Resident demands BOT project documents, questions acreage and cost overruns; board updates completion date
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Summary
A resident accused county officials of signing a BOT agreement with "blank and missing exhibits," alleged a 19.5-acre transfer and multimillion-dollar overages, and demanded public records; county counsel said exhibits were provided and the board voted to correct the BOT agreement date and update the completion date to April 15, 2026.
A public commenter at a Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting accused county leaders and contractors of incomplete public records and potential shortchanging of taxpayers on the county's BOT highway facility project.
"I hereby demand that I and other members of the public have immediate access to all documents related to this project," the commenter said, insisting the signed agreement contained "blank and missing exhibits" and pointing to a change in the site plan acreage from 8.5 to 7.5. The speaker also alleged the county had given 19.5 acres to a developer and described project cost overages that raised questions about value for taxpayers.
County counsel April replied that the agreement and its exhibits have been provided in response to public-records requests and said staff would confirm when exhibits were added. "The BOT and all of its exhibits have been available for quite some time, and we have received public records request, and they've all been fulfilled timely," April said. She asked the board to approve a corrected first-page date on the agreement to reflect the June 4, 2024 board action and to update the contract completion date to April 15, 2026.
Commissioners discussed whether change-order procedures had been followed and whether the attachments had been inserted after the initial agreement. One commissioner said they did not remember approving subsequent addenda; counsel said she would check the public-records timeline and that the agreement's section on change orders addresses that process.
The board voted to approve the requested corrections and the updated completion date. The record shows the board approved the update after the public exchange; one commissioner recorded opposition during the vote.
What happens next: staff will confirm the public-records timeline for when exhibits were appended to the BOT agreement and provide that documentation to the requesting parties, and the board has adopted the corrected agreement date and a new completion date of April 15, 2026.
