FAIRMONT– At the conclusion of Tuesday’s Martin County Commissioners meeting, the board discussed some possible ramifications of ending its work on the Justice Center project in a special meeting on March 25.

Commissioner Jaime Bleess said he had heard from Todd Wetzel of ICS, the construction management firm that’s been on the project, about concerns surrounding some language that was used in the motion to end work on the project.

“That triggers a 25 percent fee… the ballpark number that was thrown was north of $300,000. He suggested that before our minutes are ratified next week that we alter the word ‘terminate’ to ‘pause’ and that he wants to continue a relationship with us and not be forced to do things in the contract that are triggered by the word ‘terminate,'” Bleess said.

He said he didn’t expect action, but just wanted to pass the information along to the board.

County Attorney Taylor McGowan said there is a provision in the contract that says if the contract is ended for convenience, that the county could be responsible for 25 percent of unbilled work.

“I’ve touched base with Scott (Higgins, County Coordinator) and we’re going to get in contact with ICS to figure out what the number would be,” McGowan said.

He said the county entered into the contract with ICS back in the summer of 2022 and that at that time there was some discussion about the provision.

“We have to figure out what number we’re actually talking about so we can have a good plan of where to go,” McGowan said.

Bleess stressed again that Wetzel suggested the word ‘pause’ and that it was presented in a professional and straightforward way that conveyed hope for a positive relationship moving forward.

Ultimately the board chose to put the matter on its April 15 meeting agenda to discuss prior to approving the meeting minutes from the special March 25 meeting.

In other business on Tuesday, the board heard from County Engineer Kevin Peyman who provided a detailed road and bridge update. Specifically Peyman went over some bridge rating changes that took place from 2022 to 2023.

He shared that a bridge definition in Minnesota is 10 foot at the center line and that the federal definition is 20 foot.

“Every bridge gets inspected every year or every other year,” he said.

Peyman shared a chart that showed the superstructure and substructure components of a bridge and how they’re rated.

“MnDOT picks the types and ages of bridges and orders a contract… We don’t pick which bridges gets rated. MnDOT basically does that,” Peyman explained.

On a map provided, Peyman indicated all of the county bridges for the board to see and which bridges have some designs planned for.

“They’re being approved at the state level and hopefully if there is a bonding bill we can try to get funding,” Peyman said.

He said there are a few other bridges that are in the process of having designs done.

Commissioner Billeye Rabbe asked about wheelage tax. Peyman explained that a few years ago counties were given the option of local option transportation funding– a wheelage tax for sale tax.

“… I think like 70some (counties) have the wheelage tax. You can do it anywhere from $10 to $20. We have it at $10 so we don’t do the full amount. That generates $220,000 per year roughly. It supplements our construction amount,” Peyman said.

Rabbe expressed interest in looking into a half-cent sales tax to help fund some additional bridge repairs.

However Bless said he would want some more information before pursuing that, which Commissioner Joe Loughmiller agreed with.

Rabbe said he she just wanted to look into it and Peyman said he could start gathering some more information.

In other news, the board:

— Heard from Tom Karas with National Grid Renewables about a potential Lake Charlotte solar project near Northrop.

— Approved a liquor license renewal for Fox Lake Golf Club Inc.

— Approved an out of state travel request for the Sheriff’s Office for Chief Deputy Corey Klanderud to attend an FBI-LEEDA later this month in New Orleans, LA.

— Approved a three year renewal of the Zomo Health Program agreement at an estimated cost of $4,140 a year.

— Approved the hire of Joann MCGowan (internal employee) as a full-time executive administrative assistant in the Coordinator’s Office.

— Approved the purchase of a Tyler CAMA MVP Commercial Service module, a pricing service, in the amount of $10,075 for use in the Assessor’s Office.