State shutdown could halt work on Broadway Avenue project
Jennifer Mevissen
Staff Writer
Washington County Commissioner Dennis Hegberg said this week he’s very concerned that a state government shutdown on July 1 could negatively impact the Broadway Avenue Improvement Project in Forest Lake.
He suspects the county could cash flow the mega road project until the budget is resolved. A top priority in the last weeks is determining how construction can continue if Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders are deadlocked.
Hegberg is confident Redstone Construction Co. will proceed with work on the corridor, such as utility relocations. However, it’s the building of the new CR-2 bridge that might be halted.
The contractor could be prohibited from doing anything in the state’s right-of-way which includes the I-35 overpass area. Hegberg said the question of the moment is if there’s a government shutdown, can the county hire an independent contractor to do inspections, or can they pay state employees.
“We haven’t got a solid answer yet,” he said of the options being kicked around.
Another issue, Hegberg said, is the county has included incentives to Redstone’s contract in an effort to shorten the project schedule. And if the contractor is precluded from meeting those because of a shutdown, Hegberg foresees a law suit being filed. He expects Redstone will be buttoning up the bridge abutment work to protect construction that’s been done up to this point.
Although Hegberg initially supported sending a letter to Dayton to reverse his vetoes and sign the Republican-backed spending plan into law, he’s going to ask that his counterparts reconsider signing it.
“There’s part of the bill that I don’t agree with,” Hegberg said. “We shouldn’t play partisan politics to get the job done.”
The County has already hired SRF Consulting to do inspections at an added cost of $955,000 (see Washington County Board meeting summary from April 26th.) How much more inspection cost is needed?
I see several problems here.
First Gov Dayton refuses to sign any bills until he has his way on everything. He’s publicly stated he agrees with over 1/2 of the bills and refuses to sign them all. Republicans met him 99.2% of the way on the transportation bill. Gov Dayton will be responsible for stopping this project if that does happen.
Secondly, it appears that the county signed contracts that were risky and now Dennis Hegberg wants to push the blame elsewhere. Maybe Dennis should have actually read all the language of the contract before agreeing to it. I do recall him voting yes without mentioning any concerns about this prior to his vote. Take responsibility for your mistakes Mr. Hegberg.
Thirdly, if the contractor is stopped from proceeding who does Dennis Hegberg feel will have a lawsuit on their hands? If it is the county, then that’s his admittance to wrongdoing. If it’s the state then why is he now flip-flopping on his letter to Gov Dayton? You can’t have it both ways Dennis. It’s time for some responsibility.