Norrie Park agreement extended with ABR

By TOM LAVENTURE

tlaventure@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood — The Ironwood City Commission on Monday 5-0 approved the Norrie Park License Agreement extension with ABR Inc. to allow continued winter use of the park in ABR’s cross-country ski trail system.

The approval was contingent upon ABR’s agreement to keep the trail clear of fallen trees and brush and conduct mowing as appropriate in the area known as “The A Loop” that exists within the park. The approval continues a 20-year agreement with ABR and will now require some summer maintenance of the trail areas of the park. 

“ABR has been a great steward of the park and a great partner in its use of the park in the wintertime,” said city manager Scott Erickson. 

Commissioner Kim Corcoran noted that ABR has conducted extensive improvements to the area to include removing more than 100 trees and other work. She said the additional language to require summer maintenance is really about mowing and upkeep.

The agreement now includes the Anderson Bluffs and River Trail Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit entity that is working with ABR to ultimately succeed the private ownership operations and maintenance of key facilities. 

Will Andresen, foundation president, said he could not speak for ABR owners Eric Anderson and Angela Santini, but said the purpose of the foundation is to maintain the trails up following Anderson’s pending retirement. 

“The foundation is stepping up with special projects and we have pretty good connections with youth programming and the like, and all the things you’re talking about with mowing and the like, I just don’t see that being a problem,” Andresen said. “I think that the intent (of the agreement) was to create a 12-month long recreational opportunity for the community.”

The commission 5-0 approved a $5,357 change order in addition to the $10,000 total contract payment to Ross Peterson Construction for compost site grading. The change order was for additional equipment and labor hours to clear the “significant piles of debris” that were either chipped or graded by the crews until the work at the site was completed, according Erickson.

“So, we’re in really good shape,” Erickson said. 

Answering questions from Commissioner Rick Semo about the timeline to make the compost site available for public use, Erickson said it will probably be in the spring. The next several weeks will be used for scheduled brush and leaf drop-off, and by spring the larger, cleared area will be organized and marked, with a formal composting process in operation. 

“We’ll hopefully expand the hours again for next year for the public to utilize the site,” Erickson said. “Right now we’re open on Fridays and Saturdays and it seems to be working very well for the public.”

The city commission approved a $210,646 payment to Jake’s Excavating & Landscaping LLC. The fifth payment approval was for recently completed portions of work on the 2021 Water and Sewer Project to include $69,544 for water main work, and $141,102 for sewer main work.

The summer-long project is now in the homestretch with all the piping work completed, said Jeff Sjoquist of Coleman Engineering. There is some storm sewer work on Bonnie Street and some paving on Pewabic Street to finish up.

“We’re down to some restoration items and some paving,” he said. “I expect we’re going to probably finish the job and our punch list, and hopefully be in here next month at this meeting with a final pay request.”

The city commission went into executive session to consult with the city attorney regarding pending litigation. There was no action taken upon return to the open meeting. 

In other business, the city commission approved:

—A $16,980 final payment to Tiziani Sand and Gravel LLC for 2,000 tons of winter street sand that was recently delivered.

—A $27,000 final payment to Smily’s Excavating for 3,000 tons of 22A gravel. 

—A $6,000 actuarial services agreement with CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services Inc. A second bid was just under $8,000.