County officials discuss fairgrounds well plans as grant scope changes and feasibility work continues

Okanogan County staff told commissioners they are reworking plans for a fairgrounds water project after engineers and the grant manager signaled the scope must change and that a drilled well may need a larger casing.

The issue matters because a USDA-funded grant’s task order, county staff said, was written for a domestic well while the fairgrounds needs irrigation capacity; that mismatch affects what the county can spend under the existing award and the project schedule.

Nick (staff member) told the board the county has a feasibility estimate of “just under $11,000,000” for renovation work and that the study flagged accessibility and mechanical upgrades the county may want to add. “Because of that number being a little bit lower, if that’s something you guys thought we would…increase that or put a new elevator in there?” he said. Commissioners asked staff to analyze whether to expand the scope.

Staff and contractors focused most of the discussion on the wells. County staff said a recent task order refers to a domestic well; Drilling contractors and staff said irrigation wells are typically drilled with a 10-inch casing to support higher flow and larger pumps, while many domestic wells use smaller casing (6–8 inch). A county official quoted the task order language: “for domestic wells,” and said the distinction could force delays if the county must seek a different grant or an amended task order.

“Some of the drillers cannot drill a 10-inch casing,” one staff member said, noting available drillers and well capacity affect what the county can build. The group discussed decommissioning a hand‑dug well, repurposing an existing domestic well for irrigation only if feasible, and running power lines and pipe trenches to connect a new well to the Annex irrigation and barn areas.

Grant administration staff told the board the USDA grant manager has proposed revising the scope and extending the contract period to June while the biennium budget decision is pending; final funding could depend on state budget actions. One staff member said the grant manager submitted a scope-change request and will re-evaluate funding after the state biennium budget is set.

Commissioners directed staff to gather bids and clarification about the grant task order, drilling capacities and casing sizes, and to coordinate with the county’s grant administrator and engineers. “Let’s get some bids started to line up so we can get this going,” a commissioner said.

County staff also discussed site work required to trench water and electrical lines to connect a new well, and repairs the fairgrounds parking and track will require during construction. Staff said they will return with bid results and a clarified scope for the board to consider.

Proposed next steps include: verifying the grant task order language; asking Delaney or Shelley (staff members) to confirm whether the grant covers irrigation-size casings; soliciting well‑drilling bids that specify casing size and pump capacity; and preparing coordination for trenching and power work if a 10-inch casing is drilled.

If bids or the grant manager’s decision require it, staff said the county may need to revise the scope of work, potentially delaying completion until funding and task‑order issues are resolved.