East Grand Forks may have to wait a little longer to land a HAWK system at the intersection of Bygland and 13th Street SE.
Bids for the High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk project came in at nearly $377,000 dollars – or 53% higher than engineer estimates. City Engineer Steve Emery says timing and higher material costs may be to blame. Emery says only one bid was received.
The project would be paid for using State Aid Allocation dollars. The city may also solicit grant money with an eye on pedestrian safety.
The city will likely rebid the project in December or January to see if the numbers come down. The city is hoping to have the project in place before the start of the next school year.
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City leaders in East Grand Forks continue to fine-tune the 2023 budget. In recent weeks staff have been able to reduce the proposed tax levy next year to around 14%.
Planned increases in wages and insurance combined with hikes in workers comp rates and utility costs are adding up.
Mayor Steve Gander says at some point the council may have to take a hard look at dipping into budget reserves to close the gap.
Those reserves currently sit at around 48%.
The 2022 general fund budget totals some $12.4 million dollars. Next year’s spending plan won’t be finalized until December.
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