Valley County commissioners accept Sampson Trail low bid, approve fair events and facilities work, reinstate pickleball power and deny tariff change order

VALLEY COUNTY, July 30 — The Valley County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday opened sealed bids for the Sampson Trail pathway and accepted a low bid with a post-opening review requirement, approved agreements for fairground events and improvements, authorized restoring power at the Lake Fork pickleball courts with future power costs to be covered by court revenues, and rejected a contractor request to pass tariff-related material cost increases through a lump-sum contract.

The actions were part of a broad buildings-and-grounds and Road & Bridge agenda that also included contractor and consultant approvals for road safety work and a new local supplier charge account.

The commissioners opened two sealed bids for the Sampson Trail phase‑2 pathway project. Director Dave Bingman read the bids into the record and described the prequalification process used to shortlist firms. “I just have two bids for you guys to open,” Bingman said as the board unsealed proposals. The low bid — recorded in the meeting as $239,430 from Fowlbee Earthworks — was moved for acceptance and seconded with the contingency that staff complete a full review to confirm required bonding, insurance and licenses are present before final award. The motion carried.

Why it matters: the Sampson Trail work would extend the existing route; commissioners noted the prequalification step allows evaluation beyond price when choosing a contractor.

The board approved two fairgrounds items from Buildings and Grounds staff. Commissioners authorized the Colton Jones Memorial Junior Rodeo special-event agreement for use of Valley County property at the fairgrounds after staff confirmed the applicant provided the required insurance. Buildings-and-Grounds staff noted an administrative cover sheet on the contract had an incorrect date (a cover sheet showed 07/08/2025 while the event is August 7); staff confirmed the signed contract itself lists the correct event date and said they would correct the cover page.

Commissioners also approved work to add a balcony to the concession/announcer stand at the fairgrounds. Buildings and Grounds staff said the fair board’s levy funds would be used to pay for the balcony work rather than the department’s regular maintenance budget. “Those are still just using those funds to update the fairgrounds,” staff said; commissioners discussed carryover balances and the county’s role in paying for facility improvements that are available year-round.

The board discussed ongoing questions about who supplies consumables and cleaning during the fair. Staff said county maintenance has been providing toilet paper, paper towels and supplies and that for privately organized special events the county may charge a fee to cover those costs; staff and commissioners said the county should formalize how such costs are recovered going forward.

Pickleball courts: Commissioners voted to reinstate power and repair the fallen temporary pole at the Lake Fork pickleball courts, approving up to the scope described in a detailed quote from Tri State Electric but asking staff to obtain additional quotes because several commissioners said the $9,400 estimate appeared high. The motion included direction that continuing utility costs for the courts be paid from pickleball-court revenue. Buildings-and-Grounds staff explained the site previously had a temporary above‑ground pole system that failed; the contractor’s bid itemized trenching, pole, panel and reconnection work. Commissioners asked staff to seek at least two more quotes before committing to final expenditure for installation and to confirm whether existing panels can be reused.

Transfer station and facilities projects: Buildings-and-Grounds and Road & Bridge staff gave an extended update on the county transfer station remodel and related site work. Staff said interior floors and scales had been removed, a fire tank installation was underway and contractors would close the transfer site at 3 p.m. on Friday to rebuild a failing pad used for excavator loading. An architect and engineer working for the project flagged additional electrical and exterior-lighting work not included in the base remodel; staff reported a contractor estimate of about $108,000 to complete electrical work for the building, with $30,000 already budgeted, leaving an approximate shortfall of roughly $78,000. Commissioners directed staff to route required change orders and engineering reviews through the project’s design team and Great West (the county’s project reviewer) before committing funds, and to provide more quotes where feasible.

Tariffs and contractor change orders: Road and Bridge supervisor Dan explained a contractor request for a tariff-related change order on a lump‑sum building contract. Staff and the architect recommended against approving a tariff pass-through at this stage; commissioners expressed concern that tariffs are transient and that a final accounting at closeout would show the actual increase. Commissioner motioned and the board voted not to approve the tariff-related change order as presented, leaving the contractor to pursue contractual remedies at project closeout if appropriate.

Road projects and consultant selection: The board approved a local professional services agreement with Precision Engineering LLC for design work on the Warren Wagon guardrail safety project, a Federal‑aid Local Safety Improvement Program (LSIP) item. Road staff said the project was triggered in part by a past fatality and that LSIP funding will reimburse a significant share of the consultant cost; the design is expected now with construction programmed for a later year. The board also approved establishing a charge‑account relationship with Cascade Building Supply to improve local parts and materials access for county departments and directed the clerk’s office to work with legal on a formal county policy for vendor charge accounts.

Public relations and digital outreach: The commissioners heard a report from the county public relations specialist, who said the county Facebook page had about 217,000 impressions in the prior 30 days and a roughly 6.8% engagement rate; website analytics showed about 11,000 unique users and 34,000 page views in the period, with property-assessment pages and fair pages among the most visited. Staff said evacuation-zone mapping and wildfire-resiliency content had been consolidated to a single landing area to enable faster, consistent messaging during emergencies.

Votes at a glance - Accept low bid from Fowlbee Earthworks for Sampson Trail phase‑2 ($239,430) — motion to accept pending full post‑opening review; moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Sign Colton Jones Memorial Junior Rodeo special-event agreement (Valley County Fairgrounds) — moved and seconded; outcome: approved; staff to correct cover-sheet date discrepancy. - Approve concession/announcer-stand balcony work at fairgrounds to be paid from fair-board levy funds — moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Reinstate power and repair pole/panel at Lake Fork pickleball courts; future power costs to be paid from pickleball revenue; staff to obtain additional quotes — moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Deny contractor tariff change-order request on lump‑sum building contract (Road & Bridge) — moved and seconded; outcome: approved (no change order). - Approve professional services agreement with Precision Engineering LLC for Warren Wagon guardrail LSIP project — moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Approve Cascade Building Supply charge-account relationship for county departments — moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Approve meeting minutes for July 23 and BOE minutes (June 25, June 26, July 14) — moved and seconded; outcome: approved.

What remains: staff was directed to obtain additional contractor quotes where possible (notably for picket/pole and transfer-station electrical work), to route change orders and electrical scope clarifications through the project engineer and Great West before approval, and to develop a formal policy governing vendor charge accounts. Commissioners also asked staff to clarify and document when fairboard levy funds versus county maintenance budgets should be used, and to formalize procedures for recovering consumable and cleanup costs for private or special events.

The board recessed to reconvene after lunch; the meeting record shows additional workshop items on the afternoon agenda.