Petition seeks to bring bonding issue to the voters
May 20—A group of residents in Freeborn County is circulating a petition in response to the County Board of Commissioners' vote earlier this month that approved the intent to bond for deferred maintenance and energy efficiency projects at county-owned buildings.
Though the exact amount to be bonded has not been determined, projects being considered total almost $14 million, according to Apex Facility Solutions LLC, an Anoka-based company the county contracted to oversee gathering bids and act as the general contractor. The exact amount to be bonded will come before the board at a later date.
Petitioners say instead of allowing the board to simply vote on the issue, it should instead be brought before the voters in a referendum in November.
Bonnie Belshan, wife of 2nd District Commissioner Dan Belshan, who was the sole commissioner to vote against the intent to bond, said petition organizers need to gather 900 signatures per state statute, and are aiming for 1,000 in the event some of the people did not fill out the form correctly. The petition must be filed with the county auditor 30 days after the May 3 board meeting.
After watching recent county board meetings or reading about the meetings in the newspaper, a friend of hers, Judy Olson, called her husband to see how she and a group of friends could do a petition requesting a referendum vote on the issuance of bonds, she said. Her husband got the information from the county auditor-treasurer and gave it to her to type up.
"The more I read (that the company wasn't using typical state statute competitive bids and local bidders didn't know about the projects, and project estimates were often very high), the more I realized that this was something very important, and going to take a lot of people getting signatures from Freeborn County voters who are concerned about taxes, so I got involved," Bonnie Belshan said.
Belshan, who lives near Myrtle, took it to a lawyer to make sure everything was legal, had the petition printed, bought 30 clipboards and then typed and printed sheets with information and sample signatures on them to show people how the state requires the forms to be filled out.
She said Olson and Cathy Studier helped distribute the clipboards, and their friends at A-Best Sew & Vac agreed to have petitions signed and collected at their business until Memorial Day weekend.
Belshan also created and paid for radio ads to spread the word.
She said they hope to turn in the petition the day after Memorial Day.
Thus far, she said people have been supportive of the petition and appalled when they see the prices for some of the projects on the list.
Olson, who lives east of Glenville, said she was one of those people who was concerned after seeing the prices involved, and she is also questioning Apex and how it is gathering bids.
"I'm a Freeborn County taxpayer, and $14 million is a lot of money to me," Olson said.
State statute typically requires competitive bidding of two sealed bids on contracts over $100,000, though a subdivision in the statute provides a loophole to sealed competitive bids if a qualified provider guarantees energy conservation measures.
A representative from Apex in the meeting earlier this month said it is not subject to the typical bid requirements per state statute because it can guarantee the price and guarantee the performance of the project. Though it does not have to meet bid requirements, the company, however, still seeks to get competitive pricing, the representative said.
Belshan said the taxpaying public wants the needed repairs and energy savings but wants it done at a competitive bidding cost.
In addition to roofs on the Government Center, the Human Services building, the Environmental Services building and the county highway shop, other projects slated to be completed include window replacements, upgrading lighting to LED technology and other heating and cooling replacements.
