(UPDATED) Lake Zumbro Dredging Bids $2 Million Over Budget
(UPDATE) The Olmsted County Board voted 4-3 this afternoon to approve the request for additional funding.
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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The long-anticipated dredging of Lake Zumbro is going to cost more than expected and that has prompted a request for additional funds from Olmsted County and other entities involved in the lake restoration project, including property owners along the lake.
The County Board could take action Tuesday on a staff recommendation to appropriate another $125,000 for the work. The commissioners had previously agreed to contribute $400,000 for the project and approved spending $640,000 to acquire land to spread the materials dredged from the lake with the expectation that portion of the county’s contribution could be recouped by selling the property in the future.
The lowest bid for the dredging work was submitted by the J.F. Brennan Company at just under $8.9 million. The budget for the project is about $6.8 million. The project engineering staff, working with the bidder, have identified approximately $1 million in potential cost savings that would trim the funding shortfall to about $1.1 million.
Wabasha County has already pledged an additional $31,000 and the Lake Zumbro Forever group has agreed to add about $76,000. Rochester Public Utilities is being asked to contribute another $366,000, while the property owners along the lake are being asked to pay another $508,000 through a special assessment.
The project engineers have also indicated they may be able to lower the costs by an additional $300,000 depending on the ongoing talks with the contractor and the possibility of reducing some of the areas scheduled for dredging.