FC Village Board approves change orders to new library, village center building

FALL CREEK - The Fall Creek Village Board has had three meetings in the past two months, two regular monthly board meeting and a special board meeting in late September.

During the regular September board meeting held on the 8th in the Village Hall, Village Administrator Jared McKee reviewed pay requests and change orders from the contractor R.J. Jurowski and sub-contractors. He reminded the Board that that the village entered into a construction management contract with RJ Jurowski for a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the project as bid. Any change orders that fall within the scope of the bid will be the responsibility of the construction manager. McKee reviewed the GMP to date and then reviewed this month’s change orders that were outside of the bid scope. Problems with the soil have been detected that were not shown when the test holes were dug prior to putting out bid documents. When the excavator began digging and compacting, they found the soil to be like jello. Many options have been reviewed to rectify the problem with the most economical being to dig out the buried topsoil, do a deeper building undercut and fill with stabilizing material. These will be change orders that are outside the scope of the bid. Fall Creek Village President Tim Raap stated it is worth noting that the bids came in under budget by quite a bit, so there is some room to deal with the soil problem. Thus Board unanimously approved the change orders.

Also in regards to the library/village center, at the October meeting of the Board held on the 13th, also at the Village Hall, the capital campaign committee for the library made a request to apply for a grant that requires the building be used for public purposes for 20 years if the grant is awarded. A warranty deed would be placed on the property stating such approve applying for the grant, understanding there would be a warranty deed attached to the property if awarded. The Board gave its unanimous approved to this request along with a resolution for the Village to borrow from the State Trust Fund Loan Program $1,500,000 for the purpose of financing construction of Library and Village Center and appurtenances.

At the special Board meeting held on Sept. 28 at the Village Hall, the Board unanimously approved approve the Certified Survey Map (CSM) of CMJM Properties for combining two lots on Hayes Avenue in the Creekside Estates II subdivision, as recommended by the Plan Commission.

At the October meeting, the Board adopted unanimously amendments to Title 10 of village code regulating Motor Vehicles and Traffic, pertaining to Golf Carts and All-Terrain Vehicles, making it a part of the Code of the Village of Fall Creek..

During the October regular meeting of the Board a Downtown Business District Façade & Sign Application for Thomas Lillevold for 115 E Lincoln Ave, was approved but with the stipulation that only the front façade part of the application would be accepted. The Board, however, turned down unanimously a proposed sign projection application by Crickets Pizza, also on Lincoln Ave., because it reportedly exceeds the distance allowed by our ordinances and the review of the Village Architect indicated the design did not fall within the guidelines for the Downtown Business District.

In other agenda items from the September regular Board meeting, the Board unanimously approved the Hazard Mitigation Plan for the Village of Fall Creek, gave approval to the Village Administrator to find out the cost to build a right-of-way and easement layer to village mapping in dealing with with recent water main breaks in the village and if the village or the home or landowner is responsible for clean-up and approved the contract with Clifton, Larson, Allen for auditing services at a cost of $29,900.

The proposed 2026 village budget was discussed during the October meeting of the Board as was the budget for the fire service.

There were two, back-to-back closed sessions of the Board held during the September meeting, one dealing with potential litigation against the village followed by one dealing with personnel evaluations. After both closed sessions, the Board agreed to to consult legal counsel in regard to possible litigation. The Board was scheduled to have similar closed sessions on the agenda for the October meetings but these were tabled.

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