JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Stutsman County Commission met for their first meeting in 2019 on Thursday, January 3rd.
LEC Maintenance Supervisor Howie Peuser came before the commission with two bids for the planned Law Enforcement Center remodel. Peuser says the lowest bid they received was from Nill Construction for $71,200. Iverson Construction had the second bid at $105,800. He says there was also an alternate on the application to add ballistics material for the Police Department and Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office.
Items included in the remodel would be electric, sprinkler system, HVAC Train, and re-carpeting. Pueser says the total for Nill Construction to complete the work stood at $114,273, under the budgeted $120,000 for the project.
Commission Chairman Mark Klose asked if there was the possibility for change orders during the remodel, but Pueser says it’s unlikely. If so, he says his crew would be able to handle it.
The bid was unanimously approved for Nill Construction.
Later, Jamestown Police Chief Scott Edinger came before the commission to obtain a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the shooting range. Chief Edinger told the commission there had never been an MOU between the city and county and there was need for one in order to obtain funding.
Chief Edinger says City Attorney Leo Ryan would work with the city and county to create an MOU that would then be used to create a contract with the state to receive funding for the range from the North Dakota Highway Patrol and North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The MOU request was approved.
Keith Domke with the Jamestown Marksmanship Education Range (JMER) then came before the commission to inquire about using land near the Stutsman County Fairgrounds for a new indoor gun range. Domke says the Bureau of Reclamation had been transferring land to public entities. He says they’re interested in parcels 2 & 3, which are owned by the Bureau of Reclamation. Chairman Klose says the current bill to do this has passed the Senate, but they have yet to see anything definitive.
Klose says there’s a good chance the request could be fulfilled, but it may be some time before they can do anything. He says they would be willing to look at it once the legislation is finalized.