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Cowlitz County public works outlines funding shifts, change orders and recommended bid awards for road and fish-passage projects
Summary
County engineer presented multiple Public Works recommendations: two $5,000 reclassifications to preserve federal local-agency funding, a $11,770 change order for guardrail repairs, a tax-parcel sale to Longview for municipal use, and recommended bid awards to DeWitt Construction ($434,355) and Western United Group ($2,349,120) for culvert and fish-passage work.
Susan Eugene, Cowlitz County engineer, briefed the Board on multiple public-works items that staff plan to bring forward for formal approval. She described administrative funding adjustments, contract changes, and recommended awardees for two construction projects.
Local-agency-agreement supplements: Eugene said the county is shifting $5,000 on each of two South Cloverdale Road local-agency agreements from the contract line to the local agency line so the county can submit initial bills within the required six-month window and avoid the projects being declared inactive. She described the shift as accounting reallocation (no change to total project cost) to allow billing for advertisement and staff time.
Change order for unit-price guardrail repair contract: Eugene described Change Order No. 1 with Columbia River Contractors to add $11,770 in unit-price work because some added guardrail items were not in the original bid schedule and one Castle Rock section required full guardrail removal. She said the increase is split: $7,525 for Castle Rock work and $4,245 for Cowlitz County work; unit prices from the original bid schedule were used.
Tax-title parcel sale for City of Longview: Eugene summarized an unusual resolution to allow the sale of a tax-title parcel to the City of Longview for the Columbia Heights project. She explained the parcel had been through tax-title procedures and that the municipal public-use sale route is allowed given the parcel’s low assessed value and the intended public use.
Bid award: Italian Creek Culvert replacement: Eugene recommended awarding the Italian Creek Culvert replacement to DeWitt Construction for $434,355, about $165,000 under the engineer’s estimate. The project is funded through FEMA and Washington State Emergency Management; Eugene said the project is categorized as a “small project” under the funding rules and that county road funds are in place to cover any near-term needs.
Bid award: Garlock Road / Delameter Creek fish passage: Eugene said the lowest responsible bidder for the Garlock Road Delameter Creek fish-passage project was Western United Group at $2,349,120 (about $243,000 over the engineer’s estimate). The project is funded by the Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board (85% grant, county 15%). Eugene said the county will seek a grant increase from Brian Abbott to cover the higher concrete costs identified in this bidding cycle; she noted the board does have additional funds in the current biennium.
Eugene also reviewed culvert lifespan and selection criteria for fish passage work, noting DNR maintains maps of fish presence and passability ratings that guide which culverts are prioritized for replacement.
What’s next: These items were presented as staff recommendations; Eugene said formal contract awards, change-order approvals, and the tax-parcel resolution will be brought to the Board for formal action as agenda items. Commissioners asked questions about timing and funding sources; staff said further documentation and any required grant-increase requests will follow.
Ending: Eugene said she will return with contract documents and that staff will monitor project budget impacts and request additional grant support where appropriate.
