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WALKER - Cass County Board awarded contracts Tuesday for three highway construction projects.

Tri-City Paving had the lowest of six bids at $3,198,521.98 to resurface County State Aid Highway 1 running seven miles south from Pine River and the lowest of five bids at $117,722.50 to replace culverts on CSAH 2 west of Pine River.

Anderson Brothers Construction had the lowest of three bids to repave CSAH 12 and County Road 163 near Walker and to pave the second of five segments of a recreational trail to connect the Paul Bunyan Trail to the city of Walker. This section will run through the city and southeast to the south end of CR 163.

The board accepted conservation easements from the Joselyn Family for 80.7 acres and 2,210 feet of shoreline on Tamarack Lake in Ponto Lake Township and from the Duncan Family for 48.6 acres and 2,546 shoreline feet and the Johnson Family for 7.5 acres and 940 feet, both on Wabedo Lake in Wabedo Township.

State Board of Water and Soil Resources/Legislative and Citizens Committee for Minnesota Resources grant money will pay for filing fees for the easements. That grant has covered filing fee costs for nine easements for 700 acres of property in Cass County, according to Environmental Services Director John Ringle. Those easements have preserved 1,700 feet of shoreline, he said.

Cass will receive a $300,000 LCCMR grant to be funneled through the DNR to act as fiscal agent and work with Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation to conduct a special project "Conserving Sensitive and Priority Shorelands in Cass County," according to Ringle.

Deputy Bill Connor, with his K-9 partner, Portos, informed the board the dog recently completed certification in narcotics detection. The dog is 7 years old and has worked for the sheriff's department for five years.

Portos recently underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor from his leg.[[In-content Ad]]

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