Washington County approves fairgrounds mowing contract, reviews construction bids and OKs engineering addendum

Washington County commissioners approved several vendor contracts and reviewed construction bids at their Jan. 4 meeting.

The board voted to accept a mowing contract with Green Landscaping (referred to in the meeting as Bridal Green) for the fairgrounds, described as a minimum of 35 mowings per year for an annual contract amount of $21,000; any additional mowing was to be billed at $600 per occurrence. Unidentified Speaker 1 said the contractor must provide proof of insurance as required by county and state rules.

The board also reviewed competitive bids for a project read aloud by Unidentified Speaker 6: Temple and Temple submitted a lump-sum bid of $378,300 (the presenter said that price excluded permitting, engineering and erosion control), and C and R Construction bid $427,488. The commission voted to accept the bids for review as read.

Staff presented a $20,000 contract addendum for Fleck Engineering to extend services another year for ramp-up dates and Community Crossings applications; the county indicated it would sign the addendum and continue to rely on Fleck for application support.

Commissioners discussed site work and a six-bay shop estimate. Unidentified Speaker 9 provided an estimate "right at a 100 708,000" (transcript phrasing); Speaker 3 asked for that cost to be emailed to all three commissioners and the auditor for transparency.

What happens next: Staff will require contractor proof of insurance, proceed with procurement steps for accepted bids, and route the Fleck Engineering addendum for signatures; commissioners asked for a written estimate on the six bays.