Freeport Trail and River Road project is a "go"

The Winneshiek County Board has given its unanimous approval to the low bid for the Freeport Trail and River Road repaving project.

Supervisors approved Skyline Construction of Decorah's bid of $2,381,277.10 for the project.  Winneshiek County received a $1.6 million TIGER grant from the federal government to help pay for the project.  It will also use Farm to Market funds, local road funds and funds raised by the Trails From Freeport group.

County Engineer Lee Bjerke urged supervisors to approve the bid, saying, "For what the county's goint to get versus what we're having to pay, we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."

The contract covers 80 days of construction.  If the contractor hasn't already started construction by June 8th, Winneshiek County will start charging working days against the contract.  If it takes more than 80 days to complete the work, the county will charge the contractor $1,500 a day.