MANKATO — The Blue Earth County Board is slated to further its project of removing the Rapidan Dam.
As part of the process, the county must prepare and submit an environmental assessment worksheet outlining all of the potential environmental impacts surrounding the project. That worksheet then goes to regulatory agencies like the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to help determine ways to mitigate the impact.
During the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, commissioners will hear two proposals from companies willing to step in and help the county complete the worksheet. They are Bolton & Menk as well as Emmons & Olivier Resources.
“As the removal of the dam is a unique project, due to the river currently bypassing the dam structure, neither firm’s experience includes a similar project,” County Zoning Administrator John Considine wrote in a memo to the board included in the meeting agenda packet.
The two proposals differ greatly in two main areas: work hours commitment and hourly rates for those commitments. The greatest differences rests in the “public comment response” section. According to the agenda packet, Emmons & Oliver was pledging to commit 172 hours of public comment response at a rate of $202.41 per hour, while Bolton & Menk promised just 26 hours of public comment response at a rate of $174.85 per hour. Bolton & Menk also committed to 21 hours of project management and 119 hours of review of the worksheet, whereas Emmons and Oliver committed 105 hours and 169 hours respectively.
“Staff recommend utilizing the services of Bolton & Menk based upon their estimation of hours to complete the project. Bolton & Menk proposed an anticipated two rounds of EAW review (EOR estimated one), which staff believe to be appropriate given the unique elements of the project,” Considine wrote in the memo.
If an EAW determines there to be a large environmental impact, agencies may require an environmental impact statement as well. Blue Earth County Property and Environmental resources staff wanted to go with Bolton & Menk because they think the company will have a better handle on if that impact statement is needed following the worksheet review.
The proposal will be heard Tuesday during the board’s regular meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. in the County Historic Courthouse.