Commission considers cost to remodel cabins at park
- Charlene Sims, Journal staff
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
By Charlene Sims, staff writer
MOUND CITY - Linn County Park Manager Sheri Loveland met with the Linn County Commissioners on Monday, Jan. 26 to open two bids for renovating Cabin No. 7 and to discuss plans for the other cabins and asphalt repair for the park. Commission Chair Alison Hamilton was attending by Zoom, so Commissioner Jason Hightower was chairing the meeting.
Loveland told the commissioners while they were opening the bids that she had contacted contractors that were on the Avery Lumber list, other contractors and pointed out that there was an ad in the county newspaper. But out of the four contractors that had looked at the cabin, only two had turned in bids.
As Commissioner Jim Johnson looked at the first bid from Darren and Jamie Shackelford, he asked, “So we didn’t have any set criteria as far as what it was?”
Public Works Administrator Jesse Walton answered, “I just let them be free range on what they wanted to do in there. I told them they couldn’t change any of the plumbing or electrical in there. Just to go through and use their imagination what they wanted to do in there.”
“And this is buying new appliances, I guess, as this one is too,” said Johnson.
Johnson read the total of the Shackelford bid which was about $18,260.
The second bid of about $24,800 was from Miller Brothers Construction LLC out of Pleasanton.
“So is this something that you are for sure going to go ahead with, or are you still debating on what to do?” asked Loveland.
Hightower said, “I think, like on most bids, I think what we would like to probably have is you guys kind of qualify them, determine which one that you think is going to be our better choice and go from there.
Loveland said, ”My concern is that the cabins that really need to be remodeled are (Numbers) 1 through 6. And I know that you guys, or Ali especially, was pushing toward bedding. But if you look at the spreadsheet sheet I sent you about cabins. Cabin 1 and 7 rent way more than the rest do.”
Loveland pointed out that six of the cabins are 40 years old versus one that’s 15 years old.
Johnson asked, “Seven is 15 years old?”
Loveland said it was.
Loveland said that her concern was putting all that money into one cabin when the other ones need more work.
Loveland continued, “What is your goal for how much to rent it for once its done? And is it really feasible to do that?”
Hightower said that was information they wanted from her, and asked her to break down the cost so the commission can see how long it’s going to take to recoup the cost.
Loveland replied, “That’s what I’m getting at.”
Johnson said that what he wanted to see was how many days each one of them was actually rented throughout the year for the track record.
Loveland told Johnson that she had sent the commissioners a spreadsheet about how much each one was rented for on Jan. 5, but Johnson apparently had not seen the document.
Walton told the commissioners, “She sent that out earlier and that cabin’s rented almost half of the year, 168 days on Cabin No. 7, Cabin No. 1 was 150-something days. And I believe Cabin No. 3 was also in the 150-day range.”
Loveland said if commissioners want to make money, they just raised the daily rental fees. They raised the daily fee on one cabin $10 a day and raised the other ones $5 a day.
Hightower asked what cabin No. 7 rented for.
Loveland answered, “Cabin No. 7 rents for $80 night on a regular night, $90 on a peak rate night during Dancefestopia, the holidays and fishing season. And I put it at $100 on Airbnb this year.”
Hightower said, “So $80 a night for 168 nights that’s a gross of 12,800.”
Walton explained that Cabin No. 7 rented 17 days on Airbnb and 168 days through contacting the marina directly. So going through Airbnb the number was much lower than what it is if they just call Loveland and rented the building.
Johnson asked Loveland to bring some information that showed whether the number of nights rented per cabin had increased over the last five years.
Hightower asked Hamilton if she had any other questions.
Hamilton said that, if she understood Loveland correctly, she was saying that she would rather go back and do Nos. 1 through 6 and not No. 7.
Loveland said that was what she had always said.
Hamilton asked if pictures were provided in the bids. According to Johnson and Hightower both bids had pictures.
Hamilton, who was attending by Zoom, said she would get with Walton this week to look at the bids and would comment more next week.
Next the commissioners heard from Loveland about the condition of the asphalt roads at the park. Loveland talked about the possibility of letting the loops go back to gravel and getting the main drag overlaid with asphalt.
Walton said that he would like to turn the road repairs into a two-year project, using one year to go through and patch the swags and then the following year do a chip-seal all the way down into the marina.
Walton agreed to get the commissioners a cost on that.
Walton also recommended letting the loops just go back into gravel.
In other business, the commissioners:
Approved a burial permit for Anderson County Consolidated Water District, No. 1, for a road crossing at Farris Road and 900 Road.
Approved the bid from Pomp’s Tire Service of $52,920 for tires. Walton told the commissioners that he had set down with the road foremen and mechanics and went over tire list and they wanted to go with Pomp’s Tire. The other bidder was Goodyear, but no total was given on their bid. Last week after the bids were open, it turned out that both had been bid by tire and did not have a total. This week, the commissioners asked Walton to add up the total of Pomps so they would have it for the motion. He did not add up Goodyears but told the commissioners that Pomp’s was the cheapest way to go. The Journal requested the amount of Goodyear's bid, but Walton said that information would need to be cleared by the county clerk. The commissioners did not ask for the total of the Goodyear bid before they voted to accept Pomp's bid.
Heard from Walton that the road crews had been out working to clear snow on roads over the weekend, and they were back out on Monday.
Learned from Walton that he had met with the gWorks representative on Jan. 20. He said they still have a few more bugs to work out on their program for the Public Works Department. Some of their drop-down boxes didn’t work. He said that the gWorks representative was going back through to make sure that all the boxes were filled and that they had the appropriate items inside of there. There’s still just a few more bugs to work out with gWorks before it goes live.
Heard an update from County Clerk Chasity Ware that while she had announced last week that the airport insurance was $2,625, there was also a terrorism premium of an additional $263. The total ends up being $2,888.
Learned from Ware that Cheyenne Kern, the deputy election clerk, had completed an application for an election security grant that is being provided by the state. The grant amount applied for is about $21,700. This amount will allow Kern to get filing cabinets, a new door on the election room, and better quality of security for things that have to do with the election room and election equipment.
Were asked by Ware if they were aware of the member term limits of all the different boards to which they appoint people. Ware said while she was aware that all the boards were not under the commissioners term limits, she would like to get a better record of the appointees and their term limits.
Approved the resolution to support the Rural Opportunity Zone (ROZ) student loan repayment tool for anybody that is moving in or moving back into the county. Hightower said the currently the county does not support the program financially but does continue to be a part of the program so that other employers in the county can entice and help new employees.
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