Council OKs $32,450 contract amendment for Mahan Street archaeological study to secure $1.6 million grant

The Ridgecrest City Council on April 2 approved a $32,450 amendment to a professional services agreement with Willdan Engineering Inc. to conduct an archaeological study required by grant rules for the Mahan Street improvement project.

Council action came after staff said the study was time sensitive and necessary to obligate approximately $1,600,000 in Regional Surface Transportation (RSCP) grant funds for the project. "We were awarded a grant for about $1,600,000 through the RSCP program," said Travis Reid, a city staff member leading the item, explaining the decision to authorize the study so the city would not jeopardize the funds.

Why it matters: The Mahan Street improvements (phase 1 from Bowman to Dolphin) are grant-funded, and Caltrans staff reviewing the project required the archaeological review before the funds could be authorized, staff said. Reid told the council that recent turnover at Caltrans meant staff were following rules more strictly and that missing paperwork or studies could risk losing the grant.

Council members pressed staff on the likelihood of recurring requirements. Reid said Caltrans requests will be project-dependent and may decline as staff relationships are reestablished, but that for this specific section there was no existing archaeological study within roughly two miles of the project, prompting the requirement. "They couldn't find an archaeological study that had been done near that area," Reid said. He described the field survey as already completed and said the archaeological report had been returned and cleared; the $32,450 is for the grant-required paperwork and consultant authorization.

Reid described the process should an artifact be found: work would stop, an archaeologist would assess significance, and contacted tribes would be allowed to inspect. "If you find something, the project immediately stops. You have to hire an archaeologist...the tribes would be able to come out and have a look at it," he said.

The council voted 5-0 to approve the amendment. Mayor Endicott and Councilmembers Blades, Rajaratnam, Hayman and Gorman voted yes.

The vote advances the paperwork and consultant authorization that staff said will allow the city to move forward with obligating RSCP funds for construction; staff said they are awaiting a finance letter to include the project in the funding program.

Notes: Staff characterized the expenditure as a paperwork item required to secure the larger construction grant. The record included no amendment to the underlying scope of construction work at this meeting.