Sunday, December 2, 2012
This week's roundup also includes news on a new bar in Southwest Minneapolis, Edina's top students and business changes in St. Michael-Albertville.
Editor’s Note: Every week we will bring you a sampling of stories from Patch sites in the west metro: Eden Prairie, Edina, Fridley, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Lake Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Richfield, Southwest Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, and St. Michael. Southwest LRT Typo Underestimates Co-location Costs by $100M Engineering consultants have identified a $100 million typo in a Southwest Light Rail Transit report that understates the cost of putting the Twin Cities & Western freight line in the same corridor as the light rail—an option known as “co-location.” The correction narrows the gap between the co-location option and the so-called “locally preferred alternative” that would reroute freight rail to a spur line in St. Louis …
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
In a Star Tribune op-ed, the Fridley legislator again argues against URS Corp. getting more government contracts, including any part of work on the Southwest LRT project.
State Rep. Tom Tillberry (DFL-51B) of Fridley continues his effort to stop public contracts from going to URS Corp. with an op-ed article in today's Star Tribune. Tillberry asked Gov. Dayton to cut URS out of government work, specifically the proposed Southwest Light Rail Transit project, in a letter last April. URS responded with its own letter to Dayton. Then last week came news that suggested Tillberry's argument had resonated: URS was no longer in line to get the entire Southwest LRT contract. Here are excerpts from Tillberry's op-ed today: On Aug. 1, Minnesota will mark the five-year anniversary of the fall of the Interstate 35W bridge. ... My friend and neighbor Pat Holmes died on the bridge. Since that day, I have been waiting for …
Friday, April 27, 2012
Letter comes after Fridley legislator asked governor not to hire firm.
Three days after a Fridley state representative asked Gov. Mark Dayton not to award a Southwest light rail transit contract to URS Corp., a URS executive has written his own letter to Dayton touting the international engineering firm's Minnesota experience. "I am honored that the Met Council is considering URS for the Southwest Light Rail Transit project, should it be funded," vice president Tom Bader wrote (see attached PDF at right). In his letter, Rep. Tom Tillberry (DFL-Fridley) cited URS' inspection work on the I-35W bridge before its collapse and its engineering role on the now-closed Sabo bicycle bridge in Minneapolis as reasons for the state not to hire the firm. "I just don't understand why somebody would be considering a company …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Fridley rep questions bid by firm involved with faulty 35W and Sabo bridges.
State Representative Tom Tillberry (DFL-51B) sent a three-page letter to Gov. Mark Dayton this week to express his "serious concern" about a bid by an engineering firm, URS Corp., for a pending state contract. Read Tillberry's letter online here. Tillberry, who represents part of Fridley and is a Fridley resident, noted that URS was involved with two faulty bridges in Minneapolis—inspecting the I-35W bridge before it fell and the Sabo bicycle bridge now closed for repairs. The contract in question is for a new light rail transit line between downtown Minneapolis and suburbs to the southwest including St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Edina and Minnetonka. In the April 24, 2012, letter, first posted in a news report at Minnesota.PublcRadio.org, …
James Tillberry
1:08 pm on Saturday, May 5, 2012
Minnesota may lose a good representative because of petty politics. But, then what else is new? more ›