The Black Hawk County Board debated and approved a scaled scope for the Washburn Sewer Lagoon Fence Project after budget and procurement questions prompted supervisors to seek a lower-cost option.

Staff recommended awarding the project to Thames Constructing Service LLC; the published low bid on the agenda materials was $99,992.50. Several supervisors said they were uncomfortable that the winning subcontractor's finalized price came in only slightly over the county's $100,000 policy threshold and questioned whether the county should give the low bidder an opportunity to lower its price or instead accept a smaller scope that kept the contract below the policy limit.

County staff and the county engineer described the alternates and explained that the recommended scope prioritized fencing adjacent to roads to reduce public-safety risks. After discussion about bid fairness, competitive process and ARPA eligibility for the work, a motion was amended to approve the base bid plus Alternate 1 (which staff said would keep the award under the county threshold). The board then approved the amended motion and authorized the contract award for the reduced scope (staff reported the approved base-plus-alternate-1 total as approximately $78,893.75).

During discussion AECOM staff and the county engineer noted that multiple bids were received and that Connolly (the prime contractor on a related project) helped secure subcontractor bids, increasing the pool of fence contractors. Board members stressed they wanted to avoid setting a precedent of negotiating down a single low bidder without offering the same opportunity to others.

The contract was approved as amended; board members asked staff to return with plans for completing the remaining alternates at a later date if funding allows.