Cowlitz County approves emergency sewer repair, awards water‑main contract and authorizes bond refunding

The Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a declaration of emergency to repair a damaged sewer gravity main, awarded a contract for a water‑main and pump‑station project and authorized refunding of an existing county bond.

County Engineer Susan Eugeneis told commissioners the emergency work responded to calls from the Port about an obstructed sewer on International Way. "We entered into an emergency contract with concurrence from the Chairman with AES, Advanced Excavating Services, that is located here in Kelso," Eugeneis said. She said crews installed a bypass system Thursday night, ran it through the weekend, and a contractor returned Monday with shoring and larger equipment to excavate a damaged 15‑inch main about nine feet deep. The contractor repaired the main, restored the line and patched the roadway; Eugeneis said costs will be calculated on a force‑account basis and returned to the board for approval.

Commissioners voted to approve the emergency‑declaration resolution. The board was told the county followed purchasing‑policy procedures that permit emergency contracting with concurrence of the chairman and relevant directors.

On a separate item, the board awarded the low, responsible bid for the Tower Road water‑main and Juanita Way booster pump stations to Rachi Incorporated for $1,549,631.76, well under the engineer's estimate of about $2.6 million. Eugeneis said 11 bids were opened and the top four bids were within roughly $20,000 of each other; she said timing and regional price differences likely contributed to the lower bids. "We are confident that this is the price and that they did not underbid it woefully," Eugeneis said. The board approved the bid award.

County Treasurer Deborah Gardner presented a resolution authorizing refunding of an existing PFD bond and designating the treasurer to sign documents and complete the refunding process. Gardner said the finance committee reviewed the plan and recommended board approval. "The Finance Committee gave approval of a recommendation to the board to approve this, refunding," Gardner said. Commissioners approved the resolution.

Earlier the board approved the minutes from the Jan. 13–15 meeting and passed the consent agenda, which included professional service agreements with PBS Engineering & Environmental LLC for landfill surface emissions monitoring (not to exceed $150,000) and ground and surface water analysis (not to exceed $161,612.30); the Title 6 annual accomplishment report for fiscal 2024 for submission to the Washington State Department of Transportation; a resolution establishing a revolving operating fund for centralized public records; several appointments and reappointments to the planning and historic‑preservation committees with terms through 2027–2029; a recorded possession and use agreement for a right‑of‑way for Project 2953 Shadow Mountain Reservoir; and vouchers totaling $3,219,763.87.

Votes on the motions were called individually and recorded as aye on each item.