Allegany County approves emergency flood repairs, authorizes federal-funded bridge inspections

Allegany County commissioners on Thursday approved six emergency procurements to continue flood restoration work and authorized a two-year contract for bridge inspections that will cover roughly 75 structures, a county public works official said.

The items were presented by Dan DeWitt, a public works staff member, who said the emergency procurements were made under recently passed county resolutions that suspended certain procurement provisions to expedite post-flood repairs. "The item for approval this evening is the approval of six emergency procurements under the resolutions that were passed," DeWitt told the commissioners.

DeWitt said the procurements support ongoing flood restoration projects and larger bridge replacements that could not begin until roads and surrounding areas were stabilized. He told the board the county has been working with multiple local contractors and expects several projects to be completed soon; some bridge work will be more involved and more expensive than road patching.

The commission also approved a two-year bridge inspection contract with a Maryland-based consulting firm identified in the meeting as Montgomery. DeWitt said the county has about 75 structures with spans greater than 20 feet that require regular inspections under Federal Highway Administration rules. He said the inspections are fully reimbursable through the federal bridge program, so the county will not have a cash outlay for the contract.

"These consultants form the inspections for us once every two years or more depending on the condition of the bridge," DeWitt said, and asked the board to approve the contract "so I can send it back to the state and get these inspections started this coming September." Commissioners voted to approve both items.

The votes followed no public discussion beyond the presentation and passed after a motion and second. The commissioners earlier had authorized suspending procurement rules in order to expedite emergency repairs; DeWitt said additional emergency procurements will come before the board while the suspension remains in effect.

County officials did not provide a full dollar total for the current batch of emergency procurements during the meeting; DeWitt referenced an internal figure but did not specify whether it referred to dollar amounts or project counts. He said a number of further emergency procurements remain to be approved before the suspension ends.