Cowlitz County approves $23,746 change order after asbestos, lead found during annex remediation

Cowlitz County commissioners approved a change order with Prestige Northwest Construction Services to cover unexpected asbestos and lead abatement and additional equipment at the county annex building, county finance staff said during the meeting.

Kathy Funk Baxter, finance director, said crews discovered asbestos and lead while mitigating water damage. The change order total is $23,746.90; the county described the original contract amount as $129,006.48 and said the new total contract will be $153,003.51, including the change order.

Baxter told the board the annex work is being advanced so the county can move public-defense operations into the space. "We said, let's get it done because we need the OPD in there, and then we will continue to work on who's gonna end up paying and the portion of reimbursement," she said, referring to potential reimbursement from Sequium and other liable parties.

Commissioners moved and approved the change order by voice vote. The motion passed with the presiding commissioners recording “Aye.” County staff said they expect at least some of the added costs to be reimbursed through claims against responsible parties but said reimbursement amounts were not yet settled.

The vote followed a brief staff presentation about the need to proceed to prepare the annex for use and to keep the county's schedule for relocating operations on track.