FILE — THE GRANDSTANDS AT the Dickinson County Fairgrounds in Norway will be repainted under a proposal the county board accepted July 25. Steve Johnson and Sons Painting of Foster City will be contracted for the work at a cost of $83,170. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Dickinson County will cover the cost of more paint for a fairgrounds project in Norway and has apologized to a contractor for rejecting his initial request for a change order of $30,000 to $40,000.

At a meeting Monday, the county board agreed to provide $35,000 to Steve Johnson and Sons Painting and Contracting of Foster City to buy more paint for the grandstands. Any unused funds will be returned to the county.

After awarding a contract of $83,170 to the painter on July 25, an Aug. 22 motion from Commissioner John Degenaer Jr. to approve a change order received no support. At that time, Commissioner Joe Stevens said the contractor — and not the county — should be responsible for cost overruns.

Degenaer was asked to negotiate the request further.

After unanimously approving a change order of up to $35,000 on Monday, the county board issued this statement:

“The Dickinson County Board wishes to clarify certain facts regarding an article in Tuesday’s (Aug. 23) edition of The Daily News concerning the painting of the Norway grandstands. The remarks pertain to the notice of change request by Steve Johnson and Sons Painting and Contracting of Foster City.

“Firstly, the bid was recorded as a ‘not to exceed contract’ without Johnson’s knowledge.

‘I had clearly stated to them that this structure is impossible to give an estimate on, before I made a bid. I was assured that it was standard practice to give a notice of change if materials should be more than expected. The structure of this building coupled with the old wood that sucks up the paint like crazy made it that if I had had to be locked in, I wouldn’t have touched this project with a ten-foot pole.’

“Also, the board wishes to clarify that Johnson hadn’t intended to stall the project. ‘I always had every intention to finish fixing up this awesome old building. Not finishing never crossed my mind. I was simply requesting more money for paint as I had stated I would be doing in the original bid that the board approved. I even told them I would be happy to provide them with receipts for all the materials if they wanted.’

“The board apologizes for any misunderstanding and wants to state that they are very happy with the job that Steve Johnson and Sons Painting and Contracting are doing on the grandstands,” the statement concludes.

Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-3500 ext. 226 or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.