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Vol. 169, No. 22
County approves bridge design consultant Deficient Little Rock Creek bridges slated for replacement BY TIM HENNAGIR | STAFF WRITER
Benton County will use a consulting rm to design three federal-grant funded bridge replacements. Commissioners approved a $167,544 contract with the Alexandria of ce of Widseth Smith Nolting & Associates Inc. Aug. 15 after listening to a background presentation by Chris Byrd, county engineer. Benton County is receiving about $1.5 million in federal grant dollars to replace the three bridges. Byrd said the county is also applying for state bridge bonding money, which is eligible for a local match to federal money received. It is anticipated the three structures will most likely be built as span bridges. “We selected Widseth because they will provide the best overall value,” Byrd said. “The other request for proposal response came from Erickson Engineering Co.” Erickson Engineering is based in Eden Prairie and worked on the County Road 134 bridge in St. Cloud and the County State Aid Highway 6 Elk River bridge in Sherburne County. The 75-foot bridge on Benton County CSAH 12 (also known as Pine Road Northwest) is an existing three-span precast channel bridge over Little Rock Creek. It would be replaced by a span bridge. The three-span precast concrete bridge on CSAH 13 (Little Rock Road Northeast) over the Elk River has a current length of 81 feet. It would be replaced by a span bridge as well, Widseth said. The County Road 40 (160th Street Northwest) bridge is a 32-foot, single-span timber beam structure spanning Little Rock Creek. Widseth anticipates it could be replaced in 2025 with two or three lines of concrete box culverts. Single-span bridges have deeper superstructures that require a higher-grade raise.
County bridges page 3
30 boats lured to SRSC
Bass Classic Koopmeiners reel in 1st place, Big Bass at annual tournament BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
About 20 minutes after 3 p.m. Aug. 27, shing boats began to land at the Mississippi RiverSartell public access, just off Northeast River Road in Sauk Rapids Township. It was time for 60 anglers, in teams of two, to weigh in at the Sauk Rapids Sportsmen’s Club 14th annual Bass Classic. One by one, each team lled presoaked mesh bags with live bass sh caught from the Mississippi River between the Sartell and Blanchard dams, Harris Channel and Little Rock Lake. SRSC members — Jeff Diehl, David Frantesl, Adam Haag, Judd Machula, Tom Machula, Jason Westre and Jerry Yurczyk — awaited the anglers, weighing their catch and then releasing the harvest back into the shery. Other members volunteered in the morning hours before the 7:30 a.m. start. “It’s amazing how much water can add weight,” said Yurczyk, who was named the 2022 SRSC Sportsman of the Year by the club in
The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
August. Yurczyk manned two tubs of black bags – one lled with solid bags, the other with mesh. The wet bags are weighed prior to weigh-in and used by each team, ensuring an honest competition. The SRSC Bass Classic takes place annually in late August. Teams of two anglers sh between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. with hopes of catching the heaviest bag of ve sh as well as a single heaviest sh, known at the tournament as a Big Bass.
Bass Classic page 5
PUBLIC NOTICES • City of Sauk Rapids Special Budget Meeting - pg. 10 • City of Sauk Rapids Regular Meeting - pg. 10 • Minnesota LLC Notice - Braggin Rights Taxidermy L.L.C. - pg. 10 • Stearns County Board of Adjustment Public Hearing - pg. 11
PHOTOS BY NATASHA BARBER
(Above) Anglers await landing their boats prior to weigh-in Aug. 27 at the Sauk Rapids Sportsmen’s Club 14th annual Bass Classic on the waters of the Mississippi River in Sauk Rapids Township. Thirty boats, with two anglers a piece, participated in the tournament. (Inset) Scott Ley, of Cold Spring, places a bass into a crate Aug. 27 at the Mississippi River-Sartell public access in Sauk Rapids Township. In addition to six places for five-fish bags, the Sauk Rapids Sportsmen’s Club awarded two Big Bass prizes in the Bass Classic tournament.
OBITUARIES Mary L. Dehnel Beverly Freihammer Susan C. Olson
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