Daggett County MBA approves clinic construction contract, hears water-project and CIB funding updates

The Daggett County Municipal Building Authority on Tuesday approved a construction contract with Hadfield Construction for a new county clinic and discussed related project issues including contract redline requests and funding clarifications for an X‑ray machine.

The authority voted to approve the construction contract, allowing the contractor’s proposed redline changes to be incorporated and with a plan to ratify the action at a subsequent meeting. County counsel participated in the discussion about the contract language and staff described the redline items the authority reviewed.

The contract discussion focused on four proposed redline changes submitted by Hadfield Construction: a clause preferring litigation over arbitration for dispute resolution; reimbursement language clarifying that the authority will reimburse the contractor for building permits, licenses and inspection costs; deletion of a paragraph on royalties/patents/copyrights; and language around owner responsibility for tests and governmental approvals. County counsel said the only substantive concern was the litigation versus arbitration request and that, given the project scope and the authority’s mediation requirement, it was not expected to be a practical issue. Staff also reported that Jones & DeMille had vetted the contractor and recommended proceeding.

County attorney Kent Snyder (County Attorney) participated in the meeting during the contract discussion and answered questions about legal risk and typical practice. A finance staff member (Carrie) was asked to confirm an invoice description correction related to a separate project expense and confirmed she would make the change.

Separately, staff reported a favorable outcome from a Community Impact Board (CIB) meeting: CIB clarified that previously awarded funds could be used for the clinic’s X‑ray machine, its lead shielding and related electrical work. Staff emphasized that the clarification did not provide additional funding but allowed the authority to apply already allocated CIB funds to the equipment and associated infrastructure. Staff also said the CIB action was unanimous.

The meeting included updates on the county’s water projects. Staff reported that water restrictions for outdoor irrigation had been lifted, that the town of Manila had received a grant for improvements to Well No. 3, and that improvements to all three county wells should put the system in a stronger operating position. Staff also described ongoing conversations about whether a formal drought declaration for the county would be needed and noted that some state drought declarations have covered neighboring counties; any county- or state-level drought declaration remained under consideration.

The authority also addressed an administrative invoice-item issue: a Westech Engineering line in the open invoice register had been described as a Manila Airport ILA project but staff confirmed it should be coded to the water treatment plant project and said they would correct the description.

Staff noted timing related to the clinic project’s next steps: a bond closing and contractor mobilization dates were discussed to coordinate financing and construction startup. The authority approved the contract and agreed to place a ratification item on a future agenda to confirm the contract terms after the meeting.

The meeting concluded after the authority completed its finance and project-item reviews and adjourned by acclamation.