Courthouse project is sole focus of county bonding

By Anna Jauhola
With the focus solely on renovating the Kittson County Courthouse, officials presented a new plan with a lower cost during an unofficial public hearing on Thursday, March 20.
Seven people from the public attended the hearing, which included the commission, county administration, Johnson Controls and a bond representative. Originally the project included highway department upgrades, but those have all been cut. The commission worked with Johnson Controls to also cut back on items within the courthouse.
The overall bid number now is $5,217,790. That is $1.2 million less than the projected number just for courthouse costs from February 2024. The reduction included revisiting the window portion of the project and taking out the server room cooling.
“One cost-saving option we’ll talk about is the panels throughout the facility,” said Travis Pawlowski, project manager of Johnson Controls. “Johnson Controls looked at those and they have more life in them. There’s an option to remove that and do it down the road instead.”
The biggest portion of the project is replacing the two-pipe HVAC system. The current plans are to install a four-pipe HVAC system, which is standard, Pawlowski said. However, Johnson Controls has provided a deduct option for the project to install a two-pipe system. He said the savings is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This includes replacing all the induction and fan coil units, digital controls and testing and balancing the system after installation.
The rest of the project includes upgrading lighting to LEDs and the ceiling grid to match, a new fire alarm system and electrical service upgrade. Both the fire alarm and electrical service entrance are original to the 1965 building.
Because Thursday’s hearing was not official, Johnson Controls did not have final numbers for individual segments of the project. Those numbers will be available at the official hearing on Wednesday, April 2 at 9 a.m.
George Eilertson, of Northland Securities, said the county is currently pursuing a general obligation bond, which is backed by taxpayer funds. This allows for a low interest rate. The requirements to issue a general obligation bond are to have a capital improvements plan and hold a public hearing. Once the county holds the public hearing on Wednesday, April 2, that starts the 30-day period for the public to file a petition to send the matter to a vote. That petition period ends Friday, May 2.
The commission could have also pursued lease financing and approved it with a majority vote of the board. But that eliminates public involvement and comes with a higher interest rate.
“We are looking at 15 years of financing, and we could go longer. But that means more interest costs,” Eilertson said, noting the average interest rate is 3.7%.
Current numbers show the county’s yearly payment on the bond would be about $646,000. Taxes on a $100,000 home are estimated at $24.81 annually. Taxes on a $250,000 commercial-industrial property would be $146.91. Homesteaded agricultural property with a value of $2,000 per acre will be taxed 35 cents per acre. Non-homesteaded agricultural property with a value of $2,000 per acre will be taxed 69 cents per acre.
Administrator Aimee Sugden said taxes payable will depend on when the county takes out the final bond.
“The goal is to take it out by the end of this year. But we do have reserves where we can pay ahead of time. So there’s a chance it could be on taxes payable in 2026 or in 2027,” she said.
Erik Younggren, of Hallock, asked about the timeline for construction. Sugden said the goal is to begin construction in June and be done by the end of October, to ensure heat is on in the building. She added that all offices will continue day-to-day operations throughout the project, but will be moved around the building as construction phases are in progress.
Troy Peterson, of Karlstad, commented on the project’s failure in a public vote in November 2024.
“I thought that vote was pretty clear. It was voted down pretty hard. You guys have trimmed some out of it, what you can, but at what point is this too much for the public to bear?” Peterson said. “The vote was pretty clear on the whole project.”
According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website, the vote on the bonding issue from the November 2024 election showed 1,325 people (55%) voted against bonding while 1,080 people (45%) voted in favor. Peterson acknowledged nothing would get done if issues like this were always brought to a vote, and he wants to see the courthouse improved and maintained.
“It just seems a little antagonistic to the voter,” he said of the project moving forward.
Pawlowski also went over how many contractors walked through the project and submitted bids. Although he expected a huge turnout for bids, only one general contractor bid on time and another bid the afternoon of March 20. Of four acoustical/ceiling contractors, one submitted a bid. Of nine electrical contractors, four submitted bids. Of six mechanical contractors, two submitted bids. Johnson Controls is the general contractor that oversees the project management of all contractors who are awarded bids for portions of the project.
The county’s next move is to hold the official public hearing for the project on Wednesday, April 2 at 9 a.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the courthouse in Hallock.
Before that meeting, Eilertson will rerun numbers for bonding based on the final cost of the project, which also includes interest. Also, Pawlowski will present final numbers for each portion of the project, including add alternates and deduct options.
The materials provided during the meeting are available at Sugden’s office at the courthouse and on the county’s website – co.kittson.mn.us.