GRAND FORKS — In a meeting that lasted just under 10 minutes, the Grand Forks Growth Fund on Monday authorized the final amount of $560,046.20 for the Tech Accelerator contract with High Point Network.
Community Development Director Meredith Richards said $119,000 of the budget will go toward network security. The rest will go toward audiovisual equipment.
Last month, the JDA awarded $1,464,518 worth of construction contracts for the project at the Grand Forks Herald building, considerably less than the original $2 million estimate. On March 21, the committee received an update on the progress of the project as a whole, which is estimated to finish construction in September. The technology and security budget was estimated to be $560,000 at the time — a number that remains virtually the same.
Richards said there likely will be some large change orders presented to the committee within the next few weeks, including remodeling the second floor bathroom and improving the HVAC system.
“We've got a couple in the works right now, since we did come in well under budget,” Richards said. “We have looked at not really changing the scope, but more or less adding back items that were either cut back or eliminated based on that original budget. So what we're looking at is basically the second floor restrooms were going to be untouched. We're looking at putting new fixtures in those to match the first floor. (There will be) some upgrades to the HVAC system. That seems to be, from a property management point of view, that's where we always get complaints from our tenants, so we feel that that's a really good investment to make that HVAC system as strong and flexible as possible.”
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Richards said adding “glass, roll-up doors,” classroom space and acoustical upgrades for the community room space are also on the list. She also fielded a question about the clock on top of the Herald building: Why has the time been inaccurate so much recently?
“The power has been off and on,” Richards said. “So I’m sure that we can straighten it out. I don’t know how long it will last, but the clock is not broken. It’s just subject to power.”
In other news, the Growth Fund committee approved a revised request for a $35,566 FlexPace loan from Northern Tier Seed Company in Thompson, North Dakota, to buy down the interest rate on a commercial equipment loan from First State Bank. The original loan, totaling $800,000, financed the purchase of a new cleaner and various building site improvements, such as adding insulation and steel to the company’s warehouse and pouring a new concrete parking lot.
