by the power plant explosion and that the courthouse needed to be compatible in time.
In an effort to reduce the cost of secondary wiring from the transformer to the courthouse building, the board sought out bids for the installation to be near the AC units on the north side of the building. Three bids were received.
The main topic of discussion by the board was whether or not the project should include a transfer switch that would allow the building to be hooked up to a generator in the event of an extended outage. Based on the bids received, that additional cost would be roughly $20,000. After much discussion, it was decided that the transfer switch cost couldn’t be justified for the low amount of extended outages have have happened.
Cole Electric of Mason City’s bid for $15,000 without a transfer switch install was accepted. Fox reiterated the critical timeline of the project, stating that the courthouse needs the electrical upgrade completed by Memorial Day to tie into the city’s continuing upgrade process.
Another continued discussion from the March meeting was the county’s ‘cash in lieu’ employee option, which allows those who do not use county insurance to receive payments. More information was brought before the board via a poll of county employees and an increase from $450 to $475 was approved by the board (4 yes, 2 no).
Custer County Deputy Attorney Kayla Clark came before the board regarding the process of claim submissions and updates, stating she wants to be sure that open records laws are being considered with the new file-sharing system. She stated that her advice is for the board to receive file-stamped claims from the clerk, who is the official custodian of the documents as individual departments are not the custodian of their claims.
Discussion also touched on the timing of documents being in the hands of the board to effectively review ahead of meetings before a motion was made instructing the attorney’s office and clerk’s office to develop an electronic claims submission process that is in line with state statutes.
The county’s phone system and a possible upgrade with Eake’s Office Solutions was discussed at the end of Tuesday’s meeting. Representatives from the company stated that in their research and viewing of the county’s system, there are several upgrades that can be made while also saving money. The county currently owns their equipment, where this plan would be a 36 month lease toward ownership of the upgraded equipment. No decision was made. County Clerk Connie Gracey said that other providers had been in touch about their desire to provide bids as well.
