Nisswa awards bids for Grand View roundabout, Gull Lake Trail

NISSWA — The Nisswa City Council awarded low bids to Anderson Brothers for both a roundabout project and Gull Lake Trail project at a meeting Thursday, March 2.

Projects will start soon because trees must be cleared by March 31 to protect the habits of a protected long-eared bat species.

The bid for the roundabout at County State Aid Highway 77 and Nokomis Avenue, which is the entrance to Grand View Lodge, totals $1,507,500.

The bid includes building the roundabout and resurfacing CSAH 77 from the highway to the county line.

Broken down, costs total $1,049,360 for the roundabout and $458,139 to resurface CSAH 77.

The roundabout cost will be split in half with Crow Wing County.

The county will pay all of the resurfacing cost, plus an estimated $22,355 in engineering fees for a total of $480,494.

Total estimated city cost for the roundabout is $152,915:

• $524,680 is the city’s half of construction costs.
• $85,235 is what the city would pay in engineering fees.
• $457,000 is what the city received in Local Road Improvement Program funds for the project.

Total estimated county cost for the roundabout is $162,122 with the same breakdown as the city, but engineering costs estimated at $94,442.
The city received three bids and opened them March 1.

The council approved the low base bid of $2,784,590 from Anderson Brothers for the Gull Lake Trail project, which is in conjunction with Lake Shore.

The cities received four bids. The city’s Gull Lake Trail Steering Committee recommended the council award the bid.

Nisswa will pay $1,270,326, or 45.62% of the project.

Lake Shore will pay $1,514,264, or 54.38%.

Total project cost — including construction, design and land acquisition — is projected to be $3,787,382 with Lake Shore covering an estimated $1,992,839. Nisswa’s projected cost totals $1,660,871.

Nisswa City Administrator Jenny Max anticipated a $279,300 project shortfall, but said that’s likely a worst case scenario.

The Nisswa council also approved the trail committee recommendation to accept the proposal from Widseth engineering firm for professional construction services for $217,500 and to accept the proposal from Braun Intertec for construction materials testing for $26,418.

Nisswa will be responsible for $113,100 for professional services, and Lake Shore will pay $104,400.

Lake Shore is looking to complete the trail from the Bar Harbor Townhomes at the County Road 78-County State Aid Highway 77 intersection to the top of the hill at the Whitney gravel pit.

Nisswa hopes to complete the trail on Lower Roy Lake Road and Hazelwood Drive.

The city will need to complete the remaining section on CSAH 77 to link the trail to Lake Shore’s portion.

Council member Mark Utzinger attended the March 2 meeting online via Zoom.

Find recordings of Nisswa City Council meetings on the city's YouTube channel.

Nancy Vogt, editor, may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com . Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Nancy.