Firm to subcontract for amphitheater, By LISA KACZKE, Staff Writer

The architecture firm slated to provide design services for the proposed amphitheater along Rainy River is bringing in a landscape architecture firm as a part of the project.
The Falls City Council agreed Monday to accept DSGW Architects Inc.’s proposal to subcontract with SRF Consulting Group after a review of the costs by Councilor Cynthia Jaksa, who serves as the chair of the Finance and Legislation Committee. Councilor Tim “Chopper” McBride was absent from the meeting.
Meetings are planned with the architects in September to move forward with the proposed riverfront project. In addition to the Irvin A. Anderson Amphitheater, the plans include the headquarters for Voyageurs National Park, a marina, a boat launch, walking and biking trails and picnic areas.
The cost of landscape architecture services provided by SRF Consulting Group are expected to be included in the $13,300 cost of DSGW Architects.
Jaksa questioned whether that amount could increase as a result of excluded costs, such as administration, indirect and overhead costs. As a consumer, she said she would be hesitant to agree to a cost that possibly could increase.
“How high could this cost go before we sign on?” she questioned.
City Administrator Rod Otterness said he doesn’t believe there will be excessive fees with the cost. Otterness said he hopes the firm can cost effectively complete the project due to its experience completing similar projects.
Meanwhile, the city continues to maintain that City Attorney Joe Boyle does not have a conflict of interest in his legal representation.
Koochiching County commissioners have stated that Boyle has a conflict of interest in representing the city of International Falls and several joint powers agencies as a result of a Highway 332 dispute between the city and the county.
Koochiching County commissioners have said they will not participate in any partnerships with the city in which Boyle provides representation. The agencies include the Koochiching Economic Development Authority and the International Falls-Koochiching County Airport Commission.
The county requested Boyle remove himself from representing the agencies following the action of the county’s appointed attorney removing himself from the Highway 332 dispute.
Otterness said the city takes appropriate action when a conflict of interest arises.
“Attorneys are trained from day one to be sensitive to conflict issues,” Otterness said.
The city has not received any communication from the county following a July 23 letter to the Koochiching County Board regarding the city’s position, Otterness said. If County Attorney Phil Miller believed there was a conflict, he would have spoken to Boyle about it, Otterness said.
By requesting Boyle remove himself, the county is doing a disservice to the partnerships, Otterness said.
“It is wrong to deprive partnerships of attorney services,” Otterness said.

Falls City Council news notes
• Falls Fire Chief Jerry Jensen told the Falls City Council Monday that residents are leaving “junk” in their yards after they fined for it in the city’s fight on blight. The blight still needs to be removed, but the issue is that the resident may not consider it blight.
“It’s hard to get them to (remove it),” Jensen said.
About 200 letters have been sent out to residents this year regarding blight and in most cases, the residents have removed it, according to Jensen.
Falls Mayor Shawn Mason reported to the council that she had received a complaint from a landlord regarding the city’s plan to extend the blight issue to include a tenant care program. The program would include inspections of rental units.
• Police Chief Chris Raboin was approved by the council to attend the Chiefs conference in September, which is scheduled to focus on school safety. The council also approved City Attorney Joe Boyle to attend the Criminal Justice Institute Aug. 18.
• The council approved to place into service a forfeited vehicle for the use of the building inspector.
• The council approved the application for an exempt permit for the Bucks Safety Process to conduct raffles with two dates set for drawings.