Finance committee recommends $1.16 million allocation to buy and install two pre‑engineered bridges

The Sudden Valley Community Association Finance Committee on March 24 recommended that the board allocate $1,157,088.53 from the roads capital fund to purchase and install two pre‑engineered steel bridges, one at Area Z (off Roy Road at Honeycomb) and one at Polo Park (crossing Beaver Creek between Sunnyside Lane and Lost Lake Lane).

The committee’s recommendation follows an earlier board approval of $131,004, which committee members and staff said covered design and permitting. Joel, a staff presenter at the meeting, said the $1,157,088.53 request does not include that prior $131,004 and therefore the combined project total will be higher when the earlier amount is added to the purchase/installation authorization.

Committee members said the Area Z bridge is restricted because it can no longer carry the gross vehicle weight needed for road crews’ trucks, creating inefficiencies in snow‑season service. The Polo Park crossing has a failing 8‑foot corrugated metal culvert that staff and engineers say is collapsing and constricting high‑water flows; the planned work will remove the culvert and regrade the channel to restore stream passage. Staff noted the stream is a fish migratory pathway and that permitting and environmental requirements are included in the project estimate.

Engineers provided an estimate that separates the owner‑supplied bridge units (hard quotes for the prefabricated bridge structures) from the construction and installation costs. Committee members were told Chinook Engineering prepared a February cost estimate; PNW Services submitted construction‑management figures. The construction estimate shown in the packet included line items described in the materials: a roughly $957,000 construction/installation line, about $50,000 for utilities, $38,000 for construction management, engineering oversight and contingency, together summing to the $1,157,088.53 change‑order request that would be added to the earlier design/permitting project code.

Staff described the procurement sequence: the association would purchase the prefabricated bridge units as owner‑supplied components (based on vendor quotes submitted with the packet), then put the installation work out to bid via an RFP to construction contractors; Chinook Engineering would not bid as a constructor because it is the engineering firm preparing estimates and bid documents. Committee members cautioned that construction bids could come back higher or lower than the engineer’s estimate, and that ordering the prefabricated units early could be affected by vendor lead times and changing steel prices.

Several committee members asked staff to clarify project details before the packet goes to the board: justification for a listed five‑hour‑per‑day construction‑management assumption in PNW Services’ budget line, confirmation that all fish‑passage/Department of Ecology requirements are included in the estimate, and the final load rating planned for the replacement Area Z bridge (a load rating was not included in the materials reviewed at the meeting). Staff said they would follow up with Tyler (roads staff) and Chinook to confirm those points.

The finance committee recorded its recommendation for board approval after a voice vote in which members said “aye” and no members voiced opposition during the meeting.

If the board approves the recommendation at its next meeting, staff said they would proceed to order owner‑supplied bridge units promptly and issue the RFP for installation so contractors can submit firm bids; if contractor bids exceed the estimate, the association could see change orders or additional requests to the board for funding.

Notes: the packet cites the 2025 roads capital budget line for these bridges: $1,202,425 was set aside in the 2025 capital plan for the two bridge replacements; the current request is lower than that amount but will be combined with the previously approved $131,004 design/permitting authorization when considering total program cost.