Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Hurley — Iron County won’t be able to officially award the contract until federal officials sign off, but the county’s forestry committee recommended a contractor for building Saxon Harbor’s campground Wednesday so everything will be ready once federal approval comes through.
Four companies submitted bids to rebuild the harbor’s campground — which was destroyed in the July 2016 storm — with Snow Country Contracting’s bid of $1,802,873 coming in as the low bid.
“The bids were, across the board, very close,” said Iron County Forestry and Parks Administrator Eric Peterson. “When you compare these line-by-line these things are amazingly close — all four bids. So we got really competitive, good bids on the campground.”
Ashland Construction, Angelo Luppino Inc., and Wayne Nasi Construction also submitted bids.
The actual awarding of the contract has to wait until the Federal Emergency Management Agency signs off on the campground design, which Peterson said hopes to come in late May.
Given that the approval will likely come after the start of the construction season, Peterson previously said the county wanted to do as much as it can now so that the contract simply needs to be signed and work can begin once federal approval is granted.
FEMA is reviewing the environmental assessment for the campground, according to Peterson, and the mandatory public comment period closes May 1.
“After the public comment period expires, final approvals are expected within three to four weeks,” Peterson said.
He said that because the project is more than $1 million, approval has to come from Washington and there has to be congressional notification; which delays the process.
Assuming federal come through when expected, Peterson said he expects construction will begin in late May and the work should be substantially completed by late September. This would mean the campground would open in the 2020 season.
In other action:
—The committee approved a land swap with Joe Francois. The county will exchange roughly 610 acres it owns on the Bad River Indian Reservation for roughly 622 acres Francois owns. Peterson said the land the county would acquire if the county board approves the swap consists of a big block of land near County E, two isolated parcels in northern Iron County and a 30-acre property near Russell Brothers Road off U.S. 51. The full county board must approve the swap and a public hearing is planned for the next county board meeting regarding the swap.
—The committee approved several changes to the rules for county parks, including the addition of a requirement that any firewood must come from within 25 miles of the campground.
—The committee authorized Peterson to advertise the county’s spring timber sale.
